Treasures in front of our doors
Megadiverse countries harbor a great part of the Earth's species. A simple comparison of numbers of natives trees species that are 32 in Great Britain and 2830 in Peninsular Malaysia gives an idea of the extraordinary richness of old tropical forests. In past, Western explorers and botanists were risking their lives enriching the collections of museums with exotic plants and animals that were deemed with greatest interest. Today a high number of these trees species can be seen alive in the urban parks of tropical countries. However, their Natural History and contribution to our cultures remain widely unknown to the public. Pokok.online is a Web portal where information, stories and history are linked to the tree-tags of urban parks. The goal is to rediscover this rich heritage and to give new sense to the nature and places we are appreciating.
Trees between Nature and Culture
Identifying trees is an experience linking the discovery of an inherited natural order with the expression of human creativity in the form of poems, beliefs, plant names, stories, agricultures... Places with high tree diversity are witnessing rich historic relationships between people and Nature. Reconnecting cultural identities and history to a common biophysical reality creates place attachment and holds the promise of sustainable futures.
Parks and places
Pokok.online is a free on-site Web portal maintained by Arboribus Databases SDN BHD to experiment the use of mobile media for tree identification.
To favor real-world observations, tree names, botanical characters, species ecology and uses are accessed on-site using matrix barcodes and numbered tree tags.
The service is publicly available at:
- Taman Botani Ampang (MPAJ)
- Municipal Public Park (MPAJ)
- Town Park Pandan Indah (MPAJ)