FRIENDS OF LAMBIR: March 2011

"Hilton" Lambir, basecamp for the trail maintenance work, bedroom, kitchen and a vast green open air living room.

Have you ever hiked in Lambir Hills National Park, either to the peaks of Bukit Pantu and Bukit Lambir, visited and swam in refreshing jungle pools, or simply enjoyed the walk in possibly the most biologically diversed forest in the world and wondered what it would take to keep a network of trails you've walked in good shape?

Last year in March, Chief Warden of Lambir Hills National Park informed us that a major maintenance work was planned. Work was to be carried out on all existing trails in the Park as well as to install distance markers on all trails as well as assign tree identification tags on subjects along the Inoue Trail.

The purpose of this work was to provide a more satisfactory, high quality experience and safe visit to all visitors and regular trekkers.

MNS Miri was invited to participate in this trail maintenance work. Of course I couldn’t miss this wonderful opportunity to spend a day in the field working alongside the maintenance crew and get a handle on what’s involved to maintain the trails that I hike regularly. Opportunities like this don't come knocking everyday.

It was a Sunday afternoon when I entered the trail and hiked to Ridan Waterfall where the main crew was stationed. Ridan Waterfall is strategically located in the middle of the trail system and has been used as base camp for overnight maintenance work by the Park many times before. It is a lovely spot with a big pool by Sg Lepoh, only 10 - 15 minutes walk away from Ridan–Lepoh Trail.

The crew members, consisting of Hamir (crew leader), Brian (sawyer), Tumbi and Francis who recently joined the Lambir team, had already been working in the forest for several days and have already completed trail maintenance work along the Summit and Bakam Trails. Tomorrow we would be going to Oil Well. I started hiking Lambir Hills for 5 years, but have only been to the Oil Well once before because the trail was not used as regularly and therefore quite rundown and neglected. I couldn’t help but feel excited with the recurring thoughts of what’s in store for me the next day as I settled down for the night. Inside my tent, the sounds of waterfall and murmured conversation slowly lured me into sleep.

The next morning after a simple breakfast, I packed up and followed the crew out to the work location.

The existing trails were quite established and well designed, so the main works were mainly brushing, removing debris consisting mostly of fallen tree trunks from the trails and refurbishing the trail markers. The crew worked in 2 teams. The brushing team walked ahead, using parang and chainsaw to trim back undergrowth from the trail, removing and disposing dead timber and debris from the path. At designated places, pre-prepared distance markers were also installed.

Brian fixing the distance marker while Tumi clearing up the path behind him.

The trail marker team followed closely behind, painting over old trail marks on the trees, making sure that the trail markers are at the right height and can be clearly seen from both sides. Adequate signing makes the trails easier to follow and keeps trail users safely on the path which is important both for reasons of personal safety as well as for preservation of the forest, so that there's as little impact as possible is left behind by visitors.

As expected, there were a lot of work to be done along the Oil Well Trail. The crew worked slowly but steadily with lots of mini-breaks in between restoring the long-neglected stretch of trail. It was hard work as the trail is steep and slippery, the path overgrown and covered with debris. The brushing was back-breaking requiring lots of bending.

When we finally reached the Oil Well site, the crew gave me a mini tour of the place while clearing away the creepers and undergrowth. They also re-opened the path to another site which I was not aware of the last time I visited the place. A piece of oil exploration history in Miri unfolded right in front of me. At the time when the price of scrap metal rocketted sky-high, there had been many attempts to poach these metals from the National Park by many an unscrupulous individuals!

Removing a fallen tree. It's amazing to see how fast a tree could be cut into blocks and rolled down the side of the trail. A few hundred years of growth, felled by in seconds by man and his machine ... if only a tree could talk.

As we walked back to the main trail, I said goodbye to the crew at the Oil Well junction. The crew would stay one more night in the forest to finish up the remaining trail maintenance work.

Brian, Francis and Hamir after a hard-days work, Tumi was away on some errand at Park HQ when this photo was taken.

Since then, I had hiked to Oil Well and Ridan Waterfall several times. Whenever I took those trails, I would always remember how hard the maintenance crew had worked to improve the trail network which in turn further enhance the experience of trekking there. Kudos to the maintenance crew of Lambir Hills National Park, they are the unseen hands partly responsible for our great enjoyment of a good day out in the forest, ensuring our complete immersion in the best that nature has on offer at Lambir.

Words and images by Sara Wong/MNS Miri

Author's note:
The event took place last year, many more have trekked and enjoyed the great work that these guys have done since then!