Upstream of Kinta River Basin is the main water catchment resource to the residents of Ipoh and surrounding areas as well as a part of the Central Forest Spine (CFS) initiative. It is now threatened with land erosion, land development, improper sewage treatment and irresponsible waste discharges. 

Recognising these problems, a collaborative project initiated by Global Environment Centre (GEC) and in partnership with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Malaysia and Perak is developed. The project aims to conserve and preserve the habitats of forest and river at upstream of Kinta River Basin to protect the ecosystem and secure water resources. 

This project works through smart partnerships between relevant key government agencies. Stakeholders especially Orang Asli and local communities (residents of Ipoh Town and adjacent areas) will be empowered for forest and water resources protection and monitoring.

Duration: May 2018 - April 2021

Funder: Yayasan Hasanah

Partners: Ipoh City Council, Perak State Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Perak State Department of National Unity and Integration, Perak State Department of Forestry, Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) and Perak Water Board.

Aim/objective:

The main goal is to conserve the forests and riverine habitats in the Upper Kinta River Basin to support the Central Forest Spine (CFS) initiative through cross-sector partnership and community empowerment. 

The project aims to achieve its goal through two objectives, which are:

• To develop and adopt a strategy for forest and water resource management of the upper Kinta basin; and
• To establish communities engagement to address issues regarding forest management and river protection

Project Progress:

• The project managed to organise two capacity-building workshops involving more than 150 participants and two UKB Management Strategy Workshops involving 85 participants from main UKB key stakeholders to design the strategic management of forest and water resource.
• The project also organised four centralized training involving more than 130 participants focused on RIVER Ranger training; small scale skill training on Bamboo planting and Ecotourism; and environmental management training for Urban as well Orang Asli community. 
• Upper Kinta Basin Management Strategy (UKBMas) was successfully developed and finalised to be the living document open for government agencies to improve or add strategies as well as action plans at any point of time. 
• A small scale community bamboo nursery was established at Kampung Makmur as part of tree planting initiatives to support the mitigation measures for river and slope erosion control.
• The project has been supporting the local Orang Asli communities on skills to establish and manage eco-tourism activities as part of alternative livelihood. 
• The local Orang Asli communities from Kampung Sungai Suluh and Kampung Chadak has been empowered on river monitoring activities. Since August 2020, they have been conducting regular river monitoring activities.
• 5 communities are actively monitoring the river as part of their commitment to record the changes on the water quality as well as patrolling along the river corridor to identify pollution sources. They are MPKK Kampung Tersusun Tasek, KRT Kampung Pengkalan Gate, KRT Taman Tasek Jaya, KRT Buntong 3 & 4 and KRT Klebang Selatan.
• KRT Taman Tasek Jaya successfully established a recycling corner and mini eco-park in January 2020. These initiatives encourage residents at Taman Tasek Jaya to start segregate their wastes especially recyclable materials as well as a demo for best management practices. Find out more. 
• KRT Klebang Selatan also successfully established a community garden since March 2020 at 2 sites which are besides the bilik gerakan KRT and near the Kinta River.

For more infomation on the project, please contact outreach@gec.org.my .