About 300 residents, nature-lovers, hikers and the likes came together on 23rd March 2019 to form a human chain as an act of solidarity to save the unprotected Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF) located beside Setia Ecopark in Setia Alam, Selangor.
This campaign, organised by local NGO Shah Alam Community Forest Society (SACF
Society), is to protest the ongoing construction works that is encroaching the boundary of the forest. It also serves to demonstrate the will and determination of the community to gazette the urban forest as a permanent forest for ecological, recreational and educational purposes. Currently there is no such forest in Shah Alam.
Since 2014, the number of people hiking here has increased and now there are easily hundreds of people enjoying the pristine nature of this forest every weekend.
The Shah Alam Community Forest sits on land that belongs to PKNS and the Selangor state government. SACF Society has submitted an appeal to the various stakeholders of this forest including the Menteri Besar of Selangor YAB Tuan Amirudin Bin Shari, Datuk Bandar Shah Alam YBhg Dato’ Ahmad Zaharin and Selangor Environment EXCO YB Hee Loy Sian to protect this forest but have yet to receive any positive response.
In Dec 2018, SACF Society launched an online petition addressed to the Selangor MB to save the forest and to date we have garnered over 50,000 signatures. In January 2019, SACF Society together with PEKA Malaysia organised a “Save SACF Trees” campaign where volunteers tied a ‘SAVE ME’ card around 80 trees in this forest. Kota Anggerik ADUN YB Najwan also came to support the campaign.
Click here to view more photos of this Human Chain campaign.
