THE BEAUTYOFORCHIDS
Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands
Coelogyne kaliana,
growing on bark in the
mossy forest. The
flowers are highly
fragrant, and the
whole forest smells
sweet when it is
flowering.
Fragile ecosystem health indicators
of the Cameron Highlands
By REACH
Orchidaceae is the name
given to the largest family of
flowering plants known to
man. The orchid family is so
diverse and large that the exact
number of species in its family
is not really known. Many
studies estimate that this
family has between 25,000 to
30,000 species from 880
genera. This is not taking into
account the more than 60,000
hybrids. Orchids are found in
almost every region of the
earth and in Peninsular
Malaysia alone there are
approximately 850 different
species, of which 300 species
are said to be found in the
highlands. Regional En-
vironmental Awareness Cam-
eron Highlands (REACH)
started a wild orchid survey
and documentation in April
2002. Since then a collection
of over a thousand photo-
graphs of wild orchids
covering more than 600
species and 59 genera has
been made. This includes one
newly recorded genus, 22
species and 35 forms being
newly discovered. This is an
impressive record and it has
been a difficult task as this
family group is so diverse that
classification and identification
of all the species recorded has
been a great challenge.
Orchids are good indicators
for the health of a tropical
forest, as they are very
sensitive to environmental
degradation. They are the first
ones to suffer when forests are
partially logged. Orchids are
thus colourful ambassadors of
the intact forest ecosystem.
Several nurseries openly
advertise wild orchids for sale.
REACH would like to
strongly discourage locals and
tourist alike from buying wild
orchids. Wild orchids are not
hardy species and many of
specimens taken from the wild
do not survive away from the
natural habitat. The public
should boycott nurseries that
have ripped out these
treasures from our highlands
to be shipped of to foreign
lands.