The Forest is the Lifeline of the Penans

Penans are categorized into two main groups based on where they live : the Western Penans and the Eastern Penans.

Eastern group : The Penans from Kubaan-Puak Forest Management Unit - they live mainly in Baram and Tutoh regions.

Western group: they live mainly in the Belaga region of Sarawak, Malaysia.

This indigenous people of Sarawak used to live by the following nomadic culture:

• Do not have permanent settlements,
• Do not farm, living mainly by foraging forest resources.

Nevertheless, as of today, only a small group of Penans are nomadic.

Protect Freshwater Before It is Too Late

In Malaysia, we are fortunate to receive an abundance of rainfall, averaging from 2,000mm to 4,000mm annually. Having plentiful rainfall each year, many of us may not understand or appreciate where the water that flows from our taps really comes from.

Did you know that 97% of all the water on earth is actually salt water ? With only a small proportion of freshwater left, even then 2/3 of that is unavailable for our use because it is frozen in glaciers and ice sheets. As a result, we only have access to about 1% of freshwater and this little amount is all we have to meet the needs of more than 7 billion people on the planet.

Most of our water resources starts its incredible journey in a catchment area long before it reach the water taps in our houses.

A water catchment is an area where water primarily from rainfall is collected by the landscape such as highland forests and hills. It will then feed the water into streams and rivers that flow through the area.

Our highland forests such as Fraser's Hill and Ulu Muda in Peninsual Malaysia and Upper Baleh in Sarawak are some of the prime water catchment areas that play a vital role in supplying clean water to the population within the respective areas.

WWF: Deforestation is Continuing at An Alarming Rate

Towards the end of 2014, Malaysia's State of Kelantan experienced the biggest flood disaster ever since 30 years or more. Although it was a result of unusual heavy rainfall, it was likely exacerbated by the extensive loss of forests which in turn accelerated the sedimentation of rivers due to surface runoffs from extensive land clearing.

Forests, being the largest terrestrial storage of carbon and the third largest source of carbon emissions after coal and oil, play a vital role in the fight against global warming. Forest lost contributes up to 20% of global carbon emissions - more than the total emissions of all the cards, trucks, trains, planes and ships in the world combined. Climate change in turn may damage forests, for instance by drying out tropical rainforests and increasing fire damage on the forests.

Situated in Northern Perak, Belum-Temengor is approximately 130 million years old and is thought to be one of the oldest rainforests in the world. Encompassing an area of about four times the size of Singapore, it is one of the only three priority sites for tigers under the National Tiger Conservation Action Plan for Malaysia.

The Belum-Temengor forst is also home to all 10 hornbill species found in Malaysia and is an important habitat for large mamals such as the Malayan tiger, gaur, sambar deer and elephant. The only permanent human inhabitants within Belum-Temengor are the indigenous Orang Asli.

However, at the moment, only Roayl Belum State Park has been gazetted as a protected area, whilst Temengor Forest Reserve is still designated for logging.

Source: WWF-Malaysia

Plant reaches out for the sun

Plants will stretch out for the sun.

Notice that the edged-out parts were motivated by the sun - the plant is positioned in a place where sunlight doesn't cover the whole area all time time.

WWF: You May Be The Orang-Utan's Last Hope

The orang-utan is the largest arboreal (tree-living) animal in the world. They spend most of their time in trees - feeding, sheltering and travelling through the forest canopy.

Fossil records show that orang-utans have been on this earth for more than 800,000 years and populations once spread from China to as far as Sulawesi. Today, Borneo and Sumatra are the only two islands in the world that are supporting natural orang-utan populations numbering about 55,000.

Maintaining natural forests with viable wild breeding populations and restoring degraded forests is vital for the continued survival of orang-utans in Malaysia.

Facing threats such as logging, forest fires, degradations; orang-utans may suffer further decline due to poor habitat.

Hence, the Sabah's government's initiative to retain the largest orang-utan population in Ulu Segama-Malue Forest Reserves under protection status deserves a worthy acknowledgement and support.

As few as 500 tigers in Malaysia only - today

The tiger numbers in Malaysia have fallen by over 80% since 1950's - down from 3,000 to as few as 500 tigers today - due to poaching, habitat loss and or fragmentation and lost of their preys - such as deer and wild pig.

