Wild Hidden Treasures

FOR someone whose idea of hiking is to climb the LRT station's couple of flights of stairs, the trek from the main observation deck for the cable car at the peak of Langkawi's Gunung Machinchang to the other one slightly below was a gasping challenge - a torture, really.
The staff at the observation deck told us (me, stand-in photographer friend Fahmi and two British tourists, William and Caroline Walton), it would only be a 20-minute jaunt.
"No problem."
It took much longer, at times seemingly endless in fact. Heaving and straining, the respites came mostly from William who frequently stopped to track black ants that were fully laden with food.
"Or are those eggs they are carrying?" asked Caroline.
And it wasn't exactly downhill all the way either - first down, then up, and then down and up again.
As we approached our destination, we ran into three Langkawi Scientific and Nature Expedition members who were just starting out on their own trek. "Seen anything interesting?" one asked.
Did we? I wouldn't know, I was busy fighting for oxygen.
They were among 150 local scientists and researchers on the island to undertake a comprehensive inventory of Langkawi's flora and fauna; the main objective of which was to provide input for a plan to manage the environment and economy of the Langkawi Islands in a sustainable manner.
In their company, who needs an encyclopaedia? Ask them anything and chances are you will get an answer on the spot.
Azhar Hussin of Universiti Malaya, for example, can talk about Langkawi's geology all day, if you have the time.
And Amiruddin Ahmad from the Penang-based World Fish Centre is so "fishy" that his room-mate at the Mutiara Burau Bay Resort, the base camp, decided to move out because the room smelled like a fish market.
Azhar will tell you that Gunung Machinchang is the oldest geological formation in Malaysia, dating back at least 500 million years. He can also show you the island's youngest alluvial plains, which are a mere 140 million years old.
He is the man to go to for a run-down on the geological periods too - Cambrian (more than 510 million years), Ord-Silurian (410-510 million years), Camb-Devonian (290-410 million years), Permian (250-290 million years), Triassic (250 million years) and Cretaceous (60 million years).
Ask him what he thinks is in store for Langkawi, and off comes the free-flow of information again.
"(We) have to look at the major activities (in the area)... South China Sea is expanding and Australia is moving upwards between the Pacific Sea plate, but the Sunda Shelf (where Langkawi is located) is stable for now," Azhar said.
But it was Amiruddin who was easily the most excited person in the group. He had caught an Anguilla marmorata (the swamp eel or giant mottled eel) on the night before the launching ceremony of the expedition.
The eel was easily one-metre long. "A female can grow up to 1.5m long," he enthused. A quick check on the Internet showed that these creatures can grow up to two metres long and a maximum weight of 20.5kg. Some of the fish he had caught ended up in the freezer. "If you want to see them, come to my chalet before 11pm. After that, it becomes a specimen," he said matter-of-factly.
Mutiara Burau Bay Resort was a hive of activity throughout the expedition, especially at the end of each day. The researchers started out for their various locations as early as 6am, returning only at the end of the day to compare notes.
Some went out only at night, for example, those interested in bats and mosquitoes, obviously.
The area under study extended beyond Langkawi Island proper to the smaller islands and islets that had special conservation significance and/or ecotourism potential.
The team from the Malaysian Agriculture Research Development Institute went looking for wild ginger, but returned with wild nutmeg instead.
And a freshwater crab, that was collected on Gunung Raya, was confirmed as a Geosesarma foxi by world-renowned expert Associate Professor Dr Peter KL Ng from the National University of Singapore.
The first find of the rare crustacean was made by B.H. Buxton in 1914 at 2,000ft up the same gunung.
Ornithologists meanwhile spotted, among others, the Oriental Pied Hornbill and a flock of chestnut-capped bee-eaters.
And did you know that except for two species (neither are found in Malaysia), only male cicadas "sing"? The biggest cicada is the Pomponia imperatoria, with a wingspan of over 20cm, and it can be found right here!
So, shouldn't Langkawi's promotion be consciously extended - beyond just swaying palms, sun-bleached beaches (gorgeous as the ones at Datai Bay and off the Andaman Sea are), and duty-free shopping - to include nature?
The Waltons, who were on a five-day visit, concurred. William, a forester, was enthusiastic when invited to join the trek. Caroline, a teacher, was equally eager.
"It was a wedding present, but we only managed to get away recently," she said. They married two years ago.
There are many, like them, who prefer the jungles - and the nature guides in Langkawi are known to be the best in the country.
In fact, some guides participated in the expedition too. They not only took the expedition members to their various locations but also actively participated in the nightly talks.
"I don't think you need any more physical development on the island," said a Swiss couple, met on the cable car up Gunung Machinchang. They were on the third week of their holiday in Langkawi.
"There are enough hotels already. Also, the basic infrastructure is sufficient. And the people are nice.
"Improve on the nature trails, and put up signs and tag the trees, tell people what can be found at each place. It would make visitors like us enjoy the island more," they suggested.
Certainly worth considering.