In the last year, we recruited 33 new members and 65 new observers (a total of 80) who have contributed to our iNaturalist project (join here ) . We’ve accumulated 1525 observations (338 new observations)(consisting of 537 species (from 422 last year). A lot of this year's observations are of mushrooms, frogs, and insects. Breaking them down into taxonomic groups, we’ve observed 272 plants, 157 insects, 25 fungi, 21 arachnids, 12 amphibians, 18 birds, 9 reptiles and others. F

Members of the community including other people joined this year's community bioblitz. This year's theme is about aquatic bodies. At first, our guide spent some time teaching new members how to use the iNaturalist app. When we were ready, we went to nearby water ponds and tanks to observe aquatic plants and frogs. Even though it was a small event, we were able to learn more about the kind of environmental conditions aquatic plants needs as well as the animals that inhabit t

For the first time, we had two classes of high school students come for an educational activity to learn about local forests. We spent a long time having a discussion. We asked what they like about nature. We introduced that ecologists all start with being curious about a natural phenomena and they endeavor to understand what they observe. The fundamental concepts of ecology and biodiversity were explained. How scientists  focus on different ecological scales, from individual

Several times a year, members of the farm have to maintain the roads and clear the water pipelines. There were heavy rain events this year, which meant a lot of trees have been structurally damaged so they had to be pruned or cut down. Lots of debris clogged pipelines which meant flooding and sometimes no tap water. What we do is we manually collect debris and soil from the road and pile them together on the side somewhere nearby. Fun fact, piling woody debris is actually a h

This year has been a busy month for all members of the farm. Despite several rain events this summer, a lot of the seedlings have died due to drought and a lack of consistent watering. Unfortunately, that is how things are. We have hundreds and hundreds of seedlings in need of transplanting them to bigger pots. On the positive side, we propagated a few new species we’ve never propagated before in small trays in the hopes that they can be planted around the farm when they beco

This summer, school kids from San Min Elementary School visited us again for another educational activity. This year’s topic was about signs of unhealthy trees—how to inspect, what to look for, and the causes that damage and/or negatively affect trees and their growth. Weevils, long-horn beetles, scarab beetles, stick insects, gall insects, moths and caterpillars, root-rotting fungi, squirrels, and muntjacs were the main wildlife introduced as common predators or infesters of

This summer, school kids from Juhu Elementary school visited us for a school trip to learn about the forests in their local landscape. The theme for this educational activity was about nutrient cycling and the importance of animals playing a role in this by decomposing organic matter such as leaves and wood. We introduced various fauna and explained what they do and where to find them. One by one, we went over fungi, microorganisms, earthworms, termites, millipedes, slime mol

This year, we held another bioblitz activity, but with kids this time, to encourage them to observe with curiosity and understand how making observations through the app contributes to citizen science. It is also a great way to discover the biodiversity of any area of interest. Teenagers with phones were paired with youngers kids who had no phones. In small groups, they were off to find animals during the early night. With the help of torches and headlights, the kids were abl

This summer, Juhu Ecological Park invited a pangolin expert and wildlife lover to take a group of people for a walk to search for nocturnal fauna. She first gave a short talk about how to identify frogs and snakes with a flowchart. She even prepared jars and jars of snake specimen and different animal faeces for us to guess. In two hours, we could hear and see 6 different frog species- La Touche’s frog, Ornate chorus frog, Olive frog, Rice field frog, White-lipped tree frog,

On most days, farmers and staff carry out their daily work and responsibilities. When the timing and conditions are right, we engage in...

One of the objectives in our community forestry project is to have more local community members to join the project. This year, we gave...

Oaks (Fagaceae) are one of the peculiar plant families that make it especially challenging to understand how and when they flower and...

In just 2 years, we recruited 23 members and 15 observers who have contributed to our iNaturalist project (join here ) . We’ve...

Twice a year, two staff members weed out grasses and invasive weeds along both sides of the road in the village, a distance stretching up...

One of our long-standing goals is to be inclusive in community-based management of the surrounding environment. There are always certain...

For many years, the farmers of Juhu Ecological Park have collected and propagated many native tree species for various purposes, such as...

It isn’t often you hear kids being little field scientists. With lots of camera traps lying around, we thought it would be a great idea...

This summer, students from a local elementary school just by the coast from where we are came for a field trip to learn about the local...

In late June, kids from an elementary school visited us for an educational field trip. That early morning, we had to prepare for a seed...

Every year, mandarin limes ripen in October and November. This year the team in JEP has harvested baskets and baskets of heavy mandarin...