PHOTO ESSAY | The long road to rehabilitating Tasik Chini

Tasik Chini is Malaysia's second-largest natural lake in Malaysia. It has a unique ecology which Unesco declared a "biosphere reserve" in 2009.

However, rampant deforestation has caused hardship for the Orang Asli community in Tasik Chini and may threaten the "biosphere reserve" status when Unesco conducts its periodic review.

Currently, various authorities are trying to reverse the damage caused by mining and logging activities in the vicinity.

The Orang Asli community is also chipping in by participating in state-run tree replanting exercises, which are expected to require at least 15 years before logged-out areas are restored.

Mining activities in the area had ceased since last year. Malaysiakini visited Tasik Chini in May to see what impact this has had on the locals.

In the past, Tasik Chini was famed for its spectacular vast lotus blooms. Now, lotuses only exist in rare small patches.

Kampung Gumum villager Joye Ismail heads a nursery programme for various forest species. Programme participants will tend to saplings before selling them to the Forestry Department.

Several sites surrounding Tasik Chini are pockmarked with pits. These are the remnants of mining activities.

The Forestry Department has been given the mandate to plant 100,00 trees in the Tasik Chini area. About a year in, they have planted around 7,000.

Some of the pits left behind by mining activities are as large as a football field and their contents are hazardous.

The Orang Asli community in Tasik Chini depend on the surrounding forest and water for subsistence. Here, a group of children are returning to Tanjung Puput after a day at school at SK Tasik Chini.

Another victim of a damaged environment is the Lake Chini Resort, which has been closed for three years.

Kampung Melai villager Zaidah Kasim, 50, is a tree replanting programme participant. Here, she is with several saplings in her backyard.

Locals say the waters of Tasik Chini were once abundant with kelisa (Arowana) and jelawat (Hoven's carp) but no longer.

Sediment from cleared forests has clouded Tasik Chini's once-pristine waters.

Tasik Chini rehab: Over 7,000 trees replanted so far - Forestry Dept

Tasik Chini: Damage done, Orang Asli community foresees long road to recovery

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