New State Park to Strengthen Tiger Protection in Malaysia
WASHINGTON (PRWEB) August 17, 2018 -- Malaysia’s Terrenganu state government announced today that it has designated 25,664-acres of land formerly slated for logging as a new protected area for wildlife. This new Lawit-Cenana State Park in the Kenyir region of Terrenganu is phase one of a much larger conservation project that will encompass nearly 250,000 acres that lies within a globally important Tiger Conservation Landscape and critical wildlife corridor.
The creation of and ongoing management for this new protected area is a collaborative effort involving the Terengganu state government and the local nonprofit organization Rimba, in partnership with Rainforest Trust and Panthera.
“This new protected area not only brings more key wildlife habitat under protection, but also protects vital forested watersheds that provide important ecosystem services to the people of Terengganu,” said Dr. Sheema Abdul Aziz, President of Rimba.
Estimated at more than 130 million years old, the dipterocarp forest in the Kenyir state park is now permanently protected from logging and secured from further development. Over a dozen Critically Endangered Malayan Tigers have been recorded in the area, while the global population is established at fewer than 250 mature individuals in the wild.
“The importance of this area simply cannot be underestimated,” said Rainforest Trust Chief Executive Officer Dr. Paul Salaman. “The creation of the new park is a rare and unparalleled opportunity to protect a spectacular and imperiled tropical forest harboring what is certainly one of the planet’s most awe-inspiring predators – the Malayan Tiger.”
The forests of the new park contain some of the highest biodiversity in Asia and are home to 18 highly threatened mammal species, including the Asian Elephant, Sunda Pangolin, Malay Tapir, Dhole and White-handed Gibbon. Six of Malaysia’s eight wild cat species prowl these forests, including the Critically Endangered Malayan Tiger.
“These apex predators face tremendous pressure from poaching, fuelled by the illegal trade in their body parts for traditional Chinese medicine,” said Dr. Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, lead investigator of Rimba’s Project Harimau Selamanya and Associate Professor at Sunway University.
More than 290 bird species have been documented in this area, 66 of which are considered threatened or Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This includes nine hornbill species, making this area one of the richest places in Southeast Asia for these magnificent birds.
Future phases will expand on the new state park and connect the previously unprotected forests to the 1,073,280 Taman Negara National Park, creating a vast protected landscape for the wide-ranging tigers. The project will also create a vast network of protected forests as recommended in the Malaysian Central Forest Spine Master Plan for Ecological Linkages, with the 1,073,280-acre Taman Negara National Park at the core and the new Kenyir state park as a vital corridor.
The next steps will involve the establishment of ranger teams to patrol the state park and the development of sustainable funding mechanisms such as ecotourism and payments for ecosystem services to help support wildlife protection efforts.
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About Rainforest Trust
Rainforest Trust is a leading international conservation organization that has been steadfast in its mission for 30 years to save endangered species through the purchase and protection of imperiled tropical habitats in partnership with local partners and communities. Since its founding in 1988, Rainforest Trust has helped protect over 18 million acres of rainforest and other tropical habitats in more than 125 project sites around the world. Presently, Rainforest Trust is working to establish a network of over 190 protected areas toward its goal of strategically protecting 50 million acres by 2020. Rainforest Trust has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, and 100 percent of project gifts directly fund vital conservation action. For more information, visit http://www.RainforestTrust.org
For media inquiries with Rainforest Trust, please contact:
Alyssa Wiltse-Ahmad
Media Relations Officer
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1-800-456-4930
Alyssa Wiltse-Ahmad, Rainforest Trust, +1 5402706810, [email protected]
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