The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim) has decided recently to close our most popular forest trail known as ‘Rover Track’ for public safety reasons. We understand we will be facing protests from our regular visitors who are very attached to this trail which they had been using for exercise for many years. We know they would definitely fight this decision. It was not an easy decision but one that we must take for the long-term sustainability of the forest in Frim.

The Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve, where the Rover Track and Canopy Walkway are located, is an important water catchment area, supplying water to Ulu Kepong residents for years.

In recent years, we have observed that with increased number of visitors to Frim, the top part of the hill further above where the Canopy Walkway is located had been constantly encroached by visitors. We have noted an increased number of tree falling incidents in recent years and we are worried over the soil erosion occurring along the trail leading up to the walkway.

We tried to close the old path leading to the Canopy Walkway trail for recovery, and offered a new one, but the old area continued to be encroached. Some regular visitors began making new trails of their own, too, to bring them to the top of the hill. With increased number of people going up the illegal trail, ignoring the no-entry signage, the worse the soil erosion and these paths become streams during heavy downpours.

We have had a few frightening incidents of ‘head water’ like flooding at the Sungai Kroh picnic area, the most recent one happened just last weekend. We were fortunate that these incidents occurred late in the evening when there were no visitors.

Following the heavy downpour of last weekend, many trees and branches fell along the Rover Track and our Canopy Walkway was damaged by an uprooted healthy tree last Monday night. We were relieved because it had not occurred during the day. We shudder at the thought of what might have happened.

But our visitors could not care less as they continued to use the trail, walking pass the fallen branches oblivious that there may be snakes, some even climbing over the fallen tree to pass by. While they do not mind putting their lives in danger, Frim cannot allow this to continue.

We need to conduct damage and safety assessments, as well as get some work done there once the weather stabilise. In the meantime, we cannot have people going through these dangerous paths. We knew we had to give the eroded area of the forest some time off to heal and recover from years of regular use.

In recent years, we have seen a drastic increase in the number of visitors, locals as well as foreigners. Their interest in Frim helped to promote the Institute as an important tourism destination and we are appreciative of this attention. We like sharing our facilities with urban folks for rest and recreation. Frim has opened its doors to the public for recreational purposes for more than 20 years.

However, right now, we must close part of the forest trails for recovery and we would like to appeal to our visitors particularly the regular ones with jogging passes, to respect this decision for the long-term sustainability of the forest.

The increased soil erosion uphill may be the reason for the more rapid incidents of flooding downstream which are affecting Frim and the neighbouring houses.

The recent floods in Frim caused a lot of damage to the campus facilities, parts of our concrete fence was destroyed; some staff vehicles were damaged including a motorbike which was washed away by the gushing water of Sg Kroh which brought down logs and debris. It is frightening to imagine this happening when we have many visitors.

After last weekend’s flooding incidents and what had happened to the Canopy Walkway, we knew we could not delay the decision to close the area. We made the announcement on Oct 13, and put up temporary notices to prevent visitors from entering the Rover Trail.

However, I was informed that despite reading the notice, a number of visitors ignored the instruction and followed others into the forest. I was appalled to see the pictures taken by staff who were working at the Frim Canopy Walkway site where signs of further erosion could be seen.

We need to leave the forest alone to recover

We have no choice but to step up our enforcement. I would like to urge our visitors, especially the regulars, to understand and respect our decision to close the Rover Track. We need them to leave the forest alone to recover naturally for a while. We may need to do some tree planting later and only when the area has recovered sufficiently that we could consider reopening the trail.

Please understand that forests offer much more than just a place for exercise, rest and respite from your busy, stressful life. It serves many crucial functions, providing natural resources, oxygen and water, and preventing flood. However, a forest cannot serve these functions well if its health has worsened. If our body is unwell, you need to give it good rest and time for recovery. It is the same with the forest ecosystems.

It took nearly 100 years for Frim’s campus to become what it is today from an old mining area. It will need a few years for the forest to recover. In the meantime, Frim visitors are still welcome to make use of other allowable facilities in the main campus and the Kepong Botanic Gardens for exercising.

Frim is popular is an icon for Selangor as a forest park for recreational activities and an important tourist destination. We have been rated four-Star by TripAdvisor and received much good publicity on these aspects. Therefore, it is not an easy decision for us to make to close our most popular attractions.

However, considering the safety of our visitors, the need for forest health recovery and the long-term sustainability of the area, we must do it and the sooner the better.

In the coming months, we will need to assess the damage and conduct repair on the Canopy Walkway. This could take some time because the walkway system depends of several living trees, of which one was injured recently and there is no other alternative in sight.

We hope for understanding and we thank all our visitors for cooperation.

ABD LATIF MOHMOD is director-general of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim).