Known as guardians of the coastlines, mangrove forests in turn need protection. A naturalist guide shares her thoughts on the best ways tourists can engage responsibly with them.

Dharkshen ‘Dee’ Selva grew up in Langkawi and became a naturalist guide under the tutelage of her father Selva. Growing up on stories of local legends and the complex mangrove ecosystems, Dee aims to inspire tourists to take a conscious approach when interacting with nature.

The mangrove forest, a coastal guard between land and sea.
Photo by Naventhan a/l Ahrasan, The Habitat Foundation.

Ethical exploration of mystical mangroves

Lanky roots intertwined with one another create a web that coastal juveniles call home. This is the mysterious mangrove forest. Many marine lives seek refuge from predators in its cage-like root structures. The ones who know come here for a feast.

For us, the mangrove is a coastal guard acting as a barrier from natural disasters, a filter of runoff from land-based activities, and a stabiliser of shorelines, preventing erosion and coastal flooding.

Simply put, it is an evolutionary blessing to the natural world and mankind.

I was first introduced to the mangrove forest of Langkawi’s majestic Kilim Geoforest Park at the age of ten. I would accompany my dad, a naturalist who guides travellers from around the globe, into this ancient geological heritage. Langkawi is an island populated by diverse mangrove species against a backdrop of primarily limestone karst formations.

Coastal karst merges with the mangrove ecosystem at Kilim Geoforest Park.
Photo by Steve Douglas, Unsplash.

We would paddle into the tributary densely populated by Rhizophora apiculata and Rhizophora mucronata.
During low tide, you can witness the intricate root system of the mangrove trees and the mudskippers burying themselves in the slimy alluvial mud. At high tide, you are closer to the reaching branches and you will notice the light through the fluttering leaves as you paddle into the enchanted forest.

Differentiating between low and high tides in the mangrove systems.
Photo by Dharkshen Selva, Selva’s Untold Stories.

This is a whole new world; an entirely unique ecosystem to be consciously explored, so that it is preserved for generations to come.

The rich biodiversity at Kilim Geoforest Park led to its endorsement as a UNESCO Global Geopark. Although protected by its status, it serves as a representative of other mangrove forests in our region, which are deteriorating in health as a result of unsustainable development. Often, they are seen as ‘redundant forests’ that can be cleared for development purposes. I bring travellers to Kilim Geoforest Park not just to marvel at this precious landscape, but to educate them about its fragile nature.

Bird’s-eye view of the Langkawi archipelago consisting of mountains, channels, and mangrove forests.
Photo by Dharkshen Selva, Selva’s Untold Stories.

There are important guidelines to follow when exploring mangroves, and we educate our visitors during our kayaking tours on how to leave no trace behind. Here are a few ways you can explore the mangrove forest consciously.

1. Paddle your way into the tidal creeks of the forest

Exploring the mangrove forest without the use of a motorised boat is always the more sustainable option, no fumes, no noise. Opting for a kayak, which translates as a “hunter’s boat” in old Greenlandic language, also means that you can manoeuvre through the mangrove’s tidal creeks and channels of the forest to explore the ecosystem up close, spot wild animals, and understand the play of tides better than any other mode of transportation.

Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) is also a great way to explore the forest, but you should have received training on how to paddleboard before your tour. You also need to check if local authorities have deemed it safe to use in the waters you are in.

Pit stop at the eagle area of Kilim Geoforest Park. Photo By Martin Liu, guest of Selva’s Untold Stories.

As a mangrove guide, I have seen guests with zero experience with kayaking picking up the skills instantaneously, whilst others go round and round and get frustrated! All mangrove tour guides should take time before the tour to ensure that the guests have strong basic manoeuvring skills so they do not damage mangrove roots or disturb the water too much.

Tip for kayaking: Paddle left and right gently and with equal force to steer the kayak towards a straight line. If there are two in the boat, the person in front will power most of the paddling while the person at the back paddles to steer and gives instructions.

2. Invest in a storyteller to bring the mangroves to life.

In his Pulitzer-winning novel The Overstory, Richard Powers describes people’s detachment to trees as such:

“You can’t see what you don’t understand. But what you think you already understand, you’ll fail to notice.”

A tour through the mangrove forest can be transformed from a relaxing day-out to a perspective-changing experience with the magic touch of a knowledgeable guide.

