Group Highlights Threat to Gunung Jasar

By Jaspal Singh

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The Pahang government’s decision to approve the alienation of a substantial tract of pristine forest at the foot of Gunung Jasar here for distribution has come in for heavy criticism.

With forest cover declining over the years due to agriculture and urbanisation, there are fears that the largesse will add to the environmental problems plaguing the Cameron Highlands.

A major concern voiced by the Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (Reach), a non-governmental organisation of environmental-friendly residents, is that the Gunung Jasar area is vulnerable to land erosion because of its steep gradient.

Reach president R. Ramakrishnan said the mountain area, located less than 2km from Tanah Rata town centre, had a high erosion rate, according to a study conducted two years ago.

“The state government has a right to give land for development. All we ask is that they do this wisely,” Ramakrishnan said here recently.

Reach highlighted the Gunung Jasar issue to the NST after it learnt that the area at the foot of the mountain had been earmarked for a housing development project despite a gradient of more than 35 degrees.

Under the cabinet guidelines for development on highlands and islands, development activities are not allowed on slopes with gradients of 35 degrees and above.

For slopes with gradients between 25 and 35 degrees, an environmental impact assessment report must be submitted to the town and country planning authority before any project is approved.

Checks made at the district land office revealed that the 12- hectare area at the base of Gunung Jasar was granted Malay reserve status some time back.

One of the district land officers, however, denied the claim that the district office and council had approved a housing project at the site.

He said it was the Pahang government which had approved a part of the area as lots for Bumiputeras, adding that it was up to the recipients to develop the land as they wished.

A check with the district’s forestry office also showed that the area marked as Malay reserve was not a part of the Gunung Jasar Forest Reserve, although “botanically”, said Ramakrishnan, “the forest is outstanding”.

He said Gunung Jasar was home to many endangered species listed under International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

These include serow (Capricornis sumatrensis), mountain peacock pheasant (Polyplectron inopinatum), Malayan whistling thrush (Myophonus robinsoni), a rare vertebrate skink species (Lygosoma miodactylum) and two montane species, the pygmy fruit bat (Aetholops alecto) and short-tailed mole (Talpa micrura).

“Over the years, the forest cover in the district of Cameron Highlands has declined steadily, thanks to a number of human activities; agriculture being the primary cause, followed by urbanisation.

“These activities have not only caused extensive damage to the biodiversity of the highlands but also caused hardship to residents who continue to be deprived of adequate drinking water due to degradation of water quality in the more than 120 rivers here.”

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