Salim (third from right) presenting goodie bags to participants of the Ultimate Trails of the South (Utos) Kota Tinggi.
THE Ultimate Trails of the South (Utos) Kota Tinggi is set to feature in the Johor Forestry Department’s annual calendar of ecotourism events starting next year.
Department director Datuk Salim Aman said this was based on the positive response received following the trail run event held on Nov 26.
“There are two distance categories for the Utos programme; 35km and 55km, with participants running through the Panti Forest Reserve.
“The trail starts at the Kota Tinggi Waterfall parking lot and heads towards the Gunung Panti Barat track, Gunung Panti Timur, Gunung Panti Tengah and Gunung Muntahak,” he told StarMetro.
Salim said the programme was part of Johor government’s initiative to promote ecotourism at the Panti Forest Reserve.
“The forest reserve is home to many unique species of flora and fauna, and we wanted to share this with trail runners regardless of where they are from.
“We managed to get 222 participants for this event, more than our initial target of 200.
“Due to this positive response, we decided that this will be one of our calendar events in Kota Tinggi starting next year,” he added.
Participants of this year’s event came from Malaysia, China, Poland, Portugal, France, Finland, Singapore, Indonesia and the United Kingdom.
“We hope that this event can put Kota Tinggi on the map of ecotourism activities in Johor and, at the same time, provide locals an opportunity to tap into some of the socioeconomic activities that it could bring,” said Salim.
When asked to comment on the RM300,000 allocation to the Panti Forest Reserve under the 2023 state budget, he said the money would be used to strengthen and improve the Panti Conservation Area.
“It will be used to protect the biodiversity of the forest reserve through conservation work, research, education, ecotourism and community involvement,” he elaborated.
On a related matter, Johor National Parks Corporation director Taufik Bahar said the state government had allocated RM3.5mil to the agency to improve amenities at all the national parks in Johor.
“The work includes providing basic public amenities, such as surau, restrooms and an effective waste management system,” he said.
He add that upgrading work was expected to be completed within a year and a half.
Taufik noted that four out of the six national parks in the state had been closed since November due to the monsoon season.
“We have closed Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park, Endau-Rompin (Selai) National Park, Gunung Ledang Waterfall and Pulau Kukup until further notice.
“The Gunung Ledang (Lagenda) National Park will only open if the weather condition is good, while the Tanjung Piai National Park will remain open to the public,” he explained.
