"Save Ulu Muda": a campaign to save a Kedah forest

WWF Malaysia 21 Apr 10;

Visit www.saveulumuda.com to learn how you can help save Ulu Muda.

Petaling Jaya, 20th April 2010 - The Friends of Ulu Muda II (FoUM II), a coalition of 19 NGOs including WWF-Malaysia, have come up with a website: www.saveulumuda.com to raise awareness among the public on the importance of conserving the Ulu Muda forest.

This relatively unexplored expanse of forest in the northeast of Kedah, approximately 160,000ha in size, is a very important water catchment forest for three dams that supply water to Kedah, Penang and Perlis. It is also one of the few remaining large repositories of biodiversity of the country.

In recent years it has made the headlines due to threats of logging which has led to the formation of the Friends of Ulu Muda II coalition (the first coalition was formed in 2003 when there was an earlier logging proposal).

This coalition aims to garner support amongst the public to call for a permanent ban to logging at Ulu Muda and for its gazettement as a state or national park.

Besides feeding one with beautiful imageries of Ulu Muda and its flora and fauna, the site also has an online petition against logging at Ulu Muda. This gives visitors the chance to be an active participant in efforts to protect Ulu Muda.

Adding to that, the website also provides useful information on the Ulu Muda forest, its flora and fauna, the FoUM II coalition, updates on the coalition’s activities as well as press coverage of Ulu Muda.
For more information on Ulu Muda and FoUM II, visit www.saveulumuda.com

- End-

Notes To Editor

Friends of Ulu Muda II consist of the following organisations:

1. Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)
2. Malaysian Karst Society (MKS)
3. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
4. World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia)
5. Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia (EPSM)
6. Penang Water Watch (PWW)
7. Partners of Community Organizations (PACOS Trust)
8. Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES)
9. Environmental and Research Organization of Malaysia (ENSEARCH)
10. Muafakat Warga Desa Negeri Kedah (Rural Citizens)
11. Kumpulan Bertindak Petani MADA
12. Pergerakan dan Penyelidikan Pembangunan Komuniti (KOMUNITI)
13. Campus Environmental Network (CARE)
14. Gabungan Angkatan Sahabat Alam Sekitar Nasional (GAGASAN)
15. Teras Pengupayaan Melayu (TERAS)
16. Jaringan Bertindak Nelayan Pantai Semenanjung (JARING-Kedah)
17. Suara Rakyat Malaysia [Penang] (SUARAM)
18. Persatuan Kesedaran Sosial dan Kesedaran Malaysia
19. Consumers Association of Penang (CAP)

For further information on Ulu Muda please contact:

Siti Zuraidah Abidin, Officer, Protected Areas, WWF-Malaysia at 03-7809 3772 ext 6413 or email at szuraidah@wwf.org.my

Hymeir Kamaruddin, President, Malaysian Karst Society at 019-4428926 or email at hymeir@gmail.com

Website to save Ulu Muda
The Star 22 Apr 10;

FRIENDS of Ulu Muda II (FoUM II), a coalition of 19 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including WWF-Malaysia, has come up with a website to raise awareness on the importance of conserving the Ulu Muda forest.

This relatively unexplored 160,000ha forest in the north-east of Kedah is an important water catchment forest for three dams that supply water to Kedah, Penang and Perlis.

It is one of the few remaining large repositories of biodiversity in the country.

In recent years, it made headlines due to threats of logging, and this led to the formation of Friends of Ulu Muda II. The first coalition was formed in 2003 when there was an earlier logging proposal.

This coalition aims to garner public support to call for a permanent ban on logging at Ulu Muda and its gazetting as a state or national park.

The website displays beautiful images of Ulu Muda and its flora and fauna and has an online petition against logging in the area.

It gives visitors the chance to be active in efforts to protect Ulu Muda.

The website also provides information on the forest and its flora and fauna.

The FoUM II coalition also gives updates on its activities and press coverage on Ulu Muda.

For more information, visit www.saveulumuda.com