A company owned by the Pahang states royal family plans to mine iron ore from a forest reserve that currently hosts a variety of important mega fauna, including tigers elephants sun bears and leopard.
Until July 2019 this area was listed as a permanent forest reserve – suggesting that this degazetting is a long planned move. This area is essential, as the reserve is an essential part of a forest corridor linking two different forest complexes . Encouragingly, this plan came to light during an environmental assessment.
Now, in theory, the area to be mined is small (60 hectares, or 150 acres). The problem is that generally, by definition, forest corridors are usually relatively narrow. The site is also close to a salt lick that is regularly visited by elephants, tapirs and sun bears.
It is also highly likely that any disruption will reach far beyond the area specifically labelled. Not least, the area will require hundreds workmen, and these are highly likely to hunt for wild animals to eat.
Apart from the risk to wildlife, there is also huge risks to numerous villages further downstream. Through out the world, protected reserves form the catchment area for drinking water for millions of people. If mining is started in those protected areas, chemicals are almost guaranteed to seep into the water source decimating life in these zones.