by corybas
Throughout the 1990’s, land clearing in Cameron Highlands both legally and otherwise occurred at a frenetic pace, as the population increased and the demand for housing, farming and other infrastructures grew. This was compounded by lax law enforcement. By the year 2000, Cameron Highlands, with a land area of 71200 hectares and forest cover of 54597 hectares in 1991, had lost another 1000 hectares of forest. These indiscriminate land clearings and hill cuttings resulted in frequent landslides, rivers getting silted, flash floods and contamination of water catchment areas and water supply. Things came to a head in September 2000 when reports trickled in that massive land clearing were taking place on a ridge in Gunung Brinchang near Sungai Palas, right on the water catchment area of Sungai Burung. (Sg Burung was then the main water source of Brinchang and Tanah Rata towns). A wave of publicity ensued with coverage in most of the major local papers and TV channels.
Following this media blitz, by early October 2000, the Menteri Besar of Pahang announced a freeze on all development projects in Cameron Highlands. At the Federal Level, a Cabinet Committee on Highlands and Island Development tasked with coordinating the development of Highland forests and setting up a mechanism to monitor them was formed. A study for the sustainable development of Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia was commissioned by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) ,Prime Minister’s Department and funded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) . It commenced on the 1st of December 2000 and would cover a period of 15 months. This study would aid the formulation of a sustainable development strategy for the Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia.
It was in this climate of anger, frustration and feeling of utter helplessness watching precious forests fall, that a group of locals banded together to form an association to voice out environmental concerns and gave birth to REACH. (In 1997 a similar association called Friends of Cameron Highlands was mooted but without proper guidance it never got off the ground.) This time around with advice from WWF, things were more organised and by 30th October 2000, REACH had the 1st pro tem meeting headed by our late President Mr Ramakrishnan Ramasamy. Other members of the pro tem committee included Dr Foo Hwa Hsing, Dr Chong Chee Kheong, Captain Zainal Thamby, Mr Kok Tuck Khow, Mr Chay Ee Mong, Mdm Chuan Eng Kim and Encik Syed Faizil.
Support also came from the Malaysia Hills Network – a coalition of NGOs working to preserve the highlands. The NGOs were WWF, Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Consumer Association of Penang (CAP), Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Wetlands International.
REACH was officially registered by the Registrar of Societies on the 6th of September 2001 and on the 24th October 2001 REACH had the 1st Annual General Meeting at Cool Point Hotel, Tanah Rata. By then REACH had received a small grant of USD 2000/= from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to carry out environmental programmes. The pro tem committee was then dissolved and the 1st office bearers of REACH were elected. They were Mr Ramakrishnan Ramasamy as President, Mr Kok Tuck Khow as Vice President, Mr Zulkifli Mohd Ariffin as Secretary , Mr George A.Theseira as Assistant secretary, Mr Yong Leong Meng as Treasurer, Mr Embi Abdullah, Mr Madi, Mr Chay Ee Mong, Mr K.Selvarjoo , Dr Liau Tai Leong as committee members and Mdm Lorraine Shum and Mdm Ong Pek Choo as auditors.
The initial proposed projects were reforestation of barren areas in Cameron Highlands, testing of water samples and holding workshops for target groups.
And that was how REACH came to be, more than 20 years ago. Never did we imagine that in these 2 decades, we would lose quite a few of our best ‘warriors’ yet at the same time gained many more. Never did we imagine that there would be so many disappointments yet just as many hard fought ‘triumphs’. Never did we imagine that protecting the environment would require so much dogged determination year after year.
I guess the glue that holds all this together is our unwavering love for the true beauty of Cameron Highlands- The Wild Side!
Wild orchid- Thrixspermum