FINAL VERSION FOR APPROVAL - Sdn Bhd - WWF Malaysia

Gunung Stong State Park Preliminary Management Plan
CHAPTER 2: PHYSICAL AND
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING OF GSSP
2.1 Historical Background
GSSP, prior to 1985, is not that well known to tourists or conservationists, due to the security
status then, when large areas of forests were off-limits to the public. Sometime in the mid-
1980s, a retired military special force officer, a Major Yusoff, offered jungle survival courses
at GSSP, to outdoor recreationists and adventurers. These outdoor recreationists, on later
trips, invited their friends along, and through word-of-mouth, more publicity was generated
over this area, especially about the high waterfall known as the Lata Jeri or Lata Jelawang.
A local, Baha, took a special interest over this area, and on his initiative, made explorations
and created fresh trails, often modified from logging tracks, as there was active logging in the
late 1980s. The number of hikers visiting GSSP gradually increased, and being the only
guide, Baha was always hired, and his popularity spread, initially only in Kelantan, but later,
throughout Malaysia and overseas.
In 1992, anticipating the need for accommodation by visitors, Baha constructed 10 basic huts
and a canteen, made out of readily available materials, at a logging site above the waterfall. It
was also during this time that larger numbers of foreigners started to visit GSSP, promoted
and marketed by a network of guesthouse operators in Kota Bharu and Pulau Perhentian.
Baha passed away in 2002, but by this time he had already created a team, known as BAT
(Baha Adventure Team) Guides, to handle the guiding and operational duties of the huts
constructed at the top of the waterfall, now known as Baha Camp. Upon his demise, his
eldest son, Odie, became the leader of the BAT Guides. By then, GSSP was already popular
with local and foreign hikers, mostly visiting GSSP from Fridays to Sundays, the state and
national weekends.
In terms of conservation, the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) suggested that the forests in
this area be conserved as a protected area, i.e. as a national or state park, sometime in 1990.
Several preliminary meetings were made with senior state level officers, but fizzled out as
some stakeholders felt that the area requested was too large. A MNS counter-offer to operate
a nature education centre sometime in 1995 were also not well-received.
However, by 1996, appreciation of the importance of conservation had increased
significantly, partly due to the impacts of the 1992 Rio Conference, the global warming
phenomenon, increased exposure of Malaysians to unsustainable development, the
DANCED-MNS-Johor National Parks Corporation partnership in the establishment of a
nature education and research centre at the Endau-Rompin National Park, and the preparation
of a management plan and the creation of the Perlis State Park through the collaboration
among DANCED (later DANIDA), WWF-Malaysia, and the Perlis State Forestry
Department. The role of DANCED is generally as a funder of conservation projects, an
obligation underscored by Denmark, as a developed nation signatory to the Conference on
Biological Diversity.
It was at the turn of the millennium that the role of the Forestry Department began to expand,
from that of forestry management to biodiversity conservation, in areas specifically created
for these purposes, and managed by the respective State Forestry Departments. The spate of
scientific expeditions in forest reserves in recent years is part of the directional change in the
role of the Forestry Department, perhaps spurred by the increasing emphasis on the
applications of the nation’s biodiversity in the biotechnology industry.
In Kelantan, the 2003 Forestry Department-UKM Scientific Expedition to the Gunung Stong
Tengah Forest Reserve revived the earlier proposal for a state park and, coupled with the shift
in attitudes towards conservation, the suggestion in 2004 by the Forestry Department that the
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