(FOR PAID-UP MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY MEMBERS ONLY)

Registration for the MNS Green Living Turtle Volunteer Programme 2015:

Cost per participant: RM30 (RM25 as a donation to the Turtle Conservation and Information Centre and RM5 as a donation to Green Living for the purchase of beach cleanup equipment etc). Please bring your cash donation with you on the same day.

This activity is limited to 30 participants (age 6 and above) who must have valid MNS memberships.

Please email your details to wongeelynn@yahoo.com or text (not call, please!) 013 228 6812 before 10th August 2015 to book your places. Our turtle friends await!

The Selangor State Park is facing threats of degazettement with the latest proposal with regards to the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE). The Park protects over 90% of Selangor, KL and Putrajaya’s current water supply. However, the proposed alignment of the EKVE threatens pristine sections of the catchment forests that make up the Park.

We have just gone through a very challenging water rationing period where we should realise by now how precious our water supply is. So, let us join our voices and efforts to tell the authorities that we Malaysians do not want the proposed highway to cut through our precious water catchment forests and destroy the habitats of many flora and faunas.

We would like to invite you to lend your support in gathering signatures at designated public places which is convenient for you. You can download the form by clicking here

AND, if you have not signed the online petition, you can do so here. Don’t forget to share this link on your social media pages encouraging your family and friends to sign.

Please email mns@mns.org.my if you wish to volunteer in collecting signatures. Deadline to submit all signed forms is 20^th May 2014.

Join us to speak up for our forest!

The proposed degazettement involves 106.55 hectares of land from four forest reserves in Selangor, namely the Ampang, Bukit Seputeh, Ulu Gombak and Ulu Langat Forest Reserves. Two of the forest reserves, Ampang and Ulu Gombak, form part of the Selangor State Park and are important water catchments for the Klang Valley.

The Selangor State Government has publicly announced this proposal and welcome objections from the public concerning this proposal. MNS together with WWF Malaysia and TRees are in the Protection of the Selangor State Park (SSP) coalition and are currently collecting signatures from the public to submit to the state government. The deadline to submit objections has been extended until 26th March 2014!!

So, please lend your voice to support this campaign. Your voice is crucial to save and protect Malaysia’s natural treasures.

Click here to find out how you can voice out your objections.

Thank you for your support and lets save our forests!

Malaysian Nature Society

The proposed degazettement involves 106.55 hectares of land from four forest reserves in Selangor, namely the Ampang, Bukit Seputeh, Ulu Gombak and Ulu Langat Forest Reserves. Two of the forest reserves, Ampang and Ulu Gombak, form part of the Selangor State Park and are important water catchments for the Klang Valley.

The Ampang and Ulu Gombak forest reserves serve as water catchment forests for major areas in the Klang Valley. The Ampang Intake plant supplies 19 million litres of potable water per day to 9,225 accounts in the Ampang area. The Ulu Gombak forest reserve is a catchment for the Klang Gates Dam. This dam reportedly supplies water to 80,000 households and business premises in the Klang Valley.

It is ironic that the proposal to degazette crucial water catchment forests comes at a time when water shortages are being reported in different parts of the Klang Valley and water levels in the Klang Valley dams are reported as dangerously low.

The SSP, the largest stretch of contiguous forest tract remaining in Selangor and the third largest park in Peninsular Malaysia, is an Environmentally Sensitive Area Rank 1. It forms part of Peninsular Malaysia’s Central Forest Spine and functions as the most important watershed for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The gazettement as a State Park was to provide a higher level of protection status to the forests that are not only rich in biodiversity but provide crucial ecosystems services such as  water to a vast population of residents and businesses in the greater area.

So, as a concerned Malaysian, what can you do?

1) Write to the Selangor State Forestry Department
Voice your concerns and objections regarding the proposed degazettement to the Selangor State Forestry Department. Provide reasons for your objection. Submit written objections either in Bahasa Malaysia or English by 14 March 2014 to:

Pengarah
Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Selangor
Tingkat 3, Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
40660 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan

** A sample of the objection letter can be downloaded below

You can cc the letter to the Selangor Menteri Besar and the State EXCO for Environment (Please find their contact details in item no. 2)
Important: As this is a formal objection letter, please ensure that your full name and address are included in the letter. Anonymous letters will not be entertained nor counted as an objection.

b) Can the objection message be sent through email?
The notice does not provide an email address but based on the Forestry Department’s website, the Director does have an email address: yusoff@forestry.gov.my

If you want to email the Director (Tuan Haji Yusoff bin Muda), please do also make sure you send a hard copy of your objection to the Selangor Forestry Director’s office. The phone and fax numbers for the department are as follows:
Tel: 03-5544 7507 (ext 7490)
Fax: 03-5511 9961

Note: Four NGOs, Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Save our Sungai Selangor (SOS Selangor), Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES), and WWF-Malaysia, have formed a coalition to protect the Selangor State Park. We would appreciate it if you could send a copy of your letter/ email to the coalition at savetwns@gmail.com, so that we are aware of the number of objection letters that is being sent out.

c) Can I still object if I am not living in the affected districts?
If you are not a resident in the Ulu Langat or Gombak districts but as a member of the public you are concerned that forest reserves are being degazetted, especially water catchment forests and forests in a state park you can still object because you have the right as a concerned Malaysian citizen to do so.

2. What else can you do to save Selangor State Park?
Apart from writing to the Forestry Director, voice your objection on the KLORR/EKVE cutting through the Selangor State Park to the Selangor Menteri Besar and relevant State EXCO members. This is very important as State governments are the ultimate decision-makers on issues pertaining to forests as forests and land matters come directly under the jurisdiction of the state government. They have the power to reject the proposal for the KLORR/EKVE to cut through the forests and the Selangor State Park. Their contact details are as follows:

Menteri Besar
Y.A.B Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Abd Khalid bin Ibrahim
Dato’ Menteri Besar Selangor
Pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor
Tingkat 21, Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
40503 Shah Alam
Tel: 03-5544 7013 / 03-5544 7022
Fax: 03-5519 0032
Email: khalid@selangor.gov.my

EXCO Environment
Y.B. Puan Wong Keat Ping @ Elizabeth Wong
Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Tetap Pelancongan, Hal Ehwal Pengguna dan Alam Sekitar
Pejabat Ahli Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri Selangor,
Tingkat 2, Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah,
40503 Shah Alam
Tel: 03-5544 7760
Email: elizabethwong@selangor.gov.my

** You can download the sample objection letters below.

Please ensure that your name and contact details (e.g address / email address) are included in the letter. There is a slimmer chance of anonymous letters being taken seriously.
Note: We would appreciate it if you could send a copy of your letter/ email to the Coalition for the Protection of the Selangor State Park at savetwns@gmail.com so that we are aware of the number of letters/emails that is being sent.

3. Is there anyone else I can write to voice my concerns?
– Yes, you can write to your respective ADUNs if you are a resident of Ampang, Ulu Klang, Melawati, Bukit Antarabangsa, Rawang, Kajang, Cheras and Sungai Long areas. If you have an active Residents’ Association in these areas, bring it to their attention and try to arrange a meeting with your ADUN and the state government to voice your concern. You could also bring it to the media’s attention.

– As the KLORR/EKVE is a Federal government project, you can also write to the Prime Minister or post your concerns regarding this project on his Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/najibrazak). The more letters/emails the State and Federal government representatives get from concerned public, the better will be the impact.

4. Is there anything else I can do?
–  You can help create awareness on this matter. Tell your friends and family members and ask them to voice their concern.
– Write to the media. It is simple to also email your concerns which you have voiced to the government to the media.
– Voice your concerns on social media.
– Post this information on your Facebook.
– Tweet about it, if you have a Twitter account.
– Post your concerns on elected representatives’ Facebook account. The Prime Minister, Selangor Menteri Besar and some Selangor State EXCO members have active Facebook accounts. Post your concerns there.

Some FB account links are as follows:
Y.A.B. Prime Minister
Y.A.B. Selangor Menteri Besar
Y.B. Selangor State EXCO for Environment

To know more about the park, visit:
http://selangorstatepark.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TrEES.Malaysia

Objection letters

• Objection letter to Selangor State Forestry Department (English – doc – 27 Kb)
• Surat Bantahan kepada Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Selangor (Malay – doc – 30 Kb)
• Objection letter to Selangor Chief Minister and Selangor State Exco of Environment (English – doc – 29 Kb)