1 day ecotourism workshop

Today is a 1 day ecotourism workshop held at Kampung Sungai Melayu focusing on topic of bird watching. This ecotourism workshop is organized by Iskandar Region Development Authority IRDA and Malaysia Nature Society Johor branch chairman and its members are invited to host the workshop. It is intended to educate, facilitate and promote the ecotourism to Malaysia Nature Guide and improve Johor tourism in ecotourism sector.

1 day ecotourism workshop

Early 8.30am, I reach the IRDA office at Jalan Skudai Kiri to gather there. Most of the participants already inside the IRDA office. We depart at 9.10am to the workshop venue, Kampung Sungai Melayu, Nusajaya. Kg Sungai Melayu is a fisherman village. Most of the villager make a living through the wealth resources of Sungai Melayu river. There are kelong scatter along the Sungai Melayu river. We reach there and welcome by villagers there. We have our breakfast there before start our ecotourism workshop for birds watching.

bird watching

Our ecotourism workshop is focus on bird watching, speech given by Vincent Chow. Vincent is an expert in birds area for over few 10 years and did published his own book about birds. We are taught about how to differentiate birds. For bird identification, the first thing we need to learn is to know the name of birds body part. With this knowledge, then we able to read the books related to birds so that we recognized birds name and its features and characteristics.

Kampung Sungai Melayu river cruise

The combination of size and shape is one of the most powerful tools to bird identification. Though we may be drawn to watching birds because of birds wonderful color or fascinating behavior, when it comes to bird identification, size and shape are the first places of information we should examine.  The first steps are to learn typical bird silhouettes, find reliable ways to gauge the size of a bird, and notice differences in the telltale parts of a bird such as the bill, wings, and tail.

Fisherman catching fish

We have our lunch around 1pm. Mussel, prawn, curry flavor fish, fried egg and vegetable dish are served. All the seafood ingredients are fresh because all of them are either caught or breed by the villager. After enjoying our lunch, we ride on the boat for Sungai Melayu river cruises. Each motor equipped boat carried 2 visitors. Each visitor wear life jacket before ride onto the boat. Due to under hot sun and not covered, the seat is really very hot.

Kelong

We enjoy 1 hour river cruises along the Sungai Melayu river. At one side we do able to see Horizon Hills 3 storey house residential estate and at the other side of the river cruise we reach to places whereby we able to see the Country Garden Danga Bay project and land reclamation from far. Along the river cruise, we observe the birds flying on the sky, resting on the mangrove mudflats, and we see kelong scatter along the Sungai Melayu river. Some kelong are are left empty, some kelong have fisherman inside, some kelong become fisherman stopover and some kelong used to breed mussel. I do see a kelong with scarecrow.

Kelong with scarecrow

According to Vincent, mussel is sensitive and attracted to blue color. That’s why the rope used to breed mussel is blue color. Blue color is like a magnet to attract mussel stick to the blue rope. Due to no binocular given to me, I only manage to see the birds along the Sungai Melayu with bare eye.

Mussel breeding

We return back to Kampung Sungai Melayu workshop and have tea break refreshment. After that, we continue with 45 minutes of Questions and Answers session. Some senior nature guide did ask some insightful question related to bird watching and Kampung Sungai Melayu as ecotourism destination. We also suggested for further learning workshop to be organized by IRDA. We ended our 1 day ecotourism workshop at 5.30pm. After group photo, we proceed to bus and go back to IRDA office.

Fisherman living at kelong

WHAT IS ECOTOURISM?

The Nature Conservancy adopts the definition articulated by the World Conservation Union (IUCN):

"Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples."

Most tourism in natural areas today is not ecotourism and is not, therefore, sustainable tourism. Ecotourism is distinguished by its emphasis on conservation, education, traveler responsibility and active community participation. Specifically, ecotourism possesses the following characteristics:

• Conscientious, low-impact visitor behavior
• Sensitivity towards, and appreciation of, local cultures and biodiversity
• Support for local conservation efforts
• Sustainable benefits to local communities
• Local participation in decision-making
• Educational components for both the traveler and local communities

Increased tourism to sensitive natural areas without appropriate planning and management can threaten the integrity of ecosystems and local cultures. The increase of visitors to ecologically sensitive areas can lead to significant environmental degradation. Likewise, local communities and indigenous cultures can be harmed in numerous ways by an influx of foreign visitors and wealth. Additionally, fluctuations in climate, currency exchange rates, and political and social conditions can make over-dependence upon tourism a risky business.

However, this same growth creates significant opportunities for both conservation and local communities. Ecotourism can provide much-needed revenues for the protection of national parks and other natural areas -- revenues that might not be available from other sources.

Additionally, ecotourism can provide a viable economic development alternative for local communities with few other income-generating options. Moreover, ecotourism can increase the level of education and activism among travelers, making them more enthusiastic and effective agents of conservation.