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Activities Report 1999 July Newsletter

Selangor's First State Park Proposal 
      We refer to the 31st  March, 1999 article  'A Mixed Response' on the 110,000 hectare Selangor State Park proposal which covers most of the catchment area around the Klang Valley. Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) supports the move by Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES) to submit a second proposal to highlight the need for a green lung and protection of the watershed areas.
      This concept proposal developed as a response from the 1998 water crisis which affected the Klang Valley. Both the authorities and the public felt the need to protect the major catchment areas in the Main Range area where the river systems to the reservoirs are located.. As a result TrEES, MNS and Dr. K.M. Wong, botanist and associate professor with Universiti Malaya sat down together and came up with  the first concept proposal for the Selangor  State Park. All these river system are interlinked by corridors for wildlife. The first proposal was submitted to the StateEconomic Planning Unit in response to their interest last year. MNS hopes that this second proposal will help revive the interest and commitment of the State Government.
      The forest around the Main Range above the Klang Valley is one of the last remaining forests that are near to the city. This forest is important, as it is a large catchment area to recharge the reser-voirs in the city. The benefits of having a green lung near the city, are countless. Most cities in the world have a green lung. It can be used as a recreational area towards more adventurous trekking, cleans the air around the city, has a cooling effect and maintains rain in the catchment area. It also pro-tects the bio-diversity of the highlands flora and fauna, as well as preserving the aesthetic beauty of a garden city with the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge as a unique monument (the longest in the peninsular). It will also be an important tourist attraction, half an hour drive from KL into a State Park.
      MNS hopes that the proposed Selangor State Park will be gazetted as soon as possible, as part of city’s natural heritage for future generations.                                  Kuala Lumpur, 5 April, 1999

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Created on 30th June 1999