Royal Belum Forest Reserve
State |
Perak |
Accessibility from Kuala Lumpur:
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Nature of Attraction: |
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Belum-Temengor is the largest continuous forest
complex in Peninsular Malaysia. Specifically, it
is located in the Malaysian state of Perak and
crosses into Southern Thailand. Belum-Temengor
is divided into two sections. Belum is located
at up north right by the Malaysia-Thailand
border while Temengor is south of Belum. The
Royal Belum State Park is entirely contained
within the forest complex.
Belum-Temengor is estimated to be as old as 130
million years, making it older than the jungle
of the Amazon or Congo.
The
area has been identified as an Environmentally
Sensitive Area (ESA) Rank 1 under the Malaysian
National Physical Plan and recognized by
Birdlife International as an Important Bird
Area. The Malaysian federal government has
labelled the area as a whole as an essential
water catchment area and part of Central Forest
Spine and plans to protect the forest under the
Malaysian National Forestry Act.
Between the two sections, only Belum has been
gazette as a forest reserve while the rest are
open for development.
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