KAMPUNG Telungan in Kota Belud is a typical village, sited on the valley of gentle hills and two rivers that come together there and flow towards a larger river. The people are mostly sustenance farmers and rubber tappers, eking their livelihood from the land and sending their children to school.
With the onset of education, some of the people there are now government servants while others work in the city in the private sector. With knowledge comes their desire for their own betterment and one of the ventures that they had gone into is ecotourism. This village has plenty to show where eco-tourism is concerned. This community based-tourism has brought the villagers side income to complement their revenue.
Telungan which means ‘the meeting of two rivers’ is one of the earliest villages to embark on the venture. With its picturesque rolling hills and rushing river, the villagers who were encouraged by other ecotourism players, embarked on this venture and the rest as they say is history.
The main tourism attraction there is of course the river, which is teeming with fish as the villagers practiced an ancient form of river management called ‘tagal’ or ‘Bombon’ where the harvesting is done only once every year or once every two years. This allows the fish to grow and also to multiply, ensuring that the river is every populated with fish.
The Bombon Committee usually decides when to harvest and all the fish caught at that time are divided equally among the members, or villages.
The villagers formed their committee in 1996 and in 2015 they decided to promote their destination as Tagal Village Ecotourism Telungan.
Chairperson of Tagal Village Ecotourism Telungan, Harlina Daiti said it was officially launched by the Rural Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedict who was then political secretary to Deputy Chief Minister cum Agriculture and Food Industry Minister in 2016.
She shared that there are 76 members in the working committee divided into three groups to manage the ecotourism site voluntarily without salary. Each group is headed by a leader and assisted by a deputy.
A school teacher St Edmund in Kota Belud, Harlina shared that she usually worked at the site on Saturdays.
Tourists who visit the village will enjoy the drive through the countryside. The scenic route is marred by the bumpy road, but this could all be chalked up as an adventure. Upon reaching the village they will be able to walk around and bath in the river or feed the fish.
They can also do a barbecue along the river and hold picnics, pitch a tent and enjoy the atmosphere or do a ‘dare’ on the flying fox. Its all fun and games.
The Tagal Village Ecotourism Telungan is located about 21 kilometres away from Kota Belud town via Jalan Sayap and Jalan Tambulian Piasau.
It takes about 30 minutes’ drive to reach the destination but the road condition to the village is still very poor only a short distance is tarred whilst the remainder is gravel and dirt road.
For those who wish to enjoy this village, they may call 013 6052421 for more information. -BNN
