(MY) campaign to save the forest

[Guest guest]

Thursday June 29, 2006- The Star

 

Making conservation work

 

*By HAH FOONG LIAN*

 

newsdesk

 

OVER the past month, postcards have been trickling into the offices of Prime

Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri

Tajol Rosli Ghazali. They carry a message: save the 130-million-year-old

Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve.

 

The postcard campaign by the Malaysian Nature Society has targeted people in

major cities, where environment is a major issue. The impact of the

campaign, which aims to create public awareness on the need to stop logging,

is still not clear.

 

But one thing is certain: logging has become a somewhat sensitive subject in

Perak for most politicians and government officials. Just mention logging

concessions, and conversation drops to a mere whisper.

 

Facts and figures on who is behind certain concessions are difficult to come

by. No one knows for certain who the big timber guys are except for some

inconclusive talk of them being " people who are connected. "

 

For those new to the area, the Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve can be

confusing.

 

Geographically, the East-West Highway from Ipoh to the east coast cuts the

forest reserve into two – namely the Upper Belum (to the north of the

highway) and the Temenggor Forest Reserve (to the south of the highway),

which includes Lower Belum.

 

The Upper Belum, covering an area of 117,800ha, was proclaimed a state park

called Royal Belum State Park in 2002 but the sore point among

environmentalists is that it is still not gazetted as such.

 

Talk has it that security reasons are hindering the gazetting of the Royal

Belum as a state park although the Perak government has put in the necessary

papers.

 

And protecting the Royal Belum State Park can be a headache if the

authorities continue to drag their feet in gazetting the park.

 

Even today, one needs to get security clearance from the army before

entering the jungle.

 

As for Lower Belum, which is part of the Temenggor Forest Reserve, the state

government has declared it a permanent forest reserve, which can be logged,

just like forest reserves.

 

For the state, the Temenggor Forest Reserve serves as an important income

earner, but conservationists are lobbying for logging to be stopped because

they believe the felling of trees has destroyed the environment.

 

The state government strongly to denies this and Tajol Rosli gave figures to

show otherwise.

 

Of the 79,117ha of Temenggor forest reserve approved for logging, only

10,192ha had been given out over the past three years. Of the 10,192ha, only

4,212ha are being logged.

 

The forest creates employment for more than 9,000 people, not including

those in the support services.

 

And the bottom line is that logging will continue to be a revenue generator

for the state. Premium and royalty collected by the state was RM22mil in

2003 and RM26mil in 2004 and the industry brings in over RM1bil in

investments to Perak.

 

However, nature lovers and conservationists are unconvinced that sustainable

logging is being carried out.

 

Environmentalists believe the entire Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve –

covering over 300,000ha – is some 130 million years old, making it older

than the Amazon and Congo forests.

 

They are angry when they see muddy rivers running through the

Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve, which is reported to be home to all 10

species of Malaysian hornbills – surpassing the eight species found in

Sarawak.

 

Some villagers are also upset when loggers take short cuts by passing

through their villages when transporting timber out of the jungle. Trees are

felled indiscriminately to create these short cuts.

 

Some conservationists even reported that the calls of gibbons are distinctly

missing in certain parts of Belum-Temenggor, although bigger mammals like

tigers and elephants are still there.

 

Apart from logging, poaching is also a threat to wildlife and other

protected species.

 

Of course it would be ideal to stop logging and poaching altogether for

conservation purposes, but the reality does not dictate so.

 

No one is denying that logging will go on but it should be conducted in a

manner friendly to the wildlife and the trees.

 

As a conservationist pointed out: " There have been so many reports of

elephants and tigers coming out of the jungle foraging for food. The logging

that is going on cannot be all that sustainable for wildlife, can it? "

 

One possible way out is by promoting eco-tourism, which can generate enough

income to hire sufficient staff to check poaching and ensure that logging is

conducted with minimum impact to the environment.

 

As another conservationist noted rather profoundly: " Conservation is good

but it has to pay for itself. "

 

Maybe the target should be high-end tourists who are willing to pay a lot of

money to see the uniqueness that Belum-Temenggor can offer.

 

Imagine floating over the rainforest in a hot air balloon to see the

magnificent nature that Belum-Temenggor has to showcase to the world.

 

Artificial salt licks can also be created along the East-West Highway for

tourists to view animals from a safe distance.

 

For tourism, as well as wildlife and the grand old trees, to survive, damage

to the forest must be minimised.

 

Surely, there must be life after logging for the wildlife and the trees and

it is up to the authorities to make it so.

 

Let Perak not be one of the states with a signboard saying " permanent forest

reserve " hanging on a sole tree standing on a barren wasteland.