KOTA KINABALU, June 20 — Gunung Alab Substation, situated along the Kota Kinabalu-Tambunan road here, has become a popular spot for nature adventure, more so because it sits within the protected forest area of the Crocker Range Park.

More importantly, the Crocker Range Park is home to thousands of tropical wild orchid species and was also the reason behind the setting up of a wild orchid garden at Gunung Alab Substation.

Sabah Parks ranger Benidict Joseph Busin said the Gunung Alab Substation Wild Orchid Garden, which is managed by Sabah Parks, keeps more than 100 wild orchid species collected from the forest around the mountain.

Established in 2015, the garden was built among the trees with a 400-metre walking platform that surrounds the parks for the convenience of visitors.

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“I was personally involved in collecting wild orchid plants in the deep forest in the vicinity of the Gunung Alab and then replanted them in this garden for visitors to view them close up,” he told Bernama.

Besides managing the Gunung Alab Substation, Benidict is also very much involved in protecting wild orchid species growing or found within the park, which he considered as a flora heritage and one such plant was even named after him.

As a forest ranger, he was also aware that wild orchid plants are being sold at open market, especially at tamu or farmers’ markets in Tambunan and other places.

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“I’m not saying that those orchid plants were taken from the Crocker Range Park but I’m definitely very concerned because as far as I know, there are still many wild orchid species in the area that has not been explored or identified.

“If they were indeed collected through encroachment into the Crocker Range Park, then it could pose a threat to the wild orchid plants. Bear in mind that these unique plant species are part of our natural flora. We need to protect them for our next generation to inherit,” he said.

With an undisturbed forest area twice the size of Singapore, Crocker Range Park is Sabah’s largest terrestrial park and lies within eight districts in the West Coast and Interior of Sabah with the elevation ranging between 100 m and 2,050 m at the peak of Gunung Alab.

Most of the parks are covered with forest with a tract of perhaps the last remaining hills dipterocarp forest in the west coast of Sabah, besides being an important water catchment area.

Benidict said, before the Gunung Alab Substation was opened in 2006, it was only a monitoring post managed by two Sabah Parks staff.

The construction of its accommodation facilities was started in 2010 and opened to public in 2014.

Now popularly known as one of Sabah’s best natural therapy or lung cleansing destinations, the Gunung Alab Substation, which has a couple of chalets and hostels, also provides jungle trekking to several waterfalls, including an 8-hour, 12 km trail to Mahua waterfall.

“Many locals and foreign tourists have trekked this trail to enjoy the fresh air and nature. There are camping grounds along the trails and some visitors opt to camp in the forest,” he said, adding that he was assisted by five non-government staff.

The park ranger said before he was assigned to Gunung Alab Substation in 2010, he was attached to the botany unit at Kinabalu Parks and has also served at Sipadan Island and Marine Park in Semporna.

He said the Gunung Alab Substation used to receive an average of 1,000 visitors a year but the number has since dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now closed temporarily. — Bernama