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This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/8/22/focus/8718684 & sec=focus

 

________________________

 

Sunday August 22, 2004

Efforts to keep the lights glowing <img

src= " http://www.thestar.com.my/images/video.gif " border= " 0 " >

 

 

<b>The spectacular display of lights by the famed fireflies of Kuala Selangor is

in danger of fading forever, threatening the livelihood of some, and, more

importantly, depriving people of a wonderful experience of nature. DEVID RAJAH

and TEOH TEIK HOONG look into how “synchronised” efforts can help bring the

lights back.</b>

 

<img src= " http://www.thestar.com.my/images/video.gif " border= " 0 " > <b>Video Clip:

</b><img src= " http://www.thestar.com.my/images/rplayer.gif " border= " 0 " ><a

href= " http://202.186.86.35/mmedia/video/kelip.rm " target= " _blank " >Real

Player</a>

 

 

 

 

MALAYSIANS and international tourists may have one less nature tourism site to

visit & #8211; the fireflies (kelip-kelip) in Kuala Selangor & #8211; if immediate

and concerted efforts are not taken to address a whole array of threats on the

habitat of this unique and mystical insect.

 

The fireflies, which are synonymous with Kuala Selangor, draw droves of

tourists every night to both Kampung Kuantan and Kampung Belimbing. At twilight,

these insects commence their fluorescent display, flashing on and off two or

three times a second.

 

Malaysia is fortunate to host one of the few known firefly colonies in the

world, and this has put Kuala Selangor on the global tourist map. But this may

all come to an end if authorities continue to pay lip service to calls for the

habitat of the fireflies to be preserved.

 

More importantly, Klang Valley's water supply also comes from Batang Berjuntai,

upstream from where the fireflies are along Sungai Selangor. As such, efforts to

protect the habitat of the fireflies would also ensure that the water is safe

for domestic consumption.

 

Various sources of the problem have been identified, including pollution caused

by indiscriminate discharge of effluents from upstream industries, oil palm

plantations and mills, and sand mining activities. Higher salinity in the water

and tidal waves further aggravate the situation.

 

At the Selangor State Assembly earlier this week, the Tourism Committee

chairman Datuk Dr Lim Thuan Seng said the swampy Sungai Selangor stretch in

Kuala Selangor had been polluted by oil palm waste illegally discharged by

factories in Kuala Selangor, Rawang and Batang Kali.

 

He said the state government would plant more berembang trees and had directed

the various municipal councils to strictly enforce the “clean river” directive,

including prosecuting those found to be illegally discharging effluents into the

rivers

 

Yet another in-depth study has been suggested to study the fireflies, and how

best to sustain the berembang trees and keep the river healthy.

 

Dr Lim has done the right thing in highlighting the problem. However, getting

the relevant authorities to get their act together is another matter.

 

When contacted, Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director

Datuk Wong Kok Fiu said the department does not monitor the rivers in the state

regularly to check on encroachment of its river reserves.

 

“We have so many rivers in Selangor. It is difficult for us to monitor every

single one of them,” he said. “We only act if we receive reports or complaints

of illegal sand mining activities or forest clearing along the river reserves.”

 

Wong said jurisdiction over the river was under several agencies.

 

 

 

“We are in charge of the river and its banks but pollution is under the

Selangor Water Management Board and the Department of Environment,” he said.

 

Attempts to reach the Selangor Department of Environment (DOE) since Tuesday

for their comments have failed.

 

A cruise along the river revealed eroding banks on both sides, rubbish and

debris floating in the water and oil palm estates coming right up the river's

edge.

 

It is understood that the water quality of the river in Batang Berjuntai, which

is upstream from Kuala Selangor, has dropped to Class III of the DOE's water

quality standards, which means it is unsafe for human consumption unless

extensively treated.

 

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) honorary secretary Associate Prof Dr Mustafa

Kamal Abdul Aziz said efforts to address the problem were made more difficult

because no one wanted to claim ownership of it.

