Ting (eighth left) and others gather for a photo call before the 76th Hornbill Walk at the PNR.
MIRI: The Piasau Camp Miri Nature Park Society (PCMNPS) is reaffirming its commitment to continuous running of environmental-based activities the Piasau Nature Reserve (PNR) here.
Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Sebastian Ting, who is society chairman, cites the ‘Hornbill Walk’ and the publication of a coffee table book, as among PCMNPS’ key activities for 2020.
“Today, we have the 76th Hornbill Walk and by Saturday, May 16 (this year), we will reach the milestone 80th Hornbill Walk.
“It was agreed during our committee meeting earlier, to have this special occasion (80th Hornbill Walk) to include the breaking of the fast, in that the date is within the Ramadan month,” he told reporters yesterday prior to taking part in the 76th Hornbill Walk – the first of the series for this year.
Ting encouraged Mirians and all visitors to join in the walk, of which the admission is free and it is held every third Saturday of the month, commencing at 4.30pm with the route starting from PNR Interpretation
Centre.
Initiated in December 2012, the Hornbill Walk was meant to drum up public support to get the government establish a nature reserve here.
The move succeeded, in that the PNR was gazetted in December 2013 in recognition of its ecological, aesthetic and historical significance, in association with the local oil and gas industry that had been in operations since 1910.
Since then, the nature reserve has become one of Miri’s key tourist destinations.
The PNR is home to a diverse population of wildlife animals, most popularly the Oriental Pied hornbills.
It also serves as the city’s ‘green lung’ and as a buffer zone for the tides.