In February 2007, a group of concerned environmental groups and residents’ associations announced a joint initiative to establish a National Conservation Trust Fund to spur a concerted move to protect the highly threatened green areas in our midst.

This somewhat drastic move is in response to the failure of more conventional efforts to secure vital green lungs and establish community forest parks. It also indicates a lack of faith in the declarations of local government figures that have in the past ‘guaranteed’ the protection of forested slopes from ill-conceived development projects. For example, it now appears that the fragile slopes behind the Taman Petaling neighbourhood in the DBKL section of the Bukit Gasing Green Belt is once more under threat of clearing (see December 2006 news archives).

This situation is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg. All throughout the forest remnants are being targeted with little consideration for environmental impact and the importance of these green areas to the local population. The Trust is being proposed by several organisations which include the Maxwell Towers Owners’ Association, the Section 5 Residents Association of Petaling Jaya, World Wide Fund for Nature, and the Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia. Edward Lee, president of Section 5 Residents’ Association Petaling Jaya and chairman for the Protem Committee All Petaling Jaya Pro-Action Committee (APAC) reports that about 46 Petaling Jaya residents’ associations and 20 NGOs had already pledged their support.

The proposed National Conservation Trust Fund intends to raise the funds needed for securing ownership of these areas for the purposes of conservation and recreation. The proposed Trust will have its own Board of Trustees to ensure proper and effective management. (View the full story in the March news articles)

Anybody involved in the campaign to save green lungs throughout the country can attest to the lack of a sustained commitment from local government authorities to protect vulnerable areas from development plans.  They would certainly not have taken this course of action lightly. After all is it not the government’s role to secure green areas (a minimum of 10 percent it says in official documents) unbidden by desperate and besieged communities.

Is this the only way to save green areas in our neighbourhoods? If so, does this initiative have your support? Share your thoughts on this development on Greenwaveasia.org.