The Great Dunes of Pyla

I have seen some magnificent and beautiful sand dunes in my home country of Scotland, far up in the north west, and I have also seen and driven through large extensive sand dunes in the Empty Quarter between UAE and Saudi Arabia. So recently when visiting the Bordeaux area in France and someone suggested we visit the Great Dunes of Pyla, situated on the south side of Arcachon Bay close to the town of Arcachon, I was not expecting very much.

However the Dunes of Pyla (or Pilat) were very impressive and well worth the visit. These are the largest sand dunes in Europe reaching a height of 108m and stretching some 50m wide by 2.7km long. The dunes are moving landward at a rate of around 5m or more a year engulfing the local pine forest as well as roads and houses as they move. 

The dunes are easily accessible from a road south of Arcachon with ample car parking and a path leading through the pines to the base of the sand mound. A set of plastic steps has even been installed to help those visitors to climb to the top of the ridge with relative ease. A walk along the top ridge gives you a commanding view over Arcachon Bay and the Cap Ferrret peninsula as well as over the large pine forest on the landward side. The spot is a popular tourist destination for walkers as well as the more adventurous paragliders. 

Bukit Tinggi Japanese Gardens

Japanese gardens are always so soothing and this one is surprisingly located close to the top of a jungle-clad hill in Malaysia on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

At 3,500 feet above sea level on Bukit Tinggi is the Zen-inspired Japanese Village, where you can stroll along the landscaped Japanese Garden. And if you feel like it, you can rejuvenate at the Tatami Spa or participate in a tea drinking ceremony at the authentic wooden Japanese Tea House.

This Japanese Village in the middle of a tropical forest is the work of a Japanese architect, Kaio Ariizumi. Together with other experts he designed the landscape according to the ambiance of a typical Japanese village, with stoned lightings, pebbled streams and pools with koi fishes and varieties of Japanese flora.

The Japanese garden here is artistically crafted, with bonsai trees and bamboo plants, small bridge crossing with cobbled stones, pool and waterfalls – elements of nature typical of a Japanese traditional village. Crossing the small bridge there is an authentic Japanese tea house, which is covered with Japanese tatami mat and door of paper with wooden frames. Here, guests can browse the exhibit on Japanese handicrafts and participate in a Japanese-style tea drinking ceremony.

Forest Fresh

There is something refreshing and relaxing about a walk in the shade of a pine forest as you look up into the branches reaching for the sky and taking in the aroma of the pine leaves. This image of a small pine forest was taken in Fremantle, Western Australia and provided a welcome relief from the heat and brightness of the sun.

Deforestation Dilemma

Deforestation is a major issue worldwide but particularly so in sensitive environments like the swamp peat forests of Asia. A peat swamp forest is an extremely diverse ecosystem with about 500 species of trees which can grow up to around 30m tall. Some are valuable timber species and there are also some  useful medicinal plants. From a conservation point of view these species are very important so it is an extremely large impact when this forest is cleared and burnt. All forest fires in the tropics are human related as naturally there is no fire in the system, hence the reason that the layer of plant material has built up to a thickness of around 10m. 

A peat swamp forest acts like a sponge, absorbing rain and river water, helps control floods during the rainy season and releases much needed water during the dry season. It is an ecologically important ecosystem for the regulation of climate with the trees absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing this in a thick layer of un-decomposed plant material or peat. The peat in this forest is up to 10m thick, has accumulated over the last 10,000 years and is one of the most important global stores of carbon therefore regulating the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

Many of these peat swamp forest are illegally cleared and burnt for agricultural purposes. Regeneration of a damaged peat swamp forest will not be easy; after all, it took some 10,000 years for the peat to form. While rehabilitation of peat swamps has been inadequately studied it may take some 50 years for a damaged forest to re-establish itself; that is, assuming that its hydrology was not significantly spoiled.