FINAL VERSION FOR APPROVAL - Sdn Bhd - WWF Malaysia

Gunung Stong State Park Preliminary Management Plan
The mountains on the east (the Eastern Range), west (Main Range or Titiwangsa Range), and
south (Tahan Range), forming a U-shaped trough, channels drainage northwards into the
South China Sea. Pareto’s Law prevails in Kelantan: some 20% of her landmass (the Sg.
Kelantan delta) is peopled by 80% of her population, while 80% of her landmass (the forested
highlands in the south, east, and west) is only settled by 20% of the population.
This has prevailed until today, though the completion of the Kuala Lumpur-Gua Musang
road opened up vast swathes of land in the interior for (mostly) plantation agriculture
managed by KESEDAR (South Kelantan Land Development Authority), FELDA, and
FELCRA, and encouraging pioneers to settle in the interior. Apart from pioneers encouraged
by the various organised settlement schemes, there are the illegal pioneers that encroached
into forest reserves in the hope of them being de-gazetted and alienated into agriculture.
The clearing of forestland for agriculture is giving rise to the following impacts:
• Habitat for wildlife and natural plants shrink considerably, and as their food sources
are depleted, wildlife raids agricultural crop and attack livestock. This has happened
with increasing frequency in Jeli and Gua Musang, with reports of human-wildlife
conflicts including elephant and tiger attacks. This is more pertinent when it is
realised that salt-licks, sources of mineral and salts for wildlife, have been disturbed
for highway construction, and development for oilpalm plantations in South
Kelantan.
• Greater networks of logging tracks and expansion of plantations means improved
access to remaining forested areas for hunters and forest product collectors, and the
threat to conservation has increased significantly. There is a thriving underground
market for animal products and parts, especially for use in traditional preparations for
virility and health. Additionally, our forests have also been infiltrated by foreigners
seeking gaharu or sandalwood (and poaching as a sideline). This is indicated by
frequent cases of wildlife traffickers and sandalwood collectors caught by the
authorities, and as reported in the newspapers.
• Kelantan has a long tradition of pioneers opening up forestland for agriculture and
farming, and this is supported by the state in issuing legal title after some period of
time. The clearing of forestlands for agriculture has a multiplier effect: pioneers open
up new land, fragmenting once extensive forests into “islands” surrounded by a sea of
plantation and small-scale agriculture, and the process is self-repeating, with the more
accessible forest reserves nibbled by these pioneers, following logging trails.
1.5.2 District and Population
Kelantan, with a total land area of 14,922 sq km (1,492,200ha), is 4.4% of the total land size
of Malaysia (336,700 sq km or 3,367,000ha). Administration is by 10 districts as listed in
Table 1.3.
District
Table 1.3: Area and Population of Districts in Kelantan
Area (Ha)
Population
1980 1991 2000
Kota Bharu 40,900 275,986 366,770 406,662
Pasir Mas 57,800 118,153 150,036 165,126
Tumpat 16,800 85,952 116,044 134,812
Pasir Puteh 43,300 80,959 96,348 106,138
Bachok 26,400 73,953 98,557 111,040
Kuala Krai 222,500 62,301 90,830 93,550
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