The world has already lost three sub-species of tigers: the Caspian, the Balinese and the Javan tiger - the South China Tiger is feared to have suffered the same fate since they have not been sighted for the last 30 years - the Malaysian tiger is 1 of 9 subspecies of tigers.

Today, tigers are rarely spotted and can mainly be found in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complext, Taman Negara and The Endau Rompin Complex.

The illegal trade in wildlife is the third largest form of organised crime in the world after the arms and drugs trades.

And tigers are losing homes - it is currently estimated that only 45% of Peninsular Malaysia is still forested.

WWF employs a team of tiger rangers around the world to fight poachers and protect tigers from other dangers.

More updates from WWF-Malaysia.

WWF-Malaysia Annual Review 2012

Donations from individuals accounted for 50% of funds generated for year 2012. Donations from corporations decreased as compared to year 2011. Total funds for year 2012 was RM 36,955,000.

Total expenditure was RM 35,962,000; 77% of that went to conservation expenditure. Out of these 77%, majority went to species conversation expenditure.

For example,WWF's tiger conservation efforts are making headway in Perak's Belum-Temengor Forest Complex; a vital tiger landscape. The Malaysian governement has committed to construct a viaduck for wildlife crossing at the Belum-Temengor corridor area along the Gerk-Jeli Highway. This vital wildlife crossing, which donors helped make possible, will enable tigers and other wild animals to traverse the highway to find flood and mates, instead of being trapped in forest patches.

More details on Belum-Temengor and tiger poarhing.

The net surplus for year 2012 was RM 993,000.

Download full reports.

Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) For The Proposed Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road (KLORR)

The Proposed Project is about constructing and operating a tolled expressway linking Kajang SILK Highway (E18) at the southern side to Karak Expressway (E8) at the northern side of the expressway. It will provide bypass route for inter-urban traffic that do not need to pass through the city centre of Kuala Lumpur for those who intent to travel from the southern part of the Klang Valley (e.g. Cheras, Bangi, Subang) to the northern parts of Kuala Lumpur (e.g. Selayang, Gombak) or vice versa. It also serves as a bypass around Kuala Lumpur for inter-regional traffic from the Karak Highway to other regions. The proposed expressway is part of the planned Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road.

With good design and responsible implementation and management by the Project Proponent, most of these impacts can be reasonably minimised with appropriate mitigation and control measures as proposed in this report. The proposed monitoring programmes to be carried out will ensure that criteria and standards of environmental quality are observed and abided by the project proponent throughout the project’s life. It is important that this project be carried out in full compliance with all the conditions set by DOE and the relevant regulatory agencies.

The KLORR Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) is available for public review and comments. The proposed alignment of the KLORR will cut through some parts of the Selangor State Park, a park that provides vital ecosystem services to the people residing in the Klang Valley. The park acts as the main water catchment forests, providing water to Klang Valley residents and harbours rich biodiversity. It is an environmentally sensitive area.

If you are concerned about the development of this road within the Selangor State Park, please take this opportunity to review the DEIA (Executive Summary) at http://gis.doe.gov.my/eia2/Upload_folder/Ex_Su/ExecutiveSummaryklorr.pdf and provide comments to the Department of Environment by 23rd January, 2012.

You can submit your views via snail mail or fax to:

Director General
Department of Environment
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Level 2, Podium 3, Wisma Sumber Asli
No.25, Persiaran Perdana
62574 PUTRAJAYA
(Attn: Assessment Division –DEIA Secretariat)
Tel : 03-8871 2000, Fax : 03-8889 1045

WWF-Malaysia’s Forest for Life Programme

Forests cover 30% of the Earth's surface and contain much of the biological diversity found on land – they harbour over two-thirds of known terrestrial species, many of which are threatened. As you read this, an estimated 13 hectares of the world's forest are lost. In the next 30 seconds, another 13 hectares will disappear. Within a minute, mankind succeeds in undoing 1,000 years of natural evolution. Read on to understand a little more about our Malaysian rainforests, and how YOU can help us change for the better.

WWF-Malaysia’s Forest for Life Programme aims to increase the coverage of forest protected areas, improve the management of production forests for the supply of sustainable timber, and restore degraded areas especially where there is need to maintain critical forest linkages.