Source: Mongabay.com
Published on 15th April, 2014 by Jeremy Hance
Tanjung Hantu Forest Reserve. Photo by: Nadine Ruppert.
Plans for an industrial site threaten one of Malaysia’s only marine turtle nesting beaches and a forest home to rare trees and mammals, according to local activists. Recently, the state government of Perak approved building a liquefied natural gas plant and a steel coil mill inside Tanjung Hantu Permanent Forest Reserve. But activists say the industrial projects will not only cut into the reserve, but also scare away nesting turtles from Pasir Panjang, the last marine turtle beach in Perak. In an attempt to persuade government officials to move the projects, local activists have gathered over 83,000 signatures on an online petition.
“Although not very large in terms of area size (about 2720.79 hectares from the original size between 4000-4700 hectares) [Tanjung Hantu and neighboring Segari Melintang Permanent Forest Reserves are] one of the few forests left in the locality that is still somewhat intact and unfortunately, under-researched,” Nurul Salmi, a professor with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), told mongabay.com.
Two companies are involved in the project: Maegma Steel is building the steel coil mill, while Atigas Technology is constructing the liquified natural gas plant. To build the projects, officials have degazetted 60 hectares from the Tanjung Hantu Permanent Forest Reserve, but campaigners fear the actual impacts of the industrial projects, including roads and housing for workers, will spread across the two small forest reserves and the turtle beach.
Pasir Panjang beach and adjacent forest. Photo by: Nadine Ruppert. Click to enlarge.
Both Tanjung Hantu and Segari Melintang are remnants of a vanishing forest type in Malaysia, according to Salmi. The reserves contain both coastal forest and hill forest and is home to two endangered dipterocarp tree species: Shorea glauca, currently listed as Endangered, and Shorea lumutensis, listed as Critically Endangered and only found in Malaysia. The forests are also home to charismatic, and threatened, mammals.
“Local villagers who frequent the forests have reported sightings of sun bear and black spotted leopard, which have been verified by evidence of Continue reading
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