Save the reserves: Meor Razak (right), seen in this filepic, says clearing forest land will lead to a loss of habitat for wildlife.
IPOH: Perak should be more selective in approving land for use and prioritise the use of its vast amount of idle land over its forest reserves, says a Sahabat Alam Malaysia field officer.
Meor Razak Meor Abdul Rahman said clearing forest reserves leads to loss of habitat for wildlife, which is one of the reasons for human-wildlife conflicts.
“When the animals’ habitat is destroyed, where do you expect them to go?
“The animals will cross paths with humans, entering plantations or villages, as reported in the last few years,” he said.
He added that available land included state land and former mining pools.
“The state should be more selective when it comes to forest land. They need to stop approving developments in forest or wildlife reserves,” he said.
On June 8, a herd of elephants barged into SK Pos Perwor, near Lasah in Sungai Siput, in search of food.
About six of them caused damage to the school building and facilities.
In May, tiger tracks were seen at Bukit Berekeh, a popular hiking spot in Sungai Siput.
In August last year, a 30-year-old Orang Asli woman was seriously injured after being attacked by a wild elephant behind her house in the Kampung Katong Resettlement Scheme in Gerik.
Meor Razak said the Chior Wildlife Reserve, which was the country’s first protected area that was gazetted in 1903, should have been preserved.
He said the wildlife reserve was part of the Central Forest Spine along the Titiwangsa Range that was rich in biodiversity, and connected to other forest reserves like Piah, Bukit Kinta and Korbu.
“Various kinds of wildlife are found there. Apart from elephants and tigers, there are also black panthers, clouded leopards and other protected species.
“Most of the land has since been turned into oil palm estates,” he said, adding that no mitigation efforts were taken to preserve the wildlife reserve even though its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had stated that it was rich in biodiversity.
“The last remaining plot of 693ha of forest land there was de-gazetted in 2014,” he said.
According to the Perhilitan website, the Chior Wildlife Reserve used to be 4,330ha of forest land, which was also gazetted as a forest reserve in 1914.
Meor Razak said there were several forest reserves in the state that should be protected.
These, he said, included the Kledang Saiong Forest Reserve, which was also rich in biodiversity.
He said a plot of land there has already been approved for a forest plantation project, which should have been rejected by the state.
“The EIA and studies found that the area is rich in biodiversity, so why still pursue it?
“Based on our experience, it is hard for developers to implement an environment management plan as recommended by the EIA.
“When these projects start, nearby river reserves will also be affected,” he added.
Another area, Meor Razak said, was the Parit Forest Reserve.
“Unlike the forest reserves that are connected to one another on the Titiwangsa Range, the Parit Forest Reserve is like an island.
“It is surrounded by the Seri Iskandar town and oil palm estates, so the wildlife there will have nowhere else to go if its forest land is to be cleared,” he said, adding that among the animals found there were clouded leopards, siamang and pheasants.
He said there was a National Physical Plan on forest management that should be followed by all relevant states.
He said under the plan, all Rank Two sensitive areas should be upgraded to Rank One.
“A lot of Rank Two areas are not gazetted and these forests are rich in biodiversity,” he added.
