Twelve students from the Mendip Studio School, Writhlington, have just returned from two weeks in Sarawak, Borneo, working with students in Mendip’s partner school in Kuching.

The trip was funded by the British Council, and is the school’s second trip to Borneo this year.

Teacher, Simon Pugh-Jones, explains: “Mendip Studio School students have developed expertise in orchid propagation, and are acting as consultants by setting up Sarawak’s first orchid propagation laboratory, and training local children at the MRSM School, Kuching.”

Fourteen-year-old student, Joe Weyman, added: “We each ran a different scientific workshop, and I taught Sarawak students how to carry out seed viability testing using the TZ method. Once I had taught the technique to four groups of students, I helped them to teach it to the rest of the school.”

As well as working in the new orchid propagation laboratory, students explored five national parks, learning about Sarawak’s biodiversity and sharing their knowledge of tropical plants and ecology with the local students.

Tallis Inger Fleker, aged seventeen, was on her second visit to the project: “It has been a real treat to become an expert in Bornean biodiversity. I have been able to see some of the world’s rarest plants growing in the wild, and bumped into some really charismatic animals such as orangutang, proboscis monkeys and flying lizards!"

Amalia Page, aged fourteen, was particularly pleased to visit the Forest Department’s Herbarium. “We have been working with some amazing local scientists and it is fantastic to see that we can make a difference to the conservation of such special plants and animals.”

Further visits are planned in the near future to support the development of orchid conservation, and conservation education. Mendip Studio School is working closely with a number of partners and policy makers in Sarawak, including the Sarawak Orchid Society and industry specialists.

The next Writhlington and Mendip Orchid Festival will take place at the school on Saturday, 14th December from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will offer a chance for the public to hear more about the project in Sarawak.