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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 20
Gunung Stong State Park Preliminary Management Plan Gunung Stong Tengah Forest Reserve be gazetted as a protected area was unanimously accepted by the State Government. Subsequently, the Kelantan State Government amended the National Forestry Act 1984 (which had previously been adopted by the State), creating an additional category of forest reserves, i.e. as a state park, and the relevant state park committees were formed to guide the creation of the protected area. It was realised that there is a big gap between intentions and operational reality, and that a crucial step was the preparation of a management plan. However, unlike other new (or soonto-be) protected areas, GSSP is already popular with hikers, and pending a more detailed, management plan, it was decided that a preliminary management plan was necessary as a guide to the policy, planning and management of GSSP. To delay may result in negative impacts on GSSP in view of increasing numbers of visitors and the lack of control and monitoring over their behaviours, and also the lack for coordination between stakeholders. It is to be understood that this preliminary management plan is meant as a stopgap instrument pending a more detailed, management plan for GSSP. 2.2 Location GSSP is currently the Gunung Stong Tengah Forest Reserve located in the west of the State (refer to Appendix 1 for location map). GSSP is surrounded by the Basor Forest Reserve (40,790ha), Gunung Stong Utara Forest Reserve (11,044ha), Gunung Stong Selatan Forest Reserve (28,134ha), Balah Forest Reserve (56,010ha) and Berangkat Forest Reserve (21,409ha). GSSP and this group of forest reserves together make up a total of 157,087ha of forestland. These blocks of forests are the extensions of the Titiwangsa Range that, at this point, straddles the borders of Kelantan and Perak. These forest reserves surrounding GSSP make good buffers and provide connectivity to the larger forest block of the Main Range and should remain forested. The Basor Forest Reserve, Gunung Stong Utara Forest Reserve, Gunung Stong Tengah Forest Reserve, Gunung Stong Selatan Forest Reserve and Basor Forest Reserve are under the management of the West Kelantan District of the Forestry Department. 2.3 Access Before the advent of motor vehicles, the population traveled significantly by river, and jungle trails for short distances. Through these trails, forest produce was carried by locals to the nearest trading outpost and was then transported by traditional boats and bamboo rafts downstream to the more populous district or directly to the state capital. In time, these trading outposts expanded into river settlements which, for the more strategically sited, gradually turned into trading centres. Thus, historically, most towns in Malaysia were either on river junctions or along rivers. These communities attract other settlers, who then opened up forestland for subsistence and small-scale agriculture, with aggressive large-scale conversions only occurring after the introduction of rubber (and later oil palm). Introduction of plantation agriculture resulted in more forestlands were intensely converted to rubber, and the introduction of motor-vehicles resulted in a network of roads and railway lines crossing the country, not only improving access to these communities, but bringing in new ideas, people, and goods, further accelerating and amplifying the process of development. Towns then developed along these road and rail arteries, relegating river transportation and river towns to minor roles in logistics. Up till the last 20 years, Kelantan had been spared the rapid development that occurred in the west coast, and the GSSP area (which could be termed the last frontier) is finally experiencing what had been experienced earlier by the west coast states. Formerly accessible only by river and rail, it is now accessible by motor-vehicles, and as part of the north-south development 21
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FINAL VERSION FOR APPROVAL - Sdn Bhd - WWF Malaysia

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