malaysian naturalist, june 2018
Imagine his surprise when his little night walk went viral and attracted some 500 people. All because of news that this patch of forest between the densely populated Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Hartamas and Penchala hosted fireflies, and even the largest of them, the genus Lamprigera.
Of course, Wong, also known to friends and the larger MNS fraternity as “Sonny”, will be quick to tell you that fireflies are an important indicator of the health of an ecosystem, and should be treated as a keystone species for conservation – right up to the point your eyes glaze over and you desperately say “look, there’s one!” to get away. We’re kidding.
But the Kiara Lamprigera find is no joke. It started with a “jaw-dropping” photo taken by MNS compatriot Lim Koon Hup in March 2017. So in May, when Wong was hosting award-winning photographer Radim Schreiber on his firefly search in Kuala Selangor and then here in the city, he took the opportunity to search for himself. Assisted by a friend familiar with the area and accompanied by two other MNS members, the small group went off-road along one of the jungle trails, on the vague hope that a dark patch near running water would be the ticket.
So it was. When the world had quietened down and the eye had grown accustomed to the dark, Schreiber spotted the tell-tale glow of a firefly larvae. It was the Lamprigera, on the first try. Cue an hour of photography and excited-but-hushed explanations, and Wong went away happy.
What it marked, Wong said, was the potential for firefly eco-tourism in urban forests, something he has been working on following some 20 years of scouting out fireflies in a variety of forests. “We’re familiar with firefly tourism in places such as Kampung Kuantan, but maybe it’s time to look at fireflies in the city to impel the conservation of urban forests or green areas,” he said, adding that he had also found fireflies in the patch of Bukit Persekutuan forest next to the MNS headquarters. And this is right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, which bodes well for the city.
Wong takes his inspiration from Da’an Park in Taipei, which he visited as part of the 2017 International Firefly Symposium held there. The park is part of a major eco-rehabilitation programme by Taiwan’s government to create a “city of fireflies”, which Wong attributed to awareness and public interest in bringing fireflies back into Taipei. “Perhaps it is time to look at this for Kuala Lumpur, for Malaysia as a whole. Not only is this beneficial for fireflies, the trickle-down effect is a healthy urban environment, which provides ecological services to the city and contributes to the health and wellbeing of its citizens.”
To promote such awareness, Wong’s immediate plan is to organise the inaugural celebration for World Firefly Day. The event will be held at Kampung Kuantan, featuring exhibitions, activities, talks and workshops, plus a night tour along the Selangor River. “We hope to showcase not only the beauty of fireflies, but also the potential of firefly watching and conservation, especially for local communities,” he said. In Kampung Kuantan, MNS was instrumental in setting up the first firefly tour by local communities in the 1970s, for which the area is now famous. MNS continues to work with local communities, as well as youths and NGOs, in rehabilitating and protecting the Sungai Selangor mangrove habitat to ensure the fireflies remain for a long time to come. Wong added that this assistance will extend to other communities in Malaysia and also regionally, as part of MNS’s tenet of creating communities who champion the environment. | World Firefly Day 2019 will take place on 6 & 7 July. The location will be announced in due course. |