On Wednesday the 15th of October, the Rainforest Restoration Project worked with Beyond Social Services' LIFE school, to execute fun and educational activities regarding local trees and their importance to the world. Part of the mission of the Rainforest Restoration Project is to spread knowledge and support of indigenous trees, and the group wanted to establish a connection with a local service to help achieve this.
"Link the Pictures" activity- the students were asked to discuss the relationship
between Forest Fires and the Haze in Singapore
"Five Senses" Activity for Saga
Longan, Saga, and Durian saplings were brought to the learning center, along with their respective seeds. The children had the opportunity to learn about the trees and how to identify them, through a "five senses activity" which allowed them to have a hands-on experience with each species. The students also discussed the negative impacts of deforestation on the environment- from global impacts, to right here at home.
The students at "Beyond social services" may not have had the same access to education, especially in English, as their peers. According to supervisor Ian Moody, the session went very well; the students were fully engaged in the activities and enjoyed taking part in them. The activities also helped to expand the students' vocabularies, as much of the vocabulary used to describe the trees was new to them.
This has been the outcome of a long-running project for the Dover Rainforest Restoration Outreach group, with planning taking place during the majority of term 1. Big thanks to Ian Moody and "Beyond Social Services" for working with us. We are very happy that the activities went as well as they did, and hope to partner with more services in the future.
After the planting of a Horsefieldia irya and a Mangrove next to the middle school block, the Dover RRP group got together at the school campus to replace a dead tree and plant two new ones. The trees were planted in our central plaza, where they will form a sheltered avenue of native trees. We replaced the Pentaspadon motleyi, which had unfortunately died. The tree was hardened off in the nursery, however, conditions in this area are often difficult, with poor soils and heavy rainfall. In addition to this, we planted a Lagerstroemia floribunda (Crepe Myrtle), which the school received from a local supplier. The planting was very successful, despite the wet soil due to previous rain. This tree should provide a lot of color when it eventually blooms.
However, these poor conditions may be the reason why the Aquilaria sinensis saplings have not prospered as expected. We will continue to monitor and apply foliar feed/mulch and hope for the best.
These and other trees on both campuses are currently up for adoption through the Adopt a tree project that is run through the UWCSEA Foundation. Proceeds go towards nurturing the tree until it matures and contributing to the Annual Fund. This would be a great way to show your support of environmental protection. In addition to that, a personalised plaque goes up just for you beside your adopted tree! Click on this link to learn more: https://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/adoptatree
On the 29th of April, 6 Dover campus RRP members participated in a family planting project in the McKenzies' lovely and spacious compound. The fact that Mr McKenzie is a UWCSEA alumnus and currently a UWCSEA parent certainly helped the family feel connected with the environmental sustainability mission of RRP. Alongside with Mr McKenzie's family and his family friend (including the children!), we successfully planted 6 trees around the compound, after putting in much consideration on the suitability of different trees on the specific locations. It is worth mentioning that all of the trees are grown from seed in the UWCSEA rainforest nursery. 5 out of the 6 trees are indigenous rainforest tree species, except for Flame of the Forest, a naturalised tree species in Singapore, for it has a wonderful aesthetic quality that will complement the garden very well. The trees are as follows:
Hopea odorata (Chengol Pasir)
Dimocarpus longan (Longan tree)
Mangifera indica (Mango tree)
Syzygium cumini (Jamun)
Adenanthera povinina (Saga Tree)
Delonix regia (Flame of the Forest)
A huge shout-out to Mr and Mrs McKenzie for being part of the RRP movement and their incredible hospitality. We hope that the trees will make their home all the more pleasant!
Rainforest Restoration students do not only work to save rainforest trees on our campus, but we are also campaigning on saving the Leuser Ecosystem through Rainforest Action Network.
You can also start campaigning by signing up on ran.org/saverainforests or by spreading the word out to all your friends and family members.
