With a special interest in Arecaceae initially and later Zingiberales, the founder of Suriana Botanic Conservation Gardens and the editor of Folia malaysiana, Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat, has been conducting botanical researches based on living plants since 1979. He started Palm Search Malaysia Project and Folia malaysiana Research and Conservation Programme with the permission of the Ministry. He and his fieldwork assistants went a great length into the forests to look for the topotypical materials to solve the research questions in plant taxonomy.
In conjunction to the botanical researches, a fruit and rubber plantation in the verdant Titi Serong valley of Balik Pulau, virtually the centroid of Penang Island, was acquired for the increasing number of the living collections. Through Datuk Lim’s great effort, this agriculture land was converted to a graceful botanic garden led to the hill forest reserves of the Penang Hill range. Hence, Suriana Botanic Conservation Gardens (SBCG) with diverse native flora and high aesthetic value was established and inspiring the possible uses of local wild flora in landscapes.
Along with the lowland garden at Balik Pulau, a garden was set up at Halliburton’s Hill, the historic site on Penang Hill, namely Bellevue Ginger Garden. This garden aims to conserve the local sub-montane flora collections that need the different growing conditions. Aside from the conservation purposes, Bellevue Ginger Garden is also planted with the living plants of all eight families of Zingiberales for education purposes.
By having access to the living plants and encouragement from other researchers, Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat has been publishing his findings since 1992 in Principes, the Journal of International Palm Society and The Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore. In 2000, Folia malaysiana, a peer-reviewed botanical journal, was launched by him to encourage significant floristic researches (without charge to the authors) and has been contributing a lot to local botany. To date, four genera and more than 70 taxa were described by him.
The field assistants are mostly Orang Asli, local aboriginal people with a lot of folk’s knowledge about local forests. AdanA Fund was created for the training and advancement of Orang Asli. This fund is not only enable them to apply their traditional knowledge in modern society, it also indirectly preserve their culture. Over the years, Suriana Botanic Conservation Gardens has built up a large living collections of native and regional flora, especially in Arecaceae, Zingiberaceae and Musaceae, providing materials for graduate students in local universities. With the increasing concern on the extinction of local flora, Suriana Botanical Research and Conservation Garden is dedicated to continue the plant research and conservation of rare and endangered native flora for future generations.