Sustainable Development of Cameron Highlands: Striking the Balance between Tourism and Agriculture.

Wan Izzuddin Sulaiman

This article appeared in The Malaysian Insider 21 November, 2014

Tea plantation in Cameron Highlands

In 1885 a British surveyor by the name of William Cameron stumbled upon a high plateau during an expedition near the border of three states, Pahang, Perak and Kelantan. It was not until the 1930’s when the British administration started to develop the area now known as the Cameron Highlands into a hill resort to allow the colonists to escape from the sweltering heat of the lowlands. Later on they found the area to be suitable for growing tea, a favourite beverage crop for them.

Tourists visiting a tea plantation in Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands slowly grew into a beautiful and serene hill station, becoming a quick weekend getaway within a driving distance from the nation’s capital.   The cool ambience, the flower gardens, the mossy forests, the tea plantations on gentle rolling hills and the Tudor styled bungalows dotting the hillsides remained as the attractions that have pulled many holiday makers to this hill station. The winding road that connects Tapah –Ringlet - Tanah Rata was the only passage available – and that has remained more or less the same until as recent as the early 90’s. 

   Mosses growing on tree trunks at Mossy Forest, Gunung Brinchang

That was when the Simpang Pulai – Blue Valley road was completed. The road connects seamlessly into the North – South Highway, providing much better access to the burgeoning market in the Klang Valley and as far south as Singapore.  Suddenly there was a development boom.  The growing middle class in the country have created two major demands from Cameron Highlands:  a favourite holiday destination and the demands for temperate weather fruits and vegetables.  Along the way, we have succumbed to both demands and things went out of control, putting Cameron Highlands into severe environmental pressures.

Intensive vegetable farming in Cameron Highlands

In the years to come we will see the friction between these two sectors of the economy (food production versus tourism) continue to escalate; competing for the limited space and resources in the Cameron Highlands. There is nothing wrong with both. Actually both economic sectors can co-exist, provided that there is an immaculate balance between the two.

I believe many of us may have heard the term “ecotourism”. The World Conservation Union describes ecotourism as “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature and for any accompanying cultural features that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local people”.  In Malaysia, the government has rolled out a master plan to develop ecotourism in the country way back in 1996.

Ecotourism cannot flourish alongside unbridled growth of intensive agriculture production. The pressure to produce more food in a limited space would inevitably require sacrifices to be made on nature and aesthetics. Trees have to be cut down. Slopes have to be flattened. Pesticides and fertilizers have to be profusely poured. Water has to be delivered to the farms at all costs. Farm wastes and run-offs will overflow. There is no ecotourism if rivers are yellowish with mud and silt, and the riverbanks littered with trashes, plastics and cans.  

Relai River in Lojing Highlands, heavy flow of mud and silt.

What we need is for agriculture in our highlands to be more sustainable. Sustainability can be expressed as meeting the present environmental (ecological), societal and economic needs without compromising the needs of the future generations.

Educating and changing the attitude of farmers is not easy. But the government must decisively lead the way. Perhaps the government can start by developing showcases of “agrotourism”, an activity closely related to ecotourism, without inflicting any major collateral damage on the environment and nature. The farmers have to be shown the way that beautifully landscaped and well managed farms will attract visitors and bring more income. More environmentally friendly crops suitable to the highlands have to be introduced to replace intensive farming. Agroforestry concept where agriculture blends with forestry can be introduced. Development of responsible water and waste management has to be given a top priority. Funds have to be made available to support the development of “natural capital” (goods and services that nature provides to support our sustenance, our living and our economy) for the sake of conserving our highlands.

We may want to emulate Thailand in developing the Doi Tung region in the north or Kanchanaburi in the west into among Asia’s top ecotourism/agro-tourism destination. Take a look at even Da Lat in Vietnam where tourism synergistically coexists with agriculture in the highlands.  

Doi Tung Gardens in the Chiang Rai highlands, Thailand

The government cannot be seen as the culprits, complicit to the destruction of the ecosystem of our highlands. Several government projects involving three state governments, currently under way in and around Cameron Highlands, are probably setting bad examples to the public. A major project to relocate settlers in mile 48, Kuala Terla on the Pahang side is cutting slopes and flattening hill tops. Another one on the Perak side, along the Simpang Pulai – Blue Valley road is clearing a huge swath of forests and hill slopes to make way for a an agriculture project to plant corns, tomatoes and strawberries. While on the Kelantan side, the destruction of Lojing Highlands (mostly in government owned lands) is already too notorious to mention. 

   

The tropical highlands found in Malaysia are indeed one of the planet’s richest “nature” treasure troves. It is the source of natural capital that can contribute to the well being of the country in many ways some of which have not been imagined and fully realized before. It is home to many exotic plants such as the giant Rafflesia flowers, rare orchids, ferns and pitcher plants. It is also a megastore for genetic biodiversity.  

Unless the highlands ecosystem, its wildlife, exquisite nature, tranquil beauty, crisp clean air and crystal clear water can be shown to have real and substantial value, decisions are often made in favour of fast economic gains. It is therefore the government’s responsibility to strike a balance between the need to satisfy short term economic interests and the long term goals of sustainability.