The Habitat Penang Hill provides an accessible and strategic vantage point for our education and community engagement activities. Penang Hill is also the centre of a visionary bid by the Penang state government to nominate the forests of Penang Hill and adjacent protected areas as a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. The Habitat Foundation and The Habitat Penang Hill provided funding and logistical support to the Penang Hill BioBlitz 2017 held in October 2017 which involved 117 local and international scientists and researchers. The BioBlitz helped generate fresh data on species richness which will strengthen the nomination of the proposed Biosphere Reserve. The Foundation is also funding the next stage which involves community and stakeholder engagement and the final preparation of the nomination dossier by members of the School of Biological Sciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia.
In line with the vision to establish Penang as a centre for biodiversity and sustainability research, The Habitat Foundation is also in the process of establishing a Research Centre on Penang Hill which would serve as a hub for international collaboration and rainforest research as well as a field-centre for specialised training for early career researchers and conservation practitioners.
Across Peninsular Malaysia, our array of work is centred around ecosystem restoration, urban biodiversity initiatives and collaborative species studies.
Penang
Diversity and ecological characteristics of terrestrial freshwater crabs on Penang Hill | Only discovered and scientifically described in 2016, little remains known about the Penang Hill Vampire Crab. This research will add new understanding, providing insights into their potential threats and conservation needs
Ethnomycological study of local wild edible and medicinal fungi | A research team from the School of Biological Sciences at USM, led by Dr Rosnida Tajuddin, received a THF Penang Hill Research Grant to document the historical uses and sociological value of local wild edible and medicinal fungi
The hidden diversity of subaerophytic cyanobacteria on Penang Hill | Led by Dr Faradina Merican of the School of Biological Sciences at USM, this research will study many rare and relatively unknown cyanobacteria species which were recently detected on Penang Hill.
Canopy studies at The Habitat Penang Hill | This project aims to study the forest structure at The Habitat in order to better understand the diversity of plant and animal life in the different canopy layers and other aspects of forest ecology.
Testing the potential for the Effective Food Waste Composter (EFWC) to reduce waste on Penang Hill | The EFWC is an invention of Assoc. Prof Dr Che Zalina Zulkifli from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and is designed to provide an efficient option to accelerate the transformation of food waste into compost atop Penang Hill.
Building Sustainable Schools – engaging and empowering young green changemakers | Building on Think City’s Green Corridor initiative to encourage schools to use their fields for urban biodiversity gardens, this project will support six schools in composting, strengthening green corridors, and growing herbs and vegetables.
Conserving the migratory shorebirds and wetlands of Teluk Air Tawar-Kuala Muda Coast | The Shorebirds Project of Peninsular Malaysia led by Dr Nur Munira will use its Conservation Grant to continue monitoring and documenting the abundance and diversity of birds visiting the TAT-KM Coast.
Perak
Developing native tree nurseries with local Jahai | Royal Belum State Park | The Habitat Foundation is partnering the Perak State Parks Corporation (PSPC) and Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) to pilot an innovative programme to engage Jahai Orang Asli within the park to establish native tree nurseries from the seeds of wild fruit trees, dipterocarps, and other target species.
Pahang
Community-based mangrove restoration | Cherating and Chendor | This project invests in the mangrove restoration work being done by MNS Pahang in Chendor and Cherating, a popular destination for community-managed ecotourism.
Song of the Gibbons: An ethnoprimatological approach to conservation of the Hylobatidae | Taman Negara | Song of the Gibbons is part of an innovative three-year study using passive acoustic monitoring to better understand gibbon population ecology in and around Taman Negara National Park.
Klang Valley
Strengthening capacity for biodiversity conservation impact among CBOs | Greater KL | Kota Damansara Community Forest Society (KDCFS) was established in 2011 to serve as the official community counterpart to the forest reserve which was gazetted for protection in 2010. Today, it is regarded as a model community-managed urban forest and the Society is looking toward establishing a common platform to protect remaining green areas in the Klang Valley.
Rewilding and restoring native species to the urban landscape | Petaling Jaya | Based at the Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden at Universiti Malaya, Urban Biodiversity Initiative (UBI) with the support of The Habitat Foundation is working to implement a project promoting the rewilding of urban landscapes through education and community engagement.
Interstate Initiatives
Connecting Cats: Assessing the population connectivity of apex predators | Belum-Temenggor Forest Complex, Perak and Kenyir region, Terengganu | This study led by Kate Allberry of The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent working with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) will evaluate the genetic diversity of tigers, leopards and clouded leopards in Peninsular Malaysia to assess how effectively designated forest corridors are facilitating gene flow and movement between small populations.
Population and ecology of the Malaysian Plover (Charadrius peronii) | Perak, Selangor and Johor | Al-Kautsar Hidayanto and Nurul Syafiqa of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) will gather data on the ecology and population health of the Malaysian Plover. This information is necessary to guide effective conservation actions for Malaysia’s only resident plover.
Visit our grant recipient page for more details on the initiatives we are committed to.
