Living library of trees being bulldozed to the ground

As the political drama unfolds in Putrajaya, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that a living library of two million rainforest trees is being bulldozed near the town of Tanjung Malim on the Perak-Selangor border.

The trees were part of a lifelong and painstaking reforestation project led by 84-year-old James Kingham, who planted a whole forest in an area of 200 acres with 1,200 species of rare forest trees.

However, after his annual lease on the land was not renewed, the state land was sold to new owners who are bulldozing everything in its path.

The case is being highlighted by conservation activist Jules Rahman Ong who pleaded for the demolitions to cease, only to find that those in charge have accelerated the demolition.

Ong was up in Tanjung Malim over the weekend and witnessed the destruction first hand.

"I was up at James Kingham's forest nursery. I spoke to a passionate worker from the Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) who has been trying to save the trees since November. Every day she and her 20 young staff have been digging and transporting the trees to a holding space in Kota Damansara," Ong told Malaysiakini.

"There are two million trees and 800 endemic and exotic forest tree species here at the Tanjung Malim nursery, more than those in the FRIM or Jabatan Perhutanan collection. In fact, these agencies will come to this nursery to get the seeds and saplings," added Ong who makes films to highlight the difficulties faced by marginalised communities.

"James Kingham spent this life collecting precious, endemic and endangered rainforest trees often in difficult circumstances. It is a labour of love," said Ong.

In 2007, Kingham, who is known affectionately as the 'tree guru', oil palm planter Geoffrey Cooper and others helped transform a barren piece of land into a gene bank for endangered jungle plants.

With the aid of the local Orang Asli and park rangers, Kingham had spent many years collecting and replanting the rare tree species.

"Even the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia (Jabatan Perhutanan) go to him for his diverse exotic collection of seedings and tree saplings. He showed us 20 species of mangosteens and other forest fruits that we have no idea of," said Ong.

"Today, bulldozers are destroying his priceless rainforest tree collection," he added.

A source who has been buying trees and plants from the forest for more than 10 years told Malaysiakini of his devastation.

"James is too upset to come down and try stop the bulldozers," he said.

"We are trying to get a court injunction to prevent their actions, but they seem to be moving even faster with the demolitions. They said it will turn the land to housing and a golf course. Even the clearing contractor is also elusive," said the source.

He claimed that pleas to Perak Corporation Berhad and the office of Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu to postpone the bulldozers had fallen on deaf ears.

Malaysiakini is attempting to contact Perak Corporation Berhad for a response. - Mkini