Community all out to save green lung
SHAH ALAM: When I heard of a forest located smack in the middle of an elite neighbourhood here, I was eager to check it out.
Armed with its address, I gathered some friends and we went in search of the elusive green lung.
Driving past shopping complexes, tall buildings, rows of bungalows and new housing estates, there was barely any sign of a green tract, only concrete jungle.
As per the address, my friends and I drove to Section U10, Shah Alam, where the forest was supposed to be located.
We parked our car and walked till a rather large natural pond with sparkling bluish green water came within our sight, an indicator that a forest may be “lurking” close by.
Yes, the Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF) was right there, made somewhat unobtrusive by the large housing developments – Setia Alam, Alam Budiman and Nusa Rhu – that it is surrounded by.
Spotting a group of trekkers at a trail on the side of a nearby hill, we decided to join them. Soon we found ourselves ascending the 250-metrehigh hill, named Peak Garden.
Hiking up the trail leading to the hilltop was an exhilarating experience. The beauty of all that foliage was mesmerising and the air, refreshing. We felt we had been transported to another world altogether.
It took us about an hour to reach the peak. It was generally an enjoyable hike although we found certain sections of the trail quite steep and slippery.
On the whole, all the trails in the forest were systematic and well maintained, and there was also adequate signage to guide hikers.
From atop Peak Garden, some parts of Puncak Perdana, Shah Alam and Damansara were visible. As I stood there gazing at a few picturesque ponds hidden inside the forest, I could not help wondering how long this “oasis” will remain untouched as many developers must be eyeing it for its real estate value. Not everybody is lucky enough to have a forest practically in their backyard. But when it is located in the middle of a fast developing area, its very survival hangs in the balance.
This is why several nature-loving residents living in the housing estates in the vicinity of SACF decided to embark on their own initiative to conserve their precious 160-hectare green lung.
In fact, the name Shah Alam Community Forest was coined by them. In March last year, they formed the SACF Society to serve as the “guardian” of the forest and press the Selangor authorities to gazette it as a permanent forest reserve.
Its secretary Alicia Teoh said although the society was set up just over a year ago, the local community’s conservation efforts started five years ago.
“The first trail in the forest was created some years back by a group of cycling enthusiasts for hiking and cross-country running purposes. Later, we created new trails as part of our efforts to protect the forest and prevent soil erosion,” she said.
However, they have had to face many challenges, the main ones being deforestation and land acquisition activities carried out on the fringes of the forest.
Teoh has dreams of seeing SACF being accorded community forest status by the state government.
“A community forest is a tract of forest that is managed by the government, local community and non-governmental organisations to ensure environmental sustainability and to allow recreational activities to be carried out there legitimately,” she explained.
The community forest status also gives the people living in the surrounding a sense of ownership over their green lung and have a say in how the forest is used and how it should be cared for.
“When the community is involved, conservation efforts can be carried out in a more comprehensive manner,” she added.
In its quest to have the SACF gazetted as a forest reserve and accorded community forest status, the society was now in the process of submitting the necessary applications to the state authorities.
“Some organisations are helping us with the process and we would welcome others who can help us too,” said Teoh.
If SACF is granted community forest status, it will be the second forest in Malaysia to be given such a status, after the Kota Damansara Community Forest, also in Selangor.
After it officially becomes a community forest, the SACF Society hopes to organise various recreational activities there and facilitate visits by schoolchildren so that they can learn to appreciate the environment. It also plans to engage the community in regular gotong-royong sessions to keep the trails clean.
According to information provided by the SACF Society on its Facebook group page, the forest consists of “selectively logged lowland rainforest... and forms a critical ecological corridor that connects the two remaining patches of the Bukit Cerakah forest reserve and Taman Botani Shah Alam, both of which are believed to be home to the endangered Malayan tapir, among other threatened species”.
The society also stated that the SACF is currently owned by the state government (52ha) and Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS, 108ha), and “is highly at risk of commercial development”.
Its Facebook group has over 3,500 members. According to Teoh, a biodiversity study carried out by naturalist Lim Koon Hup last year revealed the presence of over 100 types of plant species within a 50metre radius of SACF.
(Lim is a member of the Malaysian Nature Society’s Flora Special Interest Group.)
The flora thriving in this area include the berangan, jelutong and ara trees, as well as mushrooms and the pitcher plant.
Besides reported sightings of the tapir, the SACF is also the habitat for other animals like monkeys, gibbons, birds and snakes.
Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer Dr Mohamad Saifudin Mohamad Saleh has praised the Shah Alam Community Forest Society (SACF) for the effort it has taken to conserve the forest located in their vicinity. He said their initiative should be emulated by communities in major cities like Penang and Johore Baharu.
Mohamad Saifudin, who is attached to the university’s Centre for Communications Studies, suggested that the society collaborate with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to educate the local community on the importance of planting trees and conserving their green lung.
“We should not leave the responsibility of caring for our forests entirely to the government. Safeguarding our environment is the responsibility of every party, including the local community,” he said, when contacted by Bernama.