 

“We submitted our recommendations two years ago to the state government, which

had funded the study. However, nothing has moved since then, although we

attended meeting after meeting with the authorities on this.

 

This delay is causing damage to the ecology of the fireflies' habitat,” he

said.

 

Mustafa said fireflies were used as indicators of water quality in Japan. “They

are used as an indicator of the health of the river. They act as an early

warning system,” he said.

 

MNS executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong said the salinity of the water in the

river had increased since 2001, and if allowed to continue, would mean the

destruction of the fireflies' habitat.

 

“Sea water had on occasions gone right up to Batang Berjuntai and contaminated

the fresh water ecosystem upstream,” he said, adding that there was a need for a

100m river reserve to be alienated to give the berembang and other trees the

chance to survive and minimise soil erosion and pollution.

 

“The fireflies in Kuala Selangor are salt intolerant. If the salinity of the

water increases, the fireflies will die out,” he said.

 

Dr Mustafa said the discharge of effluents from oil palm estates did not dilute

in the river. Instead, they formed what he called “dead zones” of 100m to 200m

along the riverbank, killing anything within them.

 

Dr Loh said the density of the berembang trees along the river had dwindled by

60%, sparking off a chain reaction to the population of snails, which the

firefly larvae feed on.

 

“The river is being abused from all sides & #8211; from the sea and in-land

pollution. This is made worse by the reduction of freshwater flow upstream

caused by the Selangor Dam,” said Dr Loh.

 

“Pollution is also coming from industries and landfills in Batang Berjuntai and

Rawang. We have to remember that we are getting our drinking water from the same

river. Something has to be done to ensure that discharge from any source is

treated to levels permitted by law,” he added.

 

Local tourist Robert Bain, 50, said he was saddened by the news that the

firefly population had dwindled drastically.

 

“It was such a beautiful site when I visited this place 20 years ago,” said

Bain, who took his wife and daughter, and the daughter's friends from Germany to

the site recently.

 

Bain, a furniture factory owner, hoped the authorities would do everything

within their means to protect the fireflies from becoming extinct. “I see so

much of rubbish floating in the river,” said Bain.

 

Two young tourists from Britain, Sophie Tate and Eve Wood-Hill, both 19,

expressed shock that little effort was being done to protect the fireflies and

their habitat.

 

“It's a shame that people don't do enough to protect our wildlife,” said

Lavanya Uthaya Kumar, 19, a Malaysian who accompanied Tate and Wood-Hill on

their visit to see the fireflies.

 

While acknowledging that they have noticed that the number of fireflies has

dwindled, the local boatmen preferred to pin the blame on tourists who, they

say, attempt to catch the insects during the boat rides.

 

“This is very common among young local tourists and families who bring along

children. But foreign tourists are very disciplined and would not catch the

flies,” said Mohd Salleh, 49, who had been offering boat rides since 1985.

 

Saidon Abdul Manaf, 47, said there were more fireflies on patches of berembang

trees in areas away from the usual route taken by the boats.

 

“Too much noise and light can also affect the fireflies,” said Saidon, who has

been a boatman for 15 years.

 

Everyone agrees that the firefly colony in Kuala Selangor is under threat of

extinction and the reasons are well known. The only thing now is for the

relevant authority or authorities to take concrete action, and immediately, if

their survival is to be guaranteed.

 

 

<b>Related Stories:</b>

 

<a

href= " http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/8/22/focus/8726018 & sec=foc\

us " >Researchers race to breed flashing fireflies in captivity</a>

 

 

<p>

 

________________________

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1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written

permission of Star Publications is prohibited.

[Guest guest]

This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling.

