Bukit Gasing is a

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fores ...

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It straddles the

federal territory A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, as well as the state of

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

. Due to that, the reserve is governed by two different governments — the

Kuala Lumpur City Hall The Kuala Lumpur City Hall ( ms, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, abbreviated DBKL) is the city council which administers the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This council was established after the city was officially granted city status on 1 Feb ...

and the

government of Selangor The Selangor state government refers to the government authority of the Malaysian state of Selangor. The state government adheres to and is created by both the Malaysian federal Constitution, the supreme law of Malaysia, and the Constitution of ...

. There are many hiking trails in Bukit Gasing.

Geography and wildlife

Bukit Gasing is a tropical forest reserve located on the border between Kuala Lumpur and

Petaling Jaya ) , website = , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...

, Selangor in Malaysia. It was a

rubber plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

before it became a

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. Since the park is located in both Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, it has two entrances, with the main entrance located in Petaling Jaya and the secondary entrance located in Kuala Lumpur. There are many free hiking trails in Bukit Gasing, and visitors can use them for

trail running Trail running is a sport-activity which combines running, and, where there are steep gradients, hiking, that is run "on any unpaved surface". It is similar to both mountain and fell running (also known as hill running). Mountain running may, h ...

and

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

. It takes approximately one to two hours to hike each of the trails, and at the end of all the trails is a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

, a Telekom tower, and a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

. There is also a river, and during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

, the river dries up and becomes another trail for hikers. There are different species of

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

that can be found in the park. One of the birds that can be spotted by visitors is the stripe-throated bulbul.

Hindu temple

In February 2013, the Hindu temple, Sivan Temple, was slated for

demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...

because it was collapsing due to weakening soil caused by the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

. The temple's chairman said that the temple's building plans were not approved by the government when it was built. Following the demolition, new plans for the rebuilding of the temple were submitted to and approved by the government in February 2015.

Development

The Selangor part of Bukit Gasing has officially been declared a "green lung" by the Selangor government, which means that no development works can be carried out on the reserve. However, the Kuala Lumpur part of Bukit Gasing has not been officially gazetted as a "green lung" by the Kuala Lumpur government, although former mayors of Kuala Lumpur have promised to turn the Kuala Lumpur part of Bukit Gasing into protected land. As a result, some of the Kuala Lumpur land was sold to building contractors, and new housing projects were approved by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall government over the protests of nearby residents and Friends of Bukit Gasing, a volunteer group that helps to care for the reserve. The development projects have left parts of Bukit Gasing muddy and treeless.

References

{{reflist, 2 Geography of Kuala Lumpur Nature sites of Selangor