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