Friends of Bukit Kiara (FoBK) serves as a community action group which aims to:
a. Advocate the environmental, conservation and biodiversity value of Bukit Kiara;
b. Protect and safeguard Bukit Kiara as a green lung and national asset via gazettement, sustainable environmental management and broad stakeholder participation.
c. Ensure sustainable park management through a public-private partnership approach and close working relationship with key stakeholders such as Jabatan Landskap Negara (JLN).

The goal will be the long-term conservation and protection of Bukit Kiara by i) providing evidence-based localized data of its biodiversity value, ii) sustainable active involvement by the wider community and iii) strengthening partnership with key stakeholders and government agencies such as Jabatan Landskap Negara (JLN).

Although it has yet to be officially announced this year 2020, two-thirds of Bukit Kiara comprising 111 hectares has been gazetted as green space under Section 62 of the National Land Code (NLC S.62). In 2027, the plan is to gazette the remaining one-third of Bukit Kiara upon the expiry of the current encumbrance (land lease).

FoBK was set-up in 2014 with the initial objective of pursuing the gazettement of Bukit Kiara as a green space, With partial gazettement under progress, it has now evolved to championing and building long-term appreciation of the conservation and biodiversity value of Bukit Kiara. This is to ensure the pathway for full gazettement is upheld, as well as protect Bukit Kiara from future regressive steps such as possible de-gazettement driven by development pressure.

In this context, FoBK has identified the 2017 discovery of large firefly species within Bukit Kiara as an asset to highlight and build awareness of the conservation value of Bukit Kiara as a green lung and biodiversity resource.

The Project
This project #Magical Mysteries of Bukit Kiara aims to achieve the following:
a. Provide localized, evidence-based data on the firefly community and its habitat;
b. Strengthen community, government and private sector collaboration
c. Build capacity and empower stakeholders to carry out evidence-based management of biodiversity.

There is high public and stakeholder interest towards the firefly colonies and their habitat. Building on such interest, this project will showcase the fireflies as the flagship species for the purpose of raising public & stakeholder awareness as to the importance of conservation in Bukit Kiara.

This project will comprise of the following components:
i. Development of Citizen Science protocol to assess the firefly community and its habitat, through a collaborative community-based approach
ii. Conducting field survey by Citizen Scientists, who are trained and supervised by technical experts (FRIM and UBI). Data collected will be analysed by FRIM and UBI.
iii. Sharing of field research and to formalize the volunteer community team of Citizen Scientists.
iv. Engaging stakeholders and building public awareness on the biodiversity and conservation value of Bukit Kiara

This project #Magical Mysteries of Bukit Kiara aims to scientifically assess the firefly presence and its habitat, as a means of collaboratively building knowledge and the capacity of community volunteers as Citizen Scientists and government bodies such as Jabatan Lanskap Negara (JLN), with the aim to Train stakeholders to be able to carry out evidence based management of biodiversity.

With a growing interest in these bioluminescent insects, the conservation of these species and other species in Bukit Kiara, becomes increasingly important to ensure their survival. The Bukit Kiara fireflies serve as the flagship
species for the purpose of raising public awareness about habitat and species protection in Bukit Kiara. However since we know very little about the ecology of these species, Bukit Kiara can become a living lab in which the public actively participates in collecting information and carrying out experiments that may contribute to the conservation of fireflies and the habitat as a whole.

This project will comprise of the following key activities:
1. Development of a Citizen Science protocol to assess the firefly community and its habitat health status, through a collaborative community-based approach
2. Conducting field survey and sampling by Citizen Scientists, who are trained, led and supervised by technical experts (FRIM and UBI). Data collected will be analyzed by FRIM and UBI.
3. Sharing of field research work to present findings, discuss, and share experiences in workshops. These workshops will also formalize the volunteer community team of Citizen Scientists, who will update the Citizen Science protocol and briefing materials and become a body of trainers for the future. These findings are crucial as they provide localized, evidenced-based findings for JLN and relevant agencies to proactively better manage and protect Bukit Kiara.
4. Engaging stakeholders and conduct public awareness activities to disseminate information, create awareness and build understanding on the biodiversity and conservation value of Bukit Kiara. Interpretative materials for Bukit Kiara will be developed and the findings will be promoted to the public on Earth Day 2022 and other stakeholders? events, and will be made widely available on websites and social media platforms

FRIM and UBI will play the role as technical experts, while MNS is the main CBO partner to build a pool of Citizen Scientists and stakeholder engagement,

This #Magical Mysteries of Bukit Kiara project is a practical, hands-on, demonstrable grass-roots initiative which falls under the Biological Diversity focus area under SGP Malaysia. It aims to support the conservation of biodiversity in Bukit Kiara and the maintenance of its ecosystem. With the availability and dissemination of scientific data of fireflies, citizen science monitoring tools and a pool of trained volunteers by research officers, FoBK aims to improve the sustainable management of the protection of this green lung.