On the 22nd of February, 2 Aquilaria sinensis trees were planted at Dover Campus. The trees were donated by Asia Plantation Capital Malaysia, and much effort went into transporting the trees to Singapore. Thank you to Asia Plantation Capital Malaysia, the school really appreciates your generous donation!
TheAquilaria sinensis is a genus of fifteen species of tree in the Thymelaeaceae family, which is native to Southeast Asia. The trees grow to between six and 20 metres in height are found in the rainforests of China and is one the species grown on APC’s plantations. The timber is traded around South East Asia and the Middle East. It is highly sought after as it has many uses; it's resin is sweet smelling, used for incense and sold for around SGD $10,000 per kilogram in 2014. Its resin can also be distilled to form oil, which is sold for at nearly $55,000 per kilogram. Due to it's expensive prices, the oil has been dubbed "liquid gold".
Zaahira Mohammad of APC tells the story of the donation:
“The idea to support UWCSEA’s Reforestation Project by way of donating an agarwood tree,” said
John Berry of APC, “or more specifically the Aquilaria sinensis sapling, came after a recent discussion I had
with Nathan Hunt. We discussed what the College was teaching with regards to flora and fauna,
and this idea came up. By donating these saplings, students at UWCSEA will be able to learn more
about this agarwood species, while conserving it.”
Asia Plantation Capital has proven itself to be a pioneer and innovator in the sustainable plantation
sector, and its Scientific Advisory Board, working alongside a team of researchers, has evolved
technologies – many of which have been patented – to ensure that the once endangered species of
Aquilaria tree is now flourishing in the wild and continuing to produce one of nature’s most precious
substances.
The products made from the trees on Asia Plantation Capital’s estates have full CITES (the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) approval and
certification – a testament to the fact that the company is passionate about its role in not only
making sure that there are agarwood supplies around for future generations, but also that products
are sourced ethically and sustainably.
This video of the tree planting (and photos) were kindly supplied by Asia Plantation Capital:
The rest of the trees will be planted in the near future, so keep a lookout for more!
On 6th of March, a team of 7 UWCSEA members carried out a successful planting project with the students of Dover Court International School. Other than planting a total of 7 trees on the lush field of Dover Court, it was an incredible experience as we guided the younger members of Dover Court in the planting steps, teaching them the techniques of digging, mulching, fertilizing and labeling the plants. It is our hope that the trees will grow healthily and that these young fellows will do their part in conserving rainforest tree species as well!
A big thank you to Mr Jonathan Fisher and the Dover Court community for making this possible!
On Sunday the 12th of February, Earthfest took place at Marina Barrage. There, the Rainforest Restoration project ran a stall, which students from both Dover and East Campus took part in. The event was a great way to connect with people who all care about the same cause, and engage people with what the Rainforest Restoration Project does.
As well as raising awareness regarding what the Rainforest Restoration Project aims to do, the students and teachers from the project ran a variety of activities. A big highlight of the stall was the tree identification activity, in which people had to match the tree to a given description, with the help of a terminology key. As well as this, people could do a quiz regarding sustainability and conservation of species. In each case, a Longan tree could be won.
Dover students continued with the reforestation programme on campus last week with 4 Pentaspadon Motleyitrees planted in the central heart of the campus. Known as the Pelong Tree in Malay, this a swamp forest species and thus likely to do well in the damper soil close to our water catchment area. The trees were donated as seedlings by the Singapore Botanic Gardens and raised in our dedicated tree nursery at Dover.
However we will need to nurture carefully in the current dry spell (that ground was very hard to dig!) and may even have to provide some temporary shading as the trees were probably brought out too quickly from the Dover Nursery. We are still learning how much adjustment to full light conditions tree saplings need before planting out. Early signs of leaf burn mean we may have misjudged the transition this time.
Luckily we have a dedicated team of conservation students at both campuses to keep an eye on the new planting over the coming weeks.
Watch out from more planting in this area in coming weeks as we make an avenue of beautiful rainforest trees at the green heart of Dover.
