The Green Connection is committed to Conservation and
sustainable use of the environment and makes every effort to create
minimum impact on the planet.
The GC has many snakes bred in captivity from wild caught
parents purchased from hunters. The wild caught snakes are
frequently damaged and require care and treatment for
injuries. We rehydrate them, treat injuries and then feed
them with high quality food. Males are released when they
are healthy. Females are released after egg laying. These
wild snakes are released back into remote areas of
National parks of Sabah. All the snakes on public
display were raised from eggs and have been handled daily.
The snakes are used in rotation so that they do not get
excessive handling from visitors.
Fish
All the commercial fish are purchased from fishers who would
otherwise have eaten them. We collect our own special, rare,
small or unusual fish. We do not fish or collect within
National Parks, tourist frequented areas or other protected
areas. We do have a number of Cites listed fish such as
Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), Arawana and a number
of small fw species which are seriously endangered in the
wild mostly due to habitat destruction. Our goal is to
breed from them and reduce their risk of extinction.
Coral
The giant kk coral reef tank has 17 tonnes artificial rock, 35 tonnes of
sand and is 450,000 litres. The corals for all the tanks in the aquarium
were planted from 2005-2007 on several nursery sites on degraded reef. The
coral nubbins came from coral fragments recovered from [fishing blast
sites]. A total of 6500 coral blocks were planted: some were overturned by
fish and the corals smothered, some grew so fast that they have become part
of the reef at the nursery site, some have been moved to the Green
Connection and the nursery corals have been thinned and moved apart with the
excess corals replanted back on degraded reef.
Turtles
The Green Turtle we have on display was purchased from a fisherman who
was intending to eat her. She had been stored on her back and was
desicated and stressed. She is probably 20-30 years old, growth rates
for Green turtles are very slow and average only 2-3cm/year (http://www.turtles.org/kiholo.htm).
Nesting in this species does not normally occur until a carapace length
of 90-100 cm about 50 years of age (http://www.turtles.org/atlgrnd.htm).
When she approaches sexual maturity, she will be released into the
Turtle islands Marine Protected area.
Sharks
Sharks are seriously threatened, we are doing all we can to breed from
our sharks. The Bamboo sharks breed regularly, we keep the males and
females apart except for mating to reduce injury from amorous males.
Eggs are collected, hatched and baby sharks reared in the best
conditions we can supply. Eventually we expect to be releasing bamboo
and coral catsharks back into the sea. Ultimately we would like to be
breeding black tip reef sharks but it is unclear if the tank we have is
big enough. Perhaps phase 2 will build a much bigger tank!
Water
Sabah has enough water!!! True apart from the dry season which seems to
get longer each year. The rainfall data however suggests that Sabah gets
wetter every year (http://www.es.lancs.ac.uk/people/nickc/raindvfc.htm).
All the rain falling at the Green Connection is stored and used. We have
about a 10 day store at all times. All toilets are flushed with
rainwater, and all fish live in rainwater. City water is only used for
places where hygiene is important, cafe, washbasins, food preparation,
showers.
Our waste treatment system produces water that fish and frogs live in
before it leaves our site. With a little sterilisation we could drink
the water we produce from sewage. The drain we discharge into is more
polluted than our discharge water.
Recycling & waste
Nothing goes to waste, all cans, food and paper are recycled. We compost
all leaves, garden waste and food scraps into garden compost using worm
technology. The rhino beetles that also inhabit our compost piles are
welcome addition to the decomposition process. Worms will eventually be
fed to fish, the rhino beetles fly or walk away.
Trees
The GC site cut down one Acacia tree during construction. While
acacia is poisonous and considered a pest it does provide
welcome shade. We have planted native Sabah trees to replace the
acacia and eventually we will remove the acacia to allow the
Sabah trees space to grow. When installing the electricity to
the site we added one extra telegraph pole to route the wires
round a tree. Additional cost to save the tree RM2000 about
US$400.
For World Environment Day 2010 we replanted the bird reserve
with trees and shrubs around the drain on Jalan Bunga Matahari.
See
Facebook for all the friends who helped.
Building design
We worked with an environmentally aware
Architect- Michael Chong -on the project and together we
have created a green building. The Green Connection Aquarium is
a Conservation and Environmental Education project from Aquatica
Aquarium and Discovery Centre SDN BHD. It was built to create an
awareness of conservation and environmental issues.
Currently the Green
connection has exhibits from 7 ecosystems and has over 1200
species big enough to see with the naked eye.
Click here for our species (Coming
soon)
The Green Connection
will be showcasing biodiversity with a series of articles every
week.
Join us on Facebook
Tour Operator
Press
View us on Flickr
The GC has many snakes bred in captivity from wild caught
parents purchased from hunters. The wild caught snakes are
frequently damaged and require care and treatment for
injuries. We rehydrate them, treat injuries and then feed
them with high quality food. Males are released when they
are healthy. Females are released after egg laying. These
wild snakes are released back into remote areas of
All the commercial fish are purchased from fishers who would
otherwise have eaten them. We collect our own special, rare,
small or unusual fish. We do not fish or collect within
National Parks, tourist frequented areas or other protected
areas. We do have a number of Cites listed fish such as
Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), Arawana and a number
of small fw species which are seriously endangered in the
wild mostly due to habitat destruction. Our goal is to
breed from them and reduce their risk of extinction.
The giant kk coral reef tank has 17 tonnes artificial rock, 35 tonnes of
sand and is 450,000 litres. The corals for all the tanks in the aquarium
were planted from 2005-2007 on several nursery sites on degraded reef. The
coral nubbins came from coral fragments recovered from [
The Green Turtle we have on display was purchased from a fisherman who
was intending to eat her. She had been stored on her back and was
desicated and stressed. She is probably 20-30 years old, growth rates
for Green turtles are very slow and average only 2-3cm/year (
Sharks are seriously threatened, we are doing all we can to breed from
our sharks. The Bamboo sharks breed regularly, we keep the males and
females apart except for mating to reduce injury from amorous males.
Eggs are collected, hatched and baby sharks reared in the best
conditions we can supply. Eventually we expect to be releasing bamboo
and coral catsharks back into the sea. Ultimately we would like to be
breeding black tip reef sharks but it is unclear if the tank we have is
big enough. Perhaps phase 2 will build a much bigger tank!
Sabah has enough water!!! True apart from the dry season which seems to
get longer each year. The rainfall data however suggests that Sabah gets
wetter every year (
Nothing goes to waste, all cans, food and paper are recycled. We compost
all leaves, garden waste and food scraps into garden compost using worm
technology. The rhino beetles that also inhabit our compost piles are
welcome addition to the decomposition process. Worms will eventually be
fed to fish, the rhino beetles fly or walk away.
The GC site cut down one Acacia tree during construction. While
acacia is poisonous and considered a pest it does provide
welcome shade. We have planted native Sabah trees to replace the
acacia and eventually we will remove the acacia to allow the
Sabah trees space to grow. When installing the electricity to
the site we added one extra telegraph pole to route the wires
round a tree. Additional cost to save the tree RM2000 about
US$400.
We worked with an environmentally aware 
