Environment NGO Rimba Watch has written to Unesco to alert it of plans to create a timber plantation near Tasik Chini, which the NGO believes endangers the biosphere reserve.
The Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve is part of Unesco's World Network of Biosphere Reserves - sites for biodiversity conservation.
Governments nominate biosphere reserves and if recognised, Unesco will conduct periodic reviews.
In a letter to Unesco dated May 31, Rimba Watch said it sighted documents stating that a portion of the Chini Forest Reserve will be converted into a monoculture timber plantation.
The document was a letter from environmental impact assessment consultant Eco Synergy Solutions Sdn Bhd to an indigenous community in the area, inviting the community for feedback on plans for the plantation.
The NGO said the proposed area for conversion is on the Unesco Biosphere Reserve border within the Tasik Chini Special Area Plan, which consists of the Tasik Chini Core Zone, Buffer Zone and Transition Zone.
"Further, under the draft amendments to the Tasik Chini Special Area Plan, the proposed project is directly within areas expected to become Biosphere Periphery Zones 1 and 2," Rimba Watch director Adam Farhan said.
As such, it urged Unesco to seek clarification on the government's commitment to protecting and improving the biosphere reserve from further degradation.
Earlier, the Pahang Forestry Department said the timber plantation project will not affect the core or buffer zones, and will be out of the biosphere reserve.
"They did not deny that the proposal involved the Chini Forest Reserve," Adam said.
READ MORE: The long road to rehabilitating Tasik Chini
He also stressed that the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department does not consider the conversion of forest reserves to monoculture plantations as deforestation.
Malaysiakini earlier reported on the degradation of the biosphere reserve due to mining in the area.
Following that, mining has been suspended but heavy machinery remained, raising fears among locals that the operations will resume.
Local Orang Asli also face water supply issues as the lake remains polluted. - Mkini
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