Efforts to get Penang Hill listed as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve

GEORGE TOWN: Efforts are currently underway to list popular environmental destination Penang Hill as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.

Leading the effort to have the site listed is USM School of Biology Incubation Centre director Professor Siti Azizah Mohd Nor who said the process will take about two to three years.

She said the hill was rich in biodiversity, noting teams found several endemic species of orchids, ants and spiders during a recent two-day survey of the forest canopy there.

Siti Azizah said a more thorough survey will be conducted in the near future as part of efforts to get the place listed.

She said the university, as well as other government agencies like the Forestry and Wildlife Departments, were also collecting, collating and compiling information on flora and fauna there.

Siti Azizah said having Penang Hill listed as a biosphere allowed researchers, scientists and the local community the chance to tap into the United Nations network for environmental conservation.

"There is great potential of biodiversity at Penang Hill (so) the discovery of new species is quite high," she said in a press conference yesterday when the Canopy Science and Forest Conservation in Penang Symposium recessed for tea.

Two sites in Malaysia - Tasik Chini (Pahang) and the Crocker Range (Sabah) have been recognised as Unesco Biospheres since 2009 and 2014 respectively.

Another potential biosphere listing, according to Siti Azizah, is the Sungai Merbok forest reserve in Kedah.

"The area is a mangrove forest rich in biodiversity," she added.

During the keynote address earlier, California Academy of Sciences biologist Professor Meg Lowman said there was "extraordinary" amount of biodiversity on Penang Hill.

The pioneer in forest canopy science (the scientific study of treetops) said the number of species per square meter at the site was hard to measure due to the rich life there.

She said forest canopies were an important part of nature as they were home to some 50% of fauna in forests.

"We want to know what is in Penang Hill," she said and expressed her excitement in taking part in the survey.