Oil Palm geography

Oil palm on hilly landscapes, this one is a spur.
Location : Zone G

Sawit (Malay) - ffb of oil palm
'Fresh Fruit Bunches'

 The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is not a native palm of Sarawak or Borneo.  All the millions of oil palms in South-East Asia are descended from four seedlings planted in the Botanic Gardens of Bogor, Indonesia, in 1848.  It has a long life with the last of the original four toppled over in 1993 at the age of 145 years.  Thus it was initially planted as decorative palms in the gardens.  Much later it was discovered that the oil palm fruits (see inset) were able to produce high quality cooking oil. The introduction of oil palm cultivation in Sarawak brought much prosperity to the  natives people because the crop seemed to enjoy better and better prices as the years go by, due largely to increasing world population that demanded the minimum of cooked vegetables, fishes or other dishes to be served to members of poor families everyday throughout the world.  The Kambatik Park offers many different landscapes or topographies for the cultivation of oil palm.  From hilly areas to rolling landscapes, slopes and valleys, oil palm cultivation creates a beauty of its own.  But when integrated into the native agro-forestry practices its beauty out- class many other commercial crops due to its unique tropical look of a tall feather-like solitary palm, its long economic life, i.e.  20 -25 years and versatility for being able to be planted on many geographical elevations and conditions.

Oil palm along streams
Location : Provinsi Manila, Zone F

Oil palm on plain areas
Location : Provinsi Carpentaria, Zone F

Oil palm on foothills
Location : Zone D

Oil palm on slopes
Location : Zone C

Oil palm on rolling landscapes
Location : Zone A

Oil palm integrated into native agro-forestry practices
Location : Zone C

Oil palm planted at fringe of conserved lowland dipterocarp forest environment
Location : Zone E

In Plain Sight - Provinsi Carpentaria (Part 1)

View of Provinsi Carpentaria - looking north
Location : Zone F

The Kambatik parkland has many interesting  geograpahical features.   A stream runs through the park for approximately half a kilometer distance.  The highest point of the stream is at the eastern part of the park and is approximately 150 feet above sea level.  From there the stream meanders towards the lowest point of the park located to the west in a 60 feet gradual drop.  The stream is surrounded on all sides by hills, spurs, rolling slopes and valleys.  However at its immediate surrounds i.e. on the banks of the stream are to be found many low-lying or flat areas which in geographical term I call 'plain'.  In developing the park I was very concerned from the beginning about retaining the natural direction and  flow of the stream.  By doing so I hoped to have many fallback positions especially in combating torrential rain and flash floods that are a natural phenomena at the park, restricted to limited hours as a result of heavy downpour.  There are eight of these plain areas and are named according to the specific palm species that are prevalent in the landscape.  Starting from the source of the stream, the  plain areas are fondly referred to as Provinsi ( Malay for province); thus Provinsi Pinang, Provinsi Yellow Palm, Provinsi Manila, Provinsi Carpentaria, Provinsi Lakka, Provinsi Borneo (Buah Nyiur - origin of the word Borneo, pronounced in Malay), Provinsi Lady Palm and Provinsi Rattan.  In this post I show the Provinsi Carpentaria with its iconic Carpentaria Palm.

View of Provinsi Carpentaria, looking north
Location : Zone F

Carpentaria acuminata - Carpentaria palm
Location : Provinsi Carpentaria, Zone F

 The above picture shows a line of the Carpentaria palms planted nearby the stream. Below is a picture that shows the stream in dry weather, thus the water level is low.  Carpentaria palms originate from Australia and are native to the Carpentaria Bay there.

Provinsi Carpentaria, view looking south.

Plain areas are important landscape features because they afford our eyes rest when scanning the natural landscape of hills and valleys. They provide optimum flat areas for leisure and recreational activities.  Finally they are significant for wildlife as scavenging and foraging grounds for birds, butterflies and dragonflies.  Birds especially need its 'free' flight space to dash around the park quickly and without much obstruction.