Belum-Temengor is the largest continuous forest complex in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

. Specifically, it is located in the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

n state of

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...

( Hulu Perak) and crosses into

Southern Thailand Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus. Geography Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounde ...

. Belum-Temenggor is divided into two sections. Belum is located up north right by the Malaysia-Thailand border while Temenggor is south of Belum. The Royal Belum State Park is entirely contained within the forest complex. Bang Lang National Park is on the Thailand side of the border.

Description

Belum-Temenggor is believed to have been in existence for over 130 million years, making it one of the world's oldest rainforests, older than both the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and the Congo. In the heart of the forest lies the manmade lake of Tasik Temenggor, covering 15,200 Hectares which is dotted with hundreds of islands. The area has been identified as an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Rank 1 under the Malaysian National Physical Plan and recognized by

Birdlife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

. The Malaysian federal government has labelled the area as a whole as an essential water catchment area and part of Central Forest Spine and plans to protect the forest under the Malaysian National Forestry Act. Despite that, between the two, only part of Belum Forest Reserve has been gazetted as a State Park while the rest are production forest open for development. Temenggor in particular is facing considerable deforestation due to logging. Environmental organizations such as Malaysian Nature Society and the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

have been lobbying both the state and the federal government to gazette the area as a park. The state government of Perak, however, has resisted the effort, citing that logging provides the state with more than RM 30 million in revenue. Nevertheless, the state government gazetted , part of the Belum forest reserve as state park on May 3, 2007. There is a plan to convert natural forest to plantation forest along the East-West Highway.

Fauna and flora

Belum-Temenggor's relatively untouched forest is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna including 14 of the world's most threatened mammals including the Malayan tiger,

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild pop ...

, white handed gibbon, Malaysian sunbear and

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inh ...

. Other animals include seladang,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species i ...

s, numerous species of

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

, pythons and cobras. As of 2019, due to poaching and the depletion of prey, the number of tigers in Belum-Temengor Forest Reserve has declined about 60 percent over a period of 7-8 years, from approximately 60 to 23. Belum Temenggor is home to over 300 avian species. It is the only existing forest where all 10 species of

hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandibl ...

that inhabit Malaysia are found, namely the white-crowned hornbill,

bushy-crested hornbill The bushy-crested hornbill (''Anorrhinus galeritus'') is a bird in the hornbill family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. File:Anorrhi ...

wrinkled hornbill The wrinkled hornbill or Sunda wrinkled hornbill (''Rhabdotorrhinus corrugatus'') is a medium-large hornbill which is found in forest in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The wrinkled hornbill is around 70 cm long, and has a ve ...

, wreathed hornbill, plain-pouched hornbill,

black hornbill The black hornbill (''Anthracoceros malayanus'') is a species of bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae. It lives in Asia in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand. The Black-casqued Hornbill has a selectiveness toward ...

, Oriental pied hornbill, rhinoceros hornbill, great hornbill and helmeted hornbill.Malaysian Nature Society
/ref> In the forest, one can also find 3,000 species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s, including 3 species of '' Rafflesia'', the world's largest flower.

References

External links

* The Malaysian Nature Society. "''Every name helps keep our forests intact. We need more.''" * Novista. "''Temenggor - Biodiversity In The Face of Danger''"
Belum Temenggor
Official website
Eco Adventure Royal Belum
Travel Ideas from Virtual Malaysia
The Treasure that is Royal Belum Rainforest

A Journey to Royal Belum
A photo essay eco adventure
Travel Ideas for Royal Belum
{{Northern Corridor Economic Region Hulu Perak District Important Bird Areas of Malaysia Nature sites of Malaysia

Description

Fauna and flora

See also

References

External links