Bukit Kiara, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, is one of the last remaining green lungs accessible to the public in this growing city of almost two million people.
This verdant secondary jungle that regenerated out of a rubber plantation is next to the established Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) neighbourhood between Jalan Haji Openg and Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. It is bordered by the Penchala Malay Reservation, the Sprint Expressway and Kerinchi Link.
Less than 30 per cent of the original land acquired for public purpose or a mere 162ha, remains in public hands of which only 111ha was gazetted in July 2020 as a public park.
With the ever-growing threat of development, Bukit Kiara remains in the spotlight and will require the continued resolve of all stakeholders to ensure the remainder of the park is gazetted in 2027. Thereafter, the pressure to maintain the green lung for public purpose will need to be continued.
Friends of Bukit Kiara (FoBK) was formally registered with the Registrar of Societies in 2014 with Tan Sri Salleh Mohd Nor assuming the presidency.
Thanks to his credentials as a recognised forester and passionate naturalist and, in particular, his high profile as the former Malaysian Nature Society president, the organisation started on a sound footing to a more formal structure, moving away from the loose formation of the preceding 15 years.
In the years leading up to 2018, the prime target for FoBK activities was moving the gazettement of Bukit Kiara agenda forward which was done in earnest via meetings and correspondence with relevant government agencies.
I took over as president of FoBK in 2018 but my personal relationship with Bukit Kiara and the Save Bukit Kiara movement goes back to 1994 when I moved to TTDI with a young family. Bukit Kiara quickly became our key focal point of call for all family activities.
During the 2018 FoBK annual general meeting, it was highlighted that the immediate mission for FoBK should be to develop a working narrative to:
- Promote the way the green lung evolves as part of the gazettement agenda;
- Develop a vision to ease the way for accountable planning, and championing the “Greater Kiara” concept;
- Provide guidelines to protect the nature of the green lung; and
- Work towards reaching environmentally guided development planning policies that co-exist harmoniously with a public park.
We immediately set about moving our mission and vision from a single gazettement agenda to also include engagement on wider green lung advocacy issues, developing links with other green lung community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations in the Klang Valley and engaged with the public in more innovative ways.
The latter has involved in promoting a myriad of activities, including hiking, plogging and commemorating significant international green lung calendar dates such as Earth Hour, Firefly Day and Earth Day.
In a first attempt of its kind in the Klang Valley, a successful roundtable discussion was hosted by FoBK in October 2018 which saw the coming together of 17 green lung advocacy groups and representatives from the office of the Segambut MP to find a meaningful way forward.
The day-long meeting and follow-up discussions provided the basis for formulating a strategy for the protection of Bukit Kiara and the critical need for community participation in the future care of the green lung.
This seminal coming together of experiences has guided the FoBK executive committee as it moves forward with our protection agenda.
Over the years, FoBK has benefited from generous individuals and corporations providing support. This includes Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and more recently a grant from the United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme to study the biodiversity of the land-based fireflies discovered in Bukit Kiara in 2017.
The study is under way and FoBK hopes that the wider public will be spurred to join as citizen scientists in this exciting project.
We are also organising a digital commemoration of Earth Day in April. This will be an online campaign involving several offerings, including webinars on the fireflies and biodiversity of Bukit Kiara, and highlighting the iconic flora, fauna and trails via educational digital content. We also plan to celebrate news of the official gazettement of Bukit Kiara by sharing the history of this milestone event as well as continuing the momentum by engaging with other green lungs.
Support our cause by signing up as a member at http://www.fobk.org. Help preserve Bukit Kiara for future generations.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
