First Announcement

IMCG Field Symposium and General Assembly: Malaysia and Brunei
(Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo) - August 2016

The field symposium will be held from 19 August to 28 August 2016. The scientific congress and IMCG General Assembly will be held at the end of the Field Symposium.

The program will be taking participants across the variety of lowland peat swamp forest and highland peatlands in both Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. These peatlands are some of the best developed tropical peat swamp forests globally with high biodiversity and unique characteristics. The visits will also give an opportunity to see ongoing conservation and rehabilitation measures as well as engagement of local communities. Due to logistic constraints participants may be restricted to a maximum of 35-40 participants.

The symposium will start at Kuching, Sarawak and end in Cameron Highland, Peninsular Malaysia. Participants can book their return flight from Kuala Lumpur. Please block the date and make early registration to secure seats on internal flights and accommodation in small towns.

Preliminary program

Day 1, Fri 19 August 2016 (Afternoon) Departure to Maludam National Park (by road and by boat)
overnight at Maludam National Park

Day 2, Sat 20 August Excursion to Maludam National Park, at 43,147 ha the largest remaining lowland contiguous peat swamp forest in Sarawak
back to and overnight at Kuching

Day 3, Sun 21 August Depart to Miri by Air (early morning); excursion to Belait Peat Swamp Forest, one of best preserved peatlands in the region(by road)
Overnight in Brunei

Day 4, Mon 22 August Depart to Lawas by road Late morning: Excursion to Dacrydium and Casuarina Swamp Forest (Sarawak) After lunch: Travel to Long Pasia (Sabah)
Overnight at Long Pasia village

Day 5, Tue 23 August Excursion to Long Pasia swamp forest, a lower montane peatland with high plant and bird diversity Overnight at Long Pasia village

Day 6, Wed 24 August Depart to Kota Kinabalu by road Excursion to Klias Peat Swamp Forest visitor centre and boardwalk (Sabah)
Overnight at Kota Kinabalu

Day 7, Thur 25 August Depart to Kuala Lumpur by Air (morning) Excursion to Raja Musa Forest Reserve, visiting a community-based peatland forest rehabilitation program
Overnight at Homestay Sg Sireh

Day 8, Fri 26 August Excursion to the 81,000ha large lowland North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest, jungle trekking and boat ride along Tengi River, a natural black-water river; community livelihood Afternoon: Depart to Cameron Highland
Overnight at Cameron Highland

Day 9, Sat 27 August Seminar / General Assembly
Overnight at Cameron Highland

Day 10, Sun 28 August Excursion to upper montane mossy peat forest at Gunung Berinchang (high biodiversity)
Overnight at Cameron Highland

Day 11, Mon 29 August Depart to KL International Airport

The cost will be approximately 1100 euros including internal flights, ground transport, food and accommodation (based on twin sharing basis).

The Field Symposium is being organized by IMCG and Global Environment Centre (GEC) in conjunction with the respective state governments in Malaysia and Brunei. For more information and expressions of interest in participation -please fill out the Expression of Interest Form and send it to Hans Joosten from IMCG (E-mail: joosten(at)uni-greifswald(dot)de) or Julia Lo from GEC (E-Mail: julialo(at)gec(dot)org(dot)my)