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        Discussion Area 討論區 >> Conservation 自然保育 >>  Loggers degrade Panti sanctuary 馬來西亞Panti 山森林遭砍伐
        
(Message started by: HKBWS Project on Sep 30^th, 2005, 3:16pm)

Title: Loggers degrade Panti sanctuary 馬來西亞Panti 山森林遭砍伐
Post by HKBWS Project on Sep 30^th, 2005, 3:16pm

Loggers degrade Panti sanctuary

By R. Sittamparam

A world-renowned paradise for bird watchers at the foothills of Gunung Panti here is being devastated by loggers clearing the forest to plant oil palm. The area is within a designated permanent forest reserve. However, the loggers hired by two companies have been wantonly cutting trees for several months now.

This devastation is particularly evident at a spot about 10km in the interior of the Kota Tinggi-Mersing road. This area, known as Bunker Trail, according to bird watchers, used to be a sanctuary for rare birds such as the Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus), Garnet Pitta (Pitta granatina), Straw- headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus), Asian Fairy-bluebird (Irena puella) and White-rumped Sharma (Copsycus malabaricus). Many of the hillslopes in the area have already been logged, with caterpillar tractor and excavator wheel tracks everywhere. A barricade at the entrance of the site keeps out the public. There is also an abandoned sand mining area nearby, which is now marked by unsightly mining pools. A contract worker met at the project area said the two companies, including one from Singapore, have been actively engaged in forest clearing works for oil palm planting for some time now.

On the bird sanctuary, he said there were fewer birds since the trees were cut down. When an NST team left the area yesterday after taking photographs, a forest ranger said permission was needed to enter, claiming the area was a restricted zone.

Meanwhile, a web site on the Panti bird sanctuary set up by Singaporean bird watching enthusiast Paul Huang, carries the announcement that the sanctuary is closed to the public. Huang said the Johor Forestry Department had put up signs notifying the public that it was an offence to enter.

The web site has a picture gallery featuring hundreds of rare birds found at the Panti Forest. Huang hopes the gallery will generate appreciation for the Panti Forest fauna and lead to its conservation. Biologist Cagan H. Sekercioglu from the Department of Biological Sciences Centre for Conservation Biology, Stanford University, said in his
message on the web site: "This is the most depressing thing I have heard in all my years of birding.

"I've been thinking that I need to prioritise Southeast Asia because of the rapid rate of forest loss and this confirms my worst fears. "Ironically, I am coming to Singapore to work on a paper on the future of biodiversity in Southeast Asia, to predict what it will look like with all the deforestation. "I cannot believe with all the birding interest, no one tried to lobby the Malaysian Government. Can't they charge a fee from the birders in exchange for preservation? That is the kind of solution I recommend in my paper."

Meanwhile, Malaysia Nature Society Johor branch adviser Vincent Chow said: "The Bunker Trail is an important, internationally known birding site and the onus is on the State Government to gazette the whole Panti Forest as a national park as soon as possible. "More damage could be done even to other animal species as the area is extremely rich in biodiversity, being part of the migratory route of small and large mammals within the Panti area, with links to the Endau-Rompin National Park."