A guide with deep understanding and charming storytelling can take you back in time to when the continents shifted and land trees evolved to have ‘legs’ to stand in water, turning into the mangrove coastal guardians we know today.

Dazzling elements of Langkawi Island. Photo by Thinneshkumar.

A great guide will not just talk about the subject matter in isolation, but relate it to the bigger picture. Mangrove forests are threatened today because we have viewed them in a detached manner: a strip of forest in the way of development opportunities.

A storyteller’s words can remind us that these forests were where people built homes, collected mangrove wood for fires, hunted to feed families, and sheltered from danger. Storytelling brings knowledge and emotion together, effectively broadening and changing our views.

The ecosystem showcases its diversity according to the weather pattern that
makes exploring mangrove most times. Photo by Dharkshen Selva, Selva’s Untold Stories.

Growing up mesmerised by Sir David Attenborough’s wild journey in nature, I was equally pampered in the real world by my dad Selva’s storytelling skills that brought mangrove swamps to life.

My recommendation for skillful storytelling naturalists and guides for mangrove excursions in Langkawi include (in no particular order) Selva from Selva’s Untold Stories, Irshad Mobarak from Junglewalla, Dev from Dev Adventures and Othman Ayeb from Rimbawi Geo Discovery.

3. Enhance your experience through senses and digital tools

One can spot a mangrove pit viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus), smooth coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), brown hooded kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) and Brahminy kite (Haliastur indus) among many other species in this forest if you know where to look.

Brahminy kite photographed by Rajukhan Pathan,
Unsplash. Rest of the photos by Selva’s Untold Stories.

While they are majestic in appearance, most of these creatures are timid in nature and will disappear in the blink of an eye or act territorial if they are approached too closely. So be mindful as you are moving through the mangroves.

Those who know how to watch wildlife will tell you to hear them first. For example, you can prepare by familiarising yourself with the distinct calls of birds. The moment you hear them in the forest, make sure you have your binoculars or camera on standby. Nature reveals itself to those who are ready!

4. Support the operators who care for the community and the habitat

If you show up at Kilim Geoforest Park just before sunrise, you will be greeted by a group of fishermen at the fishermen’s port, a short distance away from the tourist’s jetty. The local fishermen from Kampung Kilim load their boats with nets and tools for a fruitful (in their case, fishful) return.

If there is a mangrove forest somewhere, there is likely to be a fisherman village nearby. The coastal community is intrinsically connected to the mangrove forest as they depend on the ecosystem for their livelihood.

A fisherman returning to the fishermen’s jetty at Kilim after a day out at sea.
Photo by Dharkshen Selva.

When choosing a tour operator or guide, be sure to find out more about their ethos, values, and their contribution to the coastal community. Here are some reflection questions:

• How do their tours support and interact with the locals?
• Is the primary focus of their tours the welfare of the wildlife and habitat?
• Do they regulate the number of visitors entering the forest?

These questions are important to ask as there are many businesses out there that put profit above ethics. For example, a conscious tour operator will not feed sea eagles by hand with chicken feet in order to guarantee tourists a sighting, as such actions will change the eagles’ natural behaviours.

5. Find out if you can do more

If you have experienced the boat trip, kayaking, taken a stroll on the platform at the mangrove area and are able to appreciate their ecosystem services, congratulations, you are truly a mangrove enthusiast!

Now what?

Time to get creative, that’s for sure.

There are some operators or guides who would be able to cater to requests to fish, swim in a safe zone, cliff jump (at your own risk), or run a mangrove clean-up.

There are many organisations working to conserve various mangrove sites across Malaysia. Some notable ones are Wetlands International Malaysia and Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare Association (PIFWA). There are also many seasonal CSR projects focused on mangrove ecosystems that call for volunteers. Those interested should be on the lookout on social media platforms.  

More light is being shed on how our mangrove forests sustain livelihoods, are coastline protectors, are effective carbon-offsetting ecosystems, and have economical value for the tourism sector.

However, these trees cannot speak or vote. They cannot defend themselves against our man-made plans and policies. They are like magicians who cannot reveal their secrets, leaving it up to us to decipher them, to look deeper and connect the dots, to create a culture that appreciates and values these incredible places before it is too late.

Learn more about Kilim Geoforest Park

Book a tour with Selva’s Untold Stories

Writer: Dharkshen Selva (Selva’s Untold Stories)