Tuesday, July 19, 2011

National Botany Park







Throughout its almost 30 years in existence,it has gone through three name changes. The park came to  existence sparked off from an idea from then minister of agriculture. The idea of establishing a one stop centre for all agricultural activities in the country. Built in a logged over low land forest and the only green lung and water catchment areas for Shah Alam,the park would showcased  many agriculture activities for tourist and town folks to understand our agri sector in depth and its importance in economic contribution for the country, without leaving the comfort of the city too. It has a fruit orchard, padi field, fishing ponds ,mini cocoa and oil palm plantations and many other attractions. It is a well recomended weekend getaway destination for families who dont want to travel far for picnics or to stay overnight.

I always have a soft spot for the park. It was my recreational ground when it was still under development almost 30 years ago. It had plenty of challenging trails and it was fun to ride there when it was still fully covered with tropical forest cover, not to mention four wheel driving too. When it was opened to public in the late eighties  connecting roads were built for the convenience of the visitors and I lost my natural trails and sadly own  mountain bikes are not allowed anymore. I found my way in illegally having knowing every nooks and cranies of the park. Normally I entered the park via an orang asli village nearby which has since became another housing estate. Orang asli are allowed to enter and gather produce and hunt in the park since it is their customary right.The reason why riders own bikes were not allowed was because they set up a bike renting business and they wanted you to rent their cheap unreliable bikes, I would broke the bikes within five minutes of riding. I stayed away in the mid 90s onward and rode my mountain bikes away from my homeground normally in Bukit Kiara and Ulu Yam.

The park has shrunk to about 800 hectares from its original hectarage of almost 2000 due to development for housing but its better than nothing. I have started to ride my mountain bikes in the park again now that own bikes are allowed. I truly enjoyed it.......all is not lost,
There are still hope.

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