Taman Negara National Park of Peninsular Malaysia
The park is on the tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites, through categories (ix) and (x), as submitted on 05/06/2014: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5927/
Teman Negara National Park actively engages in carbon offset initiatives: https://www.zerohourclimate.org/taman-negara-national-park-forest-climate-change/
The Center for Orang Asli Concerns, an NGO.1
The Rainforest Investigations Network 2(RIN).3
The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM).4
In partnership with Panthera, Rainforest Trust is working to protect the critically endangered Malayan Tiger from extinction due to poaching and habitat loss. The project, costing $1,850,970, is part of a 20-year strategy to safeguard the central forest spine of Peninsular Malaysia for threatened species. This new protected area will also connect to Kenyir State Park, which was established by Rainforest Trust in 2018.[1]
WWF-Malaysia (Worldwide Fund for Nature Malaysia): Conducting anti-poaching training programs and implementing biodiversity conservation projects within Taman Negara National Park.[2]
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Collaborating with local authorities and communities to develop conservation strategies and monitoring programs for key wildlife species in Taman Negara.[3]
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,
Yb Tuan Nik Nazmi Bin Nik Ahmad
Telephone: 03-8871 2000/2200
Fax: 03-8888 9987 / 03-8889 1040
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Pejabat Perhilitan) is given the task of managing and maintaining the natural heritage of Taman Negara[1]
The European Commission lists the Global Environment Facility as a main donor of the National Park. USD $2,000,000 was provided in 1995 to fund the project ‘Conservation Strategies for Rhinos in South East Asia’ of which Taman Negara National Park was a recipient.[1]
Spanning a vast area of 434,351 hectares or 4,343 square kilometers, Taman Negara stretches across three states: Pahang (57%), Kelantan (24%), and Terengganu (19%). As one of the oldest land masses in Peninsular Malaysia, boasting an age of over 130 million years, the park is a geological marvel. Its terrain ranges from 80 to 2,187 meters above sea level, featuring diverse rock formations dominated by sedimentary rocks, with minor granitic rocks in the eastern part. The park's significance extends beyond its geological heritage. It serves as a vital headwater for the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang, with three main river systems - Sungai Lebir, Sungai Terengganu, and Sungai Tembeling - originating within its boundaries.
Established as the Gunung Tahan Game Reserve in 1925, the journey towards formal recognition culminated in 1939 when the British Colonial Administration declared it a National Park under the name 'King George V National Park.' This designation was made under Enactment 1939, a tribute to King George V of England.[1]
Historically, the park was divided into three parts, each enacted under the respective Malay states of Kelantan, Pahang, and Terengganu. Post-independence in 1957, the jurisdiction shifted, placing Taman Negara under the auspices of the King (Yang Dipertuan Agong) and the respective Sultans of the three states. Over time, Taman Negara gained recognition beyond national borders, earning the status of an ASEAN Heritage Park in 1984.
The Batek / Orang Asli are historically a mobile Indigenous peoples who have been custodians of the forest territories in Peninsular Malaysia for countless generations. During the period of British occupation, colonial policies of paternalism and repression against the Orang Asli created a hierarchy of racial inferiority to Malays. Throughout the 20th century, Batek/Orang Asli communities were targeted for their perceived association with communist revolutionaries, and in 1979, the Malaysian government began to pressure the Batek to relocate from remote areas such as Taman Negara to ‘prevent’ their radicalization/support of communist forces. Since the creation of the Taman Negara National Park, Batek / Orang Asli have been systematically removed from their ancestral lands and marginalized by the Malaysian State, leading to many socio-economic problems for communities today.
In June 2019, 14 Orang Asli people from Kg Kuala Kol died and 46 were hospitalized from what was assumed by officials to be an outbreak of a respiratory illness. However, residents expressed concerns that the deadly illness had been caused by water source contamination from manganese mining activities, pollution which had been confirmed by the deputy water, land, and natural resources minister at the time.[1] The illness was identified by the Malaysian Health Ministry a month later as measles, however, concerns regarding the impact of water contamination and poor health outcomes remain given the exploitative industrial activity and lack of buffer zones around the Taman Negara National Park.[2]As stated by Colin Nicholas, founder of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns, the deaths are “a direct outcome of what happens when an Indigenous community’s rights to the customary lands are not recognized, and the land destroyed and depleted in the name of progress and development.”
The Orang Asli Indigenous Peoples have been violently targeted by the state in recent years for their organizing against deforestation, despite being systematically removed and restricted from their ancestral lands such as Taman Negara in the name of fortress conservation. The logging and palm oil industry continues to have a devastating impact on the ecologies of Taman Negara, which does not have an effective buffer zone, as well as the health and livelihoods of the Orang Asli.
In March 2017, activist groups and Indigenous peoples, particularly the Temiar Indigenous community (of the Orang Asli Indigenous peoples), resisted deforestation by setting up road blockade camps in local forest reserves within Kelantan State. Forestry police reportedly tore down three blockade camps set up by the Temiar community. In November 2017, The State Forestry Department stopped issuing permits to enter forest reserve areas where the Orang Asli live, allegedly in response to the blockades.[3] In January 2017, Film director Jules Ong was arrested for filming a blockade being demolished by forestry officials. On January 17, 2017, Lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim won a high court judgment against logging company Jejarang Wagasan, confirming Orang Asli's possession of the land. However, forestry officials defied the court order and dismantled three blockades, arresting 16 Temiar individuals.
[1] https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2022/01/31/haunted-by-2019-deaths-orang-asli-fear-the-worst-as-mining-activities-resume#:~:text=Three%20years%20ago%2C%20the%20village,that%20history%20might%20repeat%20itself.&text=Two%20women%20from%20the%20Batek,in%20Taman%20Negara%20Kuala%20Koh.
Malleable laws and vague government structures mean that protected areas are often easily gazetted for logging and palm oil plantation concessions. As reported by Monga Bay, “satellite imagery shows plantation expansion and logging roads denuding large areas right up to the park boundary.[1]
At the beginning of 2024, the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia (ECOMY) launched the Bateq Nature Guide program to promote sustainable tourism and recognize Orang Asli’s traditional ecological knowledge by employing them as nature guides for the Taman Negara National Park.[1]
https://www.kehakiman.gov.my/en/high-court
https://www.doe.gov.my/en/utama-english/
https://www.zerohourclimate.org/taman-negara-national-park-forest-climate-change/
https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5927/
https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5927/
https://malaysia.wcs.org/About-Us/News.aspx
https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5927/
https://www.iucn.org/news/202207/iucn-green-list-sharing-experiences-2nd-asia-parks-congress
https://www.zerohourclimate.org/taman-negara-national-park-forest-climate-change/
https://tamannegaratravel.com/about-taman-negara/
https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/mal3252.pdf
https://www.doe.gov.my/en/minister-deputy-minister/
https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/the-orang-asli-fighting-for-ancestral-land-in-malaysia/