LETTER
TO THE EDITOR:
HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION WILL HASTEN WILDLIFE EXTINCTION
Malaysian social media was set abuzz in the past few
days over photographs of a displaced Sumatran serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) in
a residential neighbourhood in Ukay Perdana, not far from Taman Rimba Ampang which
has recently been closed to the public to facilitate the construction of the East
Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE).
Although the sighting of the rare mammal constituted
proof of the existence of serows in the forests of Selangor, concerned
citizens, environmental activists and wildlife experts expressed their fear
that this incident is only the beginning in the irreversible process of
destruction of wildlife habitats and the continued displacement, endangerment
and local extinction of wildlife once construction of the EKVE begins in
earnest. The Sumatran serow is already described in the IUCN Red List as being
vulnerable, endangered and in significant decline due to overhunting and
habitat loss.
Wildlife sighting in urban areas is not cute. It is a sign
that habitats are destroyed and fragmented, and wildlife are unable to find
food and water, establish territory or reproduce. Wild animals wandering into
urban areas are at risk of being poached, poisoned, harassed by people or
domestic animals and injured and killed by motor vehicles.
Environmental organisations such as the World Wildlife
Fund, Forest Stewardship Council and Global Forest Watch have long reported
that road and highway construction play a large role in causing habitat and
biodiversity loss and species extinction. In their 2002 paper “What Drives
Tropical Deforestation?”, scientists Helmut Geist and Eric Lambin reported that
overland transport infrastructure, that is, road and highway construction,
accounted for 72% of tropical deforestation. Highway and road construction
create opportunities for unscrupulous loggers, poachers, developers, vandals,
and profiteers to enter into, plunder and destroy previously inaccessible
forested areas. Road construction also kills animals and plants directly, and breaks
up habitats into fragments too small to sustain wildlife populations.
Although the Selangor State Government claims that
there is a list of conditions drawn up by the Drainage and Irrigation
Department, Public Works Department, and MPAJ’s Planning Department as
guidelines in the construction and management of the said expressway, none of
these mitigation measures have been made available for public viewing and
feedback, and the bewildered and displaced serow is a strong indication that the
existing mitigation measures, if any, are insufficient to protect wildlife
populations.
The extinction of endangered species such as the
Sumatran serow is just one of the probable adverse environmental impacts of
proceeding with the construction of the EKVE. The construction of the EKVE,
which will cut through the Selangor State Park and other forest reserves, will compromise
air quality, water resources and other ecosystem services.
The Selangor State Government needs to honour its
initial promise during the last General Elections to halt or terminate all
proposed highway projects. No mitigation measure, wildlife corridor or wildlife
barrier can sufficiently protect human and environmental health or wildlife
populations in an environmentally-sensitive area such as the Selangor State
Park and Ampang and Ulu Gombak forest reserves. The EKVE project needs to be
scrapped with immediate effect before further devastation occurs. Despite
popular belief, tropical rainforests are not a renewable resource. Old-growth,
biologically diverse rainforests cannot just be replanted or replaced. Once
logged, it takes decades and centuries for forests to return to their previous
status as carbon sinks and water catchment areas. The State Government and MB
must cease paying lip service to the ideas of environmental sustainability and social
justice, and start taking actions consistent with their claims and election
manifesto.
WONG EE LYNN
GREEN LIVING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP,
MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY
