COMMENT Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) is concerned over the appearance of an elephant at Kampung Luat Lenggong in Perak.

In a series of photographs which were sent via WhatsApp to me, its Perak branch chairperson Sajeeda Muhammad said that the adult elephant has started wandering near the village since last week.

The pictures were provided to her by several villagers, who are now concerned that their natural rainforests may soon be gone, if nothing is done to stop the nearby logging activities.

Sajeeda opined that such logging activities have most likely caused distress to the wildlife in the area.

“This is their natural habitat,” she said. “Usually, when these wildlife animals appear in villages, it is a tell-tale sign that their own habitat has been threatened.”

State governments have the mandate to guard state land and natural resources from indiscriminate logging and exploitation. If they fail to do so, they are failing the people, and should be voted out in the next general election.

It is time that state governments and their respective MBs paid attention to the people’s grouses - especially when their livelihoods are affected.

In the cases of Perak, Pahang and Kelantan, there have been numerous complaints raised recently by both villagers and Orang Asli that their livelihoods have been threatened as a result of logging concessionaires being issued to private companies.

In Selangor, the Malaysia Nature Society (MNS) raised concerns about the spotting of a near-extinct Sumatran serow , which it claimed was under stress due to the work on the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE). Since the report first appeared, the Selangor state government has called for a meeting with the MNS for further discussion.

In other states, the response has not been that positive. In Pahang, for example, the logging activities near Karak is believed to have been the cause of a landslide - which, fortunately, did not cause any death.

Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob admitted that there were some logging activities in the area, but did not believe it was the main cause of the landslide.

However, to date, no official report based on investigations carried out have been made public - although the landslide was covered extensively on national news.

Protect its World Heritage site status

In the case of Lenggong, the local state assemblyperson and Member of Parliament should take interest in the development of the town, which has been listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in 2012 as a World Heritage site. It is also the home of the Perak Man , whose 11,000-year-old human skeletal remains had been first unearthed in 1991.

Since the Lenggong valley has a rich archaeological heritage, it is even more urgent that the state government protects it from being exploited indiscriminately until the archaeologists have done enough work on the area. Therein lies the history of this land and its early inhabitants.

Like the Peking Man and the Jawa Man, the discovery of the Perak Man has placed the state of Perak on the world map, without a doubt. It would be a shame if Perak loses its World Heritage status.

According to Sajeeda, logging activities have also been spotted by villagers around Lenggong.

“We do not know whether these activities are legal or illegal; whatever it is, there needs to be a better management of the natural rainforest, as this is our state’s rich resources,” she said. “The rainforests are our natural heritage. Once they are gone, they are gone forever.”

Tropical rainforests take millions of years to become what they are today, and it is home to a diversity of flora and fauna. Instead of going for the quick bucks, there is a lot of potential in eco-tourism (if the state government knows how to exploit its potential in the long term).

For example, Perak can be the second state after Pahang to champion the eco-tourism industry since Ipoh is now connected via the Electric Train Service (ETS) from KL Sentral.

The question is: Why is this "supervision" job being left to NGOs - such as Peka, MNS, and Sahabat Alam Malaysia - instead of the entire government machinery which has a set-up to monitor the exploitation of state land?

Is it not because of greed, corruption and the lack of duty of care exhibited by the elected state governments towards both God’s creations and the environment?

Volunteers like Sajeeda have urged the Perak state government to give careful consideration when issuing logging concessionaires to loggers. They have sent memorandum after memorandum to the state menteri besar, but there seems to be no end to it.

When she first received a call from the villagers yesterday despite a hectic schedule, Sajeeda said she rushed to Lenggong to investigate the complaint this morning to find out more about the logging activities - before the Department of Wildlife and National Parks sends its men to the village to pick up the elephant tomorrow.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.