Many hands make light work: TRAKS volunteers removing a tree trunk that had fallen across the biking/hiking trail in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. These logs are re-used to strengthen other sections of the trail, according to volunteer Winston Loo (in red shorts).

A band of zealous trail users has assumed stewardship and advocacy for their outdoor playground.

A RAKE, a hoe and two hours of back-breaking work. And voilà, you get a few metres of brand new trail ready to be stomped or ridden on. How gratifying!

That was my first taste of trail-building on an outing with TRAKS (Trail Association of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor) volunteers and residents of Kota Damansara, Selangor, as they carved out the new 2km Sahabat trail at Kota Damansara Community Forest (KDCF) Reserve in Selangor.

Of course, it’s not that easy to build a trail. You need to grasp the fundamentals of trail design – like the “half rule”, maximum peak slope and grade reversal. The technical jargon starts to make sense with the right guidance from experienced builders from Traks. And it’s no mean feat to build a 2km trail. It took about 480 to 600 man-hours with a work crew of 20 people over six months to create KDCF’s first trail back in 2009.

But that’s not just what Traks is all about.

Traks was set up in 2007 as a riposte to the ravaging of the Bukit Kiara biking trails to accommodate horse trails.

“Our core function is to promote the design, construction and maintenance of sustainable and ecologically sensitive trails,” says Traks president Scott Roberts. Early on, Traks activities were primarily centred around Bukit Kiara Park.

“A lot of time and energy have been channelled into preserving these green lungs, too.”

When Traks first started, the cadre of volunteers comprised mostly mountain bikers from the Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Hash and Pedalholics Cycling Club. Over the years, however, hikers, runners and even horseback riders have thrown in their lot to care for the trails.

Traks also encourages trail ethics amongst users – how to become a responsible trail user and avoid potential conflict with others.

The organisation teams up with NGOs, resident associations and local authorities to champion the conservation of green spaces.

“Traks worked with the community and Temuan Orang Asli to preserve KDCF (which was gazetted as a Permanent Forest Reserve in 2010),” adds Roberts, a Kuala Lumpur-based aerospace engineer and avid mountain biker. It also offered its expertise in trail design and labour force to assist Kota Damansara residents to build more trails. KDCF recently launched its fourth and nearly completed trail, Sahabat, in conjunction with World Environment Day 2013.

As an international affiliate of the US-based International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), Traks has many plans up its sleeve. Imba serves to “create, enhance and preserve great mountain-biking experiences.”

“We would like to fly Imba folks here to help us in our efforts to engage the government and landscape departments to share the values of natural green spaces and how to build or maintain sustainable trails,” adds Roberts.

TRAKS member and trail adopter Rebecca Thomason removing a tree branch from a trail in Bukit Kiara Park.

For the love of it

To date, Traks has 250 members, out of which 16 are “trail adopters”. The “adopters” are responsible for a segment of the trails they take on.

“But that doesn’t mean he or she is the only one involved in maintaining the trails,” Roberts clarifies. “The ‘adopter’ helps co-ordinate the maintenance activities, and Traks members step to the plate.”

For Trail Days, members work on trail-building or clearing a major tree fall, for example. Trail-rebuilding entails tackling areas where erosion has taken its toll or replacing a busted wooden bridge. Remedy work includes armouring slopes with rocks to prevent further erosion.

A motley crew – from sales executives and engineers to educators and IT professionals – these do-gooders share one thing in common: they want to give back to the trails that have given them countless hours of adrenaline shots and gratification.

When she joined Traks in 2007, trail runner and mountain biker Rebecca Thomason was hitting the Kiara trails four to five times a week.

“I wanted to give something back to Kiara as I spent so much time in there. And I was aware that Kiara’s continued existence was by no means guaranteed,” says the 43-year-old teacher. “I wanted to make the most of it while it was still there.”

She adopted a stretch of trail dubbed Lightning Ridge and spent an average of four to six hours a month maintaining the trail. Equipped with a rake, pruning clippers, a parang and rubbish bags, Thomason set out to rake dead leaves off the trail and drainage ditches. Or, she would trim plants with pointy branches along the trails that might be hazardous to trail users. “I once devoted a whole weekend to clearing it from end to end and it took two six-hour days!” adds Thomason who took care of Lightning Ridge for two years before taking a break due to a knee injury. Last year, she adopted Plan C and shares the maintenance of the trail with Roberts.

“Once, I filled over 40 black rubbish bags with litter from one small area along Plan C. It took weeks and it was back-breaking work,” she adds.

“Of course, the more selfish reason I do this is I just love being outside among the trees!” Thomason confesses. “I love working on the trail so I do it for my own sanity as much as anything else. It’s very therapeutic. My phone’s on silent mode and it’s just my dog, the trees and me.”

For mountain biker Riza Shaharudin Abdul Razak, working on the trails taught him the know-how of trail design.

“I appreciate the trails more by seeing how they flow, and how they react with the elements and riders over time,” says Riza, 37, a software engineer.

“I learned a lot from the more experienced trail adopters, and got ideas on what I would like on a trail that makes it fun to ride. The knowledge can be applied to new trails we build like the ones in KDCF.”

Together with another Traks member, Riza adopted the trails known as Magic Carpet and (part of) 4K, a total stretch of more than 3km. He does regular maintenance work, like clearing deadfalls, fixing water bars, and doing preventive work.

“I learned that even the smallest effort I put into a small trail makes a big difference to keep it usable. The jungle is constantly trying to claim back the trail and I am in constant competition to keep it open,” says Riza who credits Patrick Brundson, one of Traks’ founders, as his trail design mentor.

But if the trails are well built, they don’t require much effort to maintain, as trail adopter and mountain biker Winston Loo adds.

“Maintenance is usually ad hoc – for example, when we ride by and notice that the drainage is clogged with dry leaves and such,” says Loo, who adopted a 2km trail named 2K.

“We’ll clear the drainage and ensure water is not contained in pools,” says the 43-year-old IT business developer. Water that collects on the trail creates a muddy puddle and the high volume of users (cyclists and hikers) will break the soil surface and erode the trail.

“Being a trail adopter has given me a sense of responsibility in the upkeep and maintenance of a green lung for everyone’s use,” adds Loo.

Saving Bukit Kiara

For the past six years, Traks has been fighting an uphill battle to preserve Bukit Kiara. In June 2007, the Cabinet made a decision to gazette 189ha of Bukit Kiara as a permanent forest reserve. However, there hasn’t been any follow-up since.

Despite repeated rallies and campaigns by various NGOs and resident associations to protect Kiara, parcels of land have been leased out or are being considered for lease to private developers. In fact, bulldozers have been moving in and clearing chunks of Kiara over the years.

“The recent Bukit Kiara saga is quite saddening and is at the forefront of our minds right now,” says Roberts.

Together with environmental groups like Malaysian Nature Society and Global Environment Centre, and the Taman Tun Dr Ismail Residents Association, non-profit organisations like Landskap Malaysia and Friends of Bukit Kiara (FoBK), Traks organised the Save Bukit Kiara Walk in March. Thousands gathered at Kiara to show their support to preserve one of the few remaining green lungs in Kuala Lumpur.

“By destroying the city’s green areas, Malaysia is going against what’s now a generally accepted trend of having more green space per square metre of people,” he adds. 

“These spaces contribute to the quality of life for city folks by increasing the air quality, reducing heat effect from development, and improving the health of people in the community, among other benefits.  

“At the end of the day, without raw green space, there are no trails to build, maintain, manage or frolic about!” Roberts sums up.