Losing our Green Lungs

In a humid and thriving city such as Kuala Lumpur, urban forests are a blessing. Not only do they reduce heat and air pollution, provide home for wildlife, space for recreational activities, they also beautify our concrete jungle with soothing greens. But because they are located within the heart of a city, they are usually prone to development.

The Kota Damansara Community Forest, or KDCF, is one such forest on the brink of destruction.

Located on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur, KDCF is a secondary forest, part of a defunct Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve gazetted in 1898. It is the oldest forest reserve in Peninsular Malaysia. Kota Damansara is a developing urban area and a fast growing one. To date, the forest reserve has shrunk to a mere 3.5km and is threatened to disappear.

In April 2009, the Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim announced that KDCF will be gazetted in three months’ time. He was also quoted, “Once it is gazetted as a forest, any proposed development must be presented to the public as the public has a say in the forest reserve. We will also let the community take care of the forest.” But sadly, this has not happened.

Some organizations such as Eco Warriors and Wild Asia had conducted tree-planting activities with corporate sponsors at KDCF to heighten public awareness on the importance of our green spaces and to encourage the communities to use and protect our forests by getting involved in various outdoor activities.

Yet these efforts reaped no fruit.

Just recently, Friends of Kota Damansara (FOKD) got wind that the tree planting area will be converted into a private housing estate. Jeffrey Phang, vice president of FOKD said that this news is shocking and they had contacted PKNS who repeatedly told them the land was reserved to build an Islamic school.

The plan was first brought to light in 2001, but since nothing has been done, the residents assumed that the plan is dismissed. The residents then got together and hold events to promote the green space and create environmental awareness. Now, news that a housing estate will be erected is causing the residents more confusion and frustration.

This new development will create a traffic congestion issue as the number of residents and visitors to Kota Damansara is increasing.

Furthermore, there was no signage that marked the area for development but rusty fences are being erected at the area. Yesterday, Mr. Phang rallied a few volunteers to tag the tree saplings to claim ownership and hopefully, this effort will save the trees as they were donated by corporate and individuals for Earth Day and World Environmental Day.

Though we cannot stop companies from developing plots of land in an urban setting, public efforts must be made to ensure our urban forests are protected. The civil society can and must stand up to corporate moguls and advocate sustainable development, where measures are taken to ensure development leave as little impact as possible on the surrounding environment and wildlife.

“We hope to establish a united community where we work with the local authorities to build a livable city as advocated by MBPJ,” FOKD