November 11, 2019
by JungleBoy
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Recently, I attended the Hutan Kita exhibition at the KL Tower (beside the KL Forest Eco Park). The exhibition was meant to showcase the forest heritage of Malaysia and was opened by the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir, on August 23, who at the ceremony also declared the National Tree of Malaysia as the Merbau tree (Intsia palembanica). In his speech, Mahathir also claimed that Malaysia had over 55% forest cover (more on that later). Continue Reading →
July 23, 2019
by JungleBoy
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The Berembun Forest Reserve in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan, is one of the best wilderness areas nearest to the Klang Valley. Together with the newly gazetted Kenaboi State Park (formerly called Taman Alam Liar Negeri Sembilan), these are two good places in Negeri Sembilan for the intrepid nature lover to explore. While Kenaboi State Park’s main attractions are its geological features including Gunung Besar Hantu and the spectacular Lata Kijang, most people visit Gunung Berembun only to hike up the peak or visit an old WW2 plane crash site. But, there is more to the Berembun forest! Continue Reading →
June 12, 2019
by JungleBoy
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As a Malaysian, I feel grateful for living in this country, which has no major disasters, unlike many other countries around the world. Blessed with tropical rainforests, beautiful beaches, a resilient economy, and relative low cost of living, Malaysia has always been promoted as a paradise, and indeed this is still largely true.
However, for a small minority, the indigenous peoples (Orang Asli) of Malaysia, life cannot be said to be great, especially if you happen to rely on the forest for your living and sustenance. Logging and destruction of their ancestral lands, and being marginalized and discriminated against, are sadly very common occurrences in Malaysia unfortunately. And for the case for the Bateq tribes living at the fringes of north Taman Negara (the National Park) in Kelantan, at Kuala Koh, it has turned very tragic. Continue Reading →
August 11, 2018
by JungleBoy
2 Comments
The Krau Widlife Reserve in the center of Peninsular Malaysia, near the town of Temerloh, is one of the least known but most important conservation areas within Malaysia’s network of protected areas. Ask the average Malaysian on the street if they know where or what the Krau Wildlife Reserve is and chances are, they would have never even heard of it. Yet today at about 63,395 hectares, Krau is one of the last remaining areas of lowland tropical rainforest left untouched in Peninsular Malaysia – and therefore one of the most important. Continue Reading →
September 2, 2017
by JungleBoy
3 Comments
Taman Negara is Malaysia’s largest and (relatively speaking) best protected conservation area, spanning across three states in the center of Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan). The name is a literal Malay translation of the word, “National Park”. It is officially 4343 square kilometers in size, which makes it much larger than any other protected area in Malaysia. Continue Reading →