 

Comment from sender:

 

 

This article is from The Star Online

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/8/22/focus/8718684 & sec=focus

 

________________________

 

Sunday August 22, 2004

Efforts to keep the lights glowing <img

src= " http://www.thestar.com.my/images/video.gif " border= " 0 " >

 

 

<b>The spectacular display of lights by the famed fireflies of Kuala Selangor is

in danger of fading forever, threatening the livelihood of some, and, more

importantly, depriving people of a wonderful experience of nature. DEVID RAJAH

and TEOH TEIK HOONG look into how “synchronised” efforts can help bring the

lights back.</b>

 

<img src= " http://www.thestar.com.my/images/video.gif " border= " 0 " > <b>Video Clip:

</b><img src= " http://www.thestar.com.my/images/rplayer.gif " border= " 0 " ><a

href= " http://202.186.86.35/mmedia/video/kelip.rm " target= " _blank " >Real

Player</a>

 

 

 

 

MALAYSIANS and international tourists may have one less nature tourism site to

visit & #8211; the fireflies (kelip-kelip) in Kuala Selangor & #8211; if immediate

and concerted efforts are not taken to address a whole array of threats on the

habitat of this unique and mystical insect.

 

The fireflies, which are synonymous with Kuala Selangor, draw droves of

tourists every night to both Kampung Kuantan and Kampung Belimbing. At twilight,

these insects commence their fluorescent display, flashing on and off two or

three times a second.

 

Malaysia is fortunate to host one of the few known firefly colonies in the

world, and this has put Kuala Selangor on the global tourist map. But this may

all come to an end if authorities continue to pay lip service to calls for the

habitat of the fireflies to be preserved.

 

More importantly, Klang Valley's water supply also comes from Batang Berjuntai,

upstream from where the fireflies are along Sungai Selangor. As such, efforts to

protect the habitat of the fireflies would also ensure that the water is safe

for domestic consumption.

 

Various sources of the problem have been identified, including pollution caused

by indiscriminate discharge of effluents from upstream industries, oil palm

plantations and mills, and sand mining activities. Higher salinity in the water

and tidal waves further aggravate the situation.

 

At the Selangor State Assembly earlier this week, the Tourism Committee

chairman Datuk Dr Lim Thuan Seng said the swampy Sungai Selangor stretch in

Kuala Selangor had been polluted by oil palm waste illegally discharged by

factories in Kuala Selangor, Rawang and Batang Kali.

 

He said the state government would plant more berembang trees and had directed

the various municipal councils to strictly enforce the “clean river” directive,

including prosecuting those found to be illegally discharging effluents into the

rivers

 

Yet another in-depth study has been suggested to study the fireflies, and how

best to sustain the berembang trees and keep the river healthy.

 

Dr Lim has done the right thing in highlighting the problem. However, getting

the relevant authorities to get their act together is another matter.

 

When contacted, Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) director

Datuk Wong Kok Fiu said the department does not monitor the rivers in the state

regularly to check on encroachment of its river reserves.

 

“We have so many rivers in Selangor. It is difficult for us to monitor every

single one of them,” he said. “We only act if we receive reports or complaints

of illegal sand mining activities or forest clearing along the river reserves.”

 

Wong said jurisdiction over the river was under several agencies.

 

 

 

“We are in charge of the river and its banks but pollution is under the

Selangor Water Management Board and the Department of Environment,” he said.

 

Attempts to reach the Selangor Department of Environment (DOE) since Tuesday

for their comments have failed.

 

A cruise along the river revealed eroding banks on both sides, rubbish and

debris floating in the water and oil palm estates coming right up the river's

edge.

 

It is understood that the water quality of the river in Batang Berjuntai, which

is upstream from Kuala Selangor, has dropped to Class III of the DOE's water

quality standards, which means it is unsafe for human consumption unless

extensively treated.

 

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) honorary secretary Associate Prof Dr Mustafa

Kamal Abdul Aziz said efforts to address the problem were made more difficult

because no one wanted to claim ownership of it.

