Zazali Musa The Star 14 Feb 12;
PONTIAN: The Pulau Kukup National Park is a huge hit among both locals and foreigners with record of 36,184 visitors throughout last year.
The 640ha island which was gazetted as the Pulau Kukup National Park in March 1997 is the second largest non-populated mangrove jungle island in the world.
To date the park has attracted a total of 350,000 visitors since opening its doors.
Johor National Park Corporation director Suhairi Hashim said the island was unique as more than 30 species of mangroves, wild orchids, palms and ferns as well as birds could be found within their natural habitat.
He added that the island’s ecosystem was vital for researchers, scientists and mature lovers as it provided opportunities for them to conduct studies on the flora and fauna.
“The mangrove population on the island is the biggest in the world and they represented about 50% of the mangrove species in the world,” said Suhairi.
He said apart from enjoying the natural surroundings on the island, visitors could see the Karimun Archipelago in Indonesia on a clear day from the 30-metre Observation Tower.
He added that the mangrove ecosystem was important as it was the natural shelter area or the breeding ground for marine life such as crabs, prawns, fresh water fishes and molluscs.
Suhairi said in return, these marine life provided foods for animals such as long-tail macaques, wild boars and monitor lizards.
“It is important to conserve the mangrove area as it acted as a buffer to shield the mainland from strong winds and choppy waves as proven during 2004 tsunami,” he said.
Suhairi said the island was also the place where the country’s oldest bakau minyak tree or known as rhizora mucronata scientifically could be found.
The tree, located at the estuary of Sungai Jempol at the Pulau Kukup National Park is 58cm in diameter compared to a similar species in Larut Matang, Perak which is 55.5cm in diameter.
“However, the vegetation is in the risk of being washed away due to the rapid sand erosion taking place at the estuary,” he said.
Suhairi said presently, about six metres of the shore line where tree stood, was eroding monthly and based on the rate, in three months time, it would encroach into the tree’s base.
On such note, the corporation needed about RM300,000 to build a retaining wall or a raised concrete platform surrounding protect the century-old tree from being washed away.
Similarly, he said the corporation needed RM100,000 yearly for its mangrove planting activities and as of 2011, it had planted 10,000 mangrove trees on the island.
