We talk so much about diversity, let's not forget biodiversity! I'd like to share with you something that's close to my heart for so many reasons.

Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) collaborates with five local communities to produce LitSara® products. SBC buys the Litsea cubeba oil (tenem in Kelabit & Lun Bawang; pahkak in Bidayuh) distilled by the communities, and then makes products from them.

LitSara® is the trademark name for Litsea cubeba, a plant with a chemical make-up that is unique to Sarawak. Combining science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, SBC registered an intellectual property (IP) for this plant.

Because of the IP, the communities receive Indigenous Knowledge Benefit Sharing (royalties) for every Litsara® product sold.

I think it’s incredible that traditional knowledge, and unique plants of our land can be IP registered, because many a times people seek knowledge from our community elders for their own profit and forget that the wisdom passed down through generations within these communities. With IP-registration, their traditional knowledge is legally owned and protected and people can still use the plants and commercialise, whilst still benefiting the community.

There’s so much more to share about these efforts, you can get more info and the products on www.litsara.com

(I personally am looking forward to the IP registration of our folk songs, but that’s a story for another day).

*images shows Litsara & NatureSara products. Find out more on their website :-)

#litsara #litsea #litseacubeba #ip #traditionalknowledge #sarawak #biodiversity #productshoot #biodegradablewipes #handsanitisers #local #sapotlocal #communities #dayak #kampung #harvesting #plantnowharvestlater #soil #green #linenspray #wipes #plants

Daddy wanted to share today that our little remote kampung Long Peluan, in ulu Baram Sarawak, planted 16 gensurai trees to commemorate 16 September; the trees will prevent landslides on the river banks and the fruits of the tree are the favourite food of ikan empurau

One of our Kenyah friends shared with us:
“A lot of that trees along the banks of Baram and tributaries have been cut down to make lesung by longhouses dwellers up to 1970s.
These trees were planted generations ago by a local giant family. Legend has it that the giant family was melikat (angel) sent by God” ☁️

🍃 I love that planting trees protects and feeds communities. Think about that 🍃

#trees #empurau #fish #river #rainforest #sarawak #borneo #kampung #village #riverbank #treeplanting #sky #freshwater #malaysiaday #indigenous #native #naturelover #naturegeography #rural #fishing #fruit #plantatree #plantnowharvestlater #kelabit #orangulu #kenyah

Always missing our highland home 🍃I always think it’s a wonder how my cousins & I, eventhough we weren’t born in the village, and some were born & live overseas, we still call the highlands our home. Kelabits are so spread out across world (the aunties call it our global longhouse), yet we’re a really tight-knit community with strong roots to this land, the mountains & the rivers 🤍 everything and everyone is somehow so familiar.

This is Bario, a collection of 16 villages in the Kelabit highlands. My great grandparents came from one of these villages, Batu Patong. Currently no more than 20 people live in Batu Patong village.

Listen to ~ Sunhat Song, from my latest album 💛 on Spotify, iTunes etc.

📍Bario, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

#bario #kelabit #sarawak #sarawaktravel #highland #home #borneo #mountain #nature #naturelovers #wanderlust #wanderer #mountains #hillside #naturegeography #moretodiscover

Commissioned contemporary Tree of Life piece inspired by motifs from my Orang Ulu heritage (Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo). Commission a piece by emailing [email protected]

Music : Gitu'an by Alena Murang

Portfolio : www.alenamurang.com/art

Here's my cousin Julian Rang and I doing solo male and female dance for our elders in Bario Asal longhouse in 2017. The male dance is the warrior dance, and the female dance imitates the hornbill. Playing sape' are my cousin Hezekiah Asim and uncle Gerawat Ulun.