 

“We submitted our recommendations two years ago to the state government, which

had funded the study. However, nothing has moved since then, although we

attended meeting after meeting with the authorities on this.

 

This delay is causing damage to the ecology of the fireflies' habitat,” he

said.

 

Mustafa said fireflies were used as indicators of water quality in Japan. “They

are used as an indicator of the health of the river. They act as an early

warning system,” he said.

 

MNS executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong said the salinity of the water in the

river had increased since 2001, and if allowed to continue, would mean the

destruction of the fireflies' habitat.

 

“Sea water had on occasions gone right up to Batang Berjuntai and contaminated

the fresh water ecosystem upstream,” he said, adding that there was a need for a

100m river reserve to be alienated to give the berembang and other trees the

chance to survive and minimise soil erosion and pollution.

 

“The fireflies in Kuala Selangor are salt intolerant. If the salinity of the

water increases, the fireflies will die out,” he said.

 

Dr Mustafa said the discharge of effluents from oil palm estates did not dilute

in the river. Instead, they formed what he called “dead zones” of 100m to 200m

along the riverbank, killing anything within them.

 

Dr Loh said the density of the berembang trees along the river had dwindled by

60%, sparking off a chain reaction to the population of snails, which the

firefly larvae feed on.

 

“The river is being abused from all sides & #8211; from the sea and in-land

pollution. This is made worse by the reduction of freshwater flow upstream

caused by the Selangor Dam,” said Dr Loh.

 

“Pollution is also coming from industries and landfills in Batang Berjuntai and

Rawang. We have to remember that we are getting our drinking water from the same

river. Something has to be done to ensure that discharge from any source is

treated to levels permitted by law,” he added.

 

Local tourist Robert Bain, 50, said he was saddened by the news that the

firefly population had dwindled drastically.

 

“It was such a beautiful site when I visited this place 20 years ago,” said

Bain, who took his wife and daughter, and the daughter's friends from Germany to

the site recently.

 

Bain, a furniture factory owner, hoped the authorities would do everything

within their means to protect the fireflies from becoming extinct. “I see so

much of rubbish floating in the river,” said Bain.

 

Two young tourists from Britain, Sophie Tate and Eve Wood-Hill, both 19,

expressed shock that little effort was being done to protect the fireflies and

their habitat.

 

“It's a shame that people don't do enough to protect our wildlife,” said

Lavanya Uthaya Kumar, 19, a Malaysian who accompanied Tate and Wood-Hill on

their visit to see the fireflies.

 

While acknowledging that they have noticed that the number of fireflies has

dwindled, the local boatmen preferred to pin the blame on tourists who, they

say, attempt to catch the insects during the boat rides.

 

“This is very common among young local tourists and families who bring along

children. But foreign tourists are very disciplined and would not catch the

flies,” said Mohd Salleh, 49, who had been offering boat rides since 1985.

 

Saidon Abdul Manaf, 47, said there were more fireflies on patches of berembang

trees in areas away from the usual route taken by the boats.

 

“Too much noise and light can also affect the fireflies,” said Saidon, who has

been a boatman for 15 years.

 

Everyone agrees that the firefly colony in Kuala Selangor is under threat of

extinction and the reasons are well known. The only thing now is for the

relevant authority or authorities to take concrete action, and immediately, if

their survival is to be guaranteed.

 

 

<b>Related Stories:</b>

 

<a

href= " http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/8/22/focus/8726018 & sec=foc\

us " >Researchers race to breed flashing fireflies in captivity</a>

 

 

<p>

 

________________________

Your one-stop information portal:

The Star Online

http://thestar.com.my

http://biz.thestar.com.my

http://classifieds.thestar.com.my

http://cards.thestar.com.my

http://search.thestar.com.my

http://star-motoring.com

http://star-space.com

http://star-jobs.com

http://star-ecentral.com

http://star-techcentral.com

 

1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written

permission of Star Publications is prohibited.