Malaysia: FRIM comes under threat

The Star 2 Mar 14;

KUALA LUMPUR: The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), the largest and oldest man-made tropical forest in the world, is under threat by a proposal to build an elevated highway across it.

Its director-general Datuk Dr Abd Latif Mohmod said he “would fight to the end” against such a move, which would be detrimental for the many endangered plant species within its grounds.

“If this buffer zone for endangered plant species is damaged, where else can we keep them?

“FRIM is a national and natural heritage and any threat to it must be fought,” he told reporters after a media appreciation ceremony here yesterday.

Dr Abd Latif said the issue first arose when he was approached by a group, whom he declined to name, in February last year, suggesting that FRIM be “split in half” for the highway’s construction.

He said that this could be because FRIM, which spans 544.3ha, was under a single ownership after receiving its freehold land title from the Selangor Government in 2007, making it easier for negotiations.

“But they forget that FRIM is now under Selangor and not Kuala Lumpur. Selangor is a state that does not allow logging because it depends on business and commercial activities (for income),” he said.

Dr Abd Latif said they had assumed the proposal was set aside after FRIM handed the group a petition which showed that 99% of its personnel were against the plan.

However, he said he was informed earlier this week that the proposal had now been brought to the “higher authorities”.

Dr Abd Latif also thanked the media for constantly providing public awareness on environmental issues as well as highlighting FRIM’s work.

“Many of the awards we have received are mainly due to the media exposure given to us.

“The value and impact of your reports have helped FRIM maintain our position as a tropical forest research institute that is known worldwide,” he said.

Among the media recognised by FRIM were The Star journalists Tan Cheng Li and Isabelle Lai for their respective reports last year on Merapoh, Pahang, and Gunung Kanthan, Perak, as well as the StarMetro section for its support for FRIM’s activities.

FRIM’s Kepong campus, which is renowned as a model of successful reforestation, was established in the 1920s and recognised as a natural heritage in 2009 as well as a national heritage in 2011.

It is working to attain Unesco World Heritage status by 2017.

FRIM under highway threat
isabelle lai The Star 1 Mar 14;

KUALA LUMPUR: The largest and oldest man-made tropical forest in the world is under threat by a proposal to build an elevated highway across it, said Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) director-general, Datuk Dr Abd Latif Mohmod on Saturday.

“We will fight to the end against such a move, which is detrimental for the many endangered plant species within the grounds.

“If this buffer zone for endangered plant species is damaged, where else can we keep them? FRIM is a national and natural heritage and any threat to it must be fought,” he told reporters after a media appreciation ceremony on Saturday.

Dr Abd Latif said the issue first arose when he was approached by a group, whom he declined to name, in February last year, suggesting that FRIM be “split in half” for the highway construction.

He said that this could be because FRIM, which spans 544.3ha, was under single ownership after receiving its freehold land title from the Selangor government in 2007, making it easier for negotiations.

“But they forget that FRIM is now under Selangor and not Kuala Lumpur. Selangor is a state that does not allow logging because it depends on business and commercial activities (for income),” he said.

Dr Abd Latif said they had assumed the proposal was set aside after FRIM handed the group a petition which showed 99% of its personnel were against the plan.

However, he said he was informed earlier this week that the proposal had now been taken to “higher authorities”.

Dr Abd Latif also thanked the media for constantly providing public awareness on environmental issues as well as highlighting FRIM’s work.

“Many of the awards we have received is mainly due to the media exposure given to us. The value and impact of your reports have helped FRIM maintain our position as a tropical forest research institute that is known worldwide,” he said.

Among the media recognised by FRIM were The Star journalists Tan Cheng Li and Isabelle Lai for their respective reports last year on Merapoh, Pahang and Gunung Kanthan, Perak, as well as StarMetro section for its support for FRIM activities.

FRIM’s Kepong campus, renowned for being a model of successful reforestation, was established in the 1920s and recognised as a natural heritage in 2009 and national heritage in 2011.

It is working to attain Unesco World Heritage Status by 2017.

MNS fully behind FRIM against plan
isabelle lai The Star 6 mar 14;


PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s image will suffer internationally if a proposal to build an ele­vated highway within the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) area materialises, Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) president Prof Dr Maketab Mohamad said.

He strongly condemned the proposed highway across FRIM, which is the largest and oldest­ man-made tropical forest in the world. He called on the developers to find an alternative route that would not threaten FRIM’s grounds.

“We will fight the developers because we cannot allow such a thing to happen to a national treasure. We are fully behind FRIM’s staff and we can quickly mobilise over 1,000 supporters via social media,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Last week, FRIM director-general Datuk Dr Abd Latif Mohmod said its Kepong campus was under threat by the proposed highway. He said he would “fight to the end” against the move, as it would be detrimental to the many endangered plant species within its grounds.

FRIM, which spans 544.3ha, received its freehold land title from the Selangor government in 2007.

Founded in 1929, it is surrounded by the Bukit Lagong forest reserve and has become a highly popular public spot for outdoor recreation and nature education activities.

Once a degraded area with abandoned mining pools and barren vegetable farms, FRIM has been globally lauded as a model of successful reforestation and was recognised as a natural heritage in 2009 and declared a national heritage in 2011.

Known for its research excellence, among the facilities there are a 106-year-old herba­rium housing over 200,000 specimens and a xylarium with over 10,000 wood samples from over 1,500 species.

Over the years, the numerous awards picked up by FRIM include the International Socrates Award for Best Enterprise (Applied Research and Scientific Achievements) 2011 from the Europe Business Assembly in 2011, with Dr Abd Latif earning the International Socrates Award for Manager of the Year (Applied Research and Scientific Achievements) 2011.

It is working to attain Unesco World Heritage status by 2017.