Malaysia's royal family has plans to dig an iron ore mine in the middle of a nature reserve that is home to fifteen endangered species including the tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni). The plans came to public attention after an impact statement was published. The Som Forest Reserve is part of a forest complex that connects to peninsular Malaysia’s central forest spine. Up until June, 2019 the forest was a permanent reserve; it was then removed from the list of protected reserves by state government decree. Up to 150 acres would be deforested and excavated to extract iron ore. Only 200 of the tiger subspecies are thought to survive in the wild, and 26 more species in the reserve are protected under Malaysian law. The proposed site is just 546 yards from a salt lick that is regularly visited by a big herd of elephants along with tapirs and sun bears. The impact statement says the mine will not only permanently alter the animals’ routes to the salt lick, but also risk the “total loss of functionality” of this critical resource. Nevertheless in a mind-twisting example of foregone conclusion, the report concludes that the mine can go ahead with "acceptable' impacts.
This is not the first time the royal relatives have destroyed invaluable natural resources with their extraction activities. Lake Tasik Chini, the country's second largest natural lake, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, has suffered under decades of nearby extraction.The royals pledged to rehabilitate the lake, but proposed a new mine instead that was permitted by the state government. The state of Pahang has connections to the royal family through the present king's sister, Tengku Nong Fatimah Sultan Ahmad Shah. She owns the Som Forest Reserve site and seventy percent of the company, Golden Prosperous Resources, heading the Som project. Of of the 11 mining leases currently granted in the state, three belong to individual members of the royal family. They continue to seek ways to expand their collective fortune through extraction projects despite their already immense wealth. As one journalist noted, "They effectively control the non-transparent decision making in their states to their own enormous financial advantage.” Proposed destruction of Som Forest habitat will undoubtedly have little pubic resistance. In Malaysia, criticizing the royal family can have penal consequences. [leopard cat; credit: M. Prince]
