There are 18 sites in Perak's Kinta Valley – including limestone hills, waterfalls and cave temples – that have been declared a part of the National Geopark. — Filepic/The Star
In October 2020, Malaysian scientists made a thrilling find: The fossilised tooth of an extinct elephant called a Stegodon, estimated to be between 30,000 and 80,000 years old, was unearthed in a limestone cave in Gopeng, Perak.
The news made the front pages of local newspapers and online news sites. It was an important discovery due to its rarity. The last big find was in 2014 in rural Pahang, where palaeontologists discovered the fossil of the fish-eating Spinosauridae dinosaur, most likely from the Cretaceous period between 65 million and 145.5 million years ago.
(The Mesozoic, or Middle Life, era spanned from about 252 million to about 66 million years ago and comprised the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It is best known as the era of dinosaurs.)
Why do scientists get excited about such ancient discoveries? One of the most important reasons is that fossils carry messages about past changes in the planet’s environment.
Palaeontological Society of Malaysia president Lim Tze Tshen explains: “Knowing how past fauna responded to environmental changes can better prepare us for any future environmental fluctuations.
“The past is the key to the future.”
But like our present day natural environment, these time capsules of the past are under threat and we might lose them before we can learn any lessons from them.
For one thing, palaeontology – the study of the fossilised remains of plants and animals – lacks human resources and funding, says Lim, adding that it is an “under-studied” field in Malaysia.
“So far, there are about 1,000 fossil teeth of mammals of various kinds that have been found in caves in Peninsular Malaysia," says the vertebrate palaeontologist and zoo archaeologist.
The number includes the fossilised remains of wild boar, deer, wild cattle, serow and rhinos. These are mostly from the Pleistocene epoch.
Exact dating will need to wait for lab analysis results from overseas dating facilities, explains Lim, who was a member of the group of scientists that identified the Stegodon fossil.
Universiti Malaya palaeontologists uncovering the Stegodon fossil in October. — Universiti MalayaHark back to the past
The Pleistocene epoch, often called the Ice Age, lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago. (Before the Mesozoic era, there was the Cenozoic, or New Life, era comprising the Quaternary and Tertiary periods; the Pleistocene was the second epoch in the Quaternary period.)
The Stegodon is of the extinct order Proboscidea comprising large mammals with trunks, characteristic of the Pleistocene epoch in South-East Asia. (See interactive graphic about the Stegodon here.)
The fossilied Stegodon tooth found in Perak. — Universiti MalayaExcept for a cast of the Stegodon fossil now on display at Universiti Malaya’s geology museum, Lim says no museum has approached the Palaeontological Society and showed any interest in exhibiting fossil discoveries.
He believes that there are still more finds to be made in the country, especially in the Gopeng cave that had hidden the Stegodon fossil for thousands of years.
“It is the caves, and some open air sites but, basically, caves, which have so far yielded most of the Quaternary period mammal fossils known to us.
“Limestone hills and caves provide conditions conducive for fossil preservation, like stable temperatures and protection from erosion by the elements.
“The concealed condition makes them, in essence, time capsules for prehistoric fauna remains. They act like libraries for us to understand past fauna and environments.
“You would have to be out of your mind to burn a library, ” he stresses.
Buried treasure
A recent scientific survey revealed even more reason to preserve these limestone “libraries”. A team of 64 researchers from 10 organisations turned up not just mammal fossils dating back to the Pleistocene epoch but also 12 snail species endemic to the area and even a new species of yam in a surprising location: the Batu Caves in Selangor, the destination for millions of devotees every Thaipusam and the star of many tourists’ Instagram posts.
All this from caves that are considered to be the most explored on the peninsula. Imagine what scientific treasures await discovery in the many unexplored limestone hills and caves. Some of the discoveries made so far include several new species – including a snail, the Charopa lafargei, and a plant, Meiogyne kanthanensis – found in 2014 on Gunung Kanthan in Perak. The hill is worryingly close to a quarry.
Professional cave divers only recently discovered that another tourist darling, Tasik Cermin in Gunung Rapat, Perak, has some 10 underwater caves, all awaiting exploration.
In Perlis, 102 species of orchids have been recorded on the state’s stretch of limestone hills, four of which are new to science.
Experts also believe that there may be more rock art in these limestone caves and hillsides following the discovery of etchings by prehistoric humans in Merapoh in Pahang; Niah in Sarawak; Gunung Panjang in Tambun, Perak; and Gua Badak in Lenggong, the site of Perak Man.
Malaysia, according to Zarris Kem, has some of the longest studied tropical limestone hills owing to the country’s colonial history under Britain. But while “there is a lot of baseline data, there has not been much follow-up”.
The Batu Caves, for example, has been heavily studied since the 1800s, the treasurer of the Malaysian Cave and Karst Conservancy points out.
“For us to find new species and records in Batu Caves shows the amazing conservative effect of these limestone hills and caves, especially one that is as surrounded by development as Batu Caves.”
The Conservancy, which led the Batu Caves expedition, presented its findings in a symposium in September.
And while there have been studies conducted on various limestone caves and hills in the past, Zarris says there is no consistent effort at more comprehensive research into all sites in the country.
Most of the specimens – in Batu Caves, for example – tend to be collected around the perimeter and along the slopes of hills.
“I think there is less study carried out on the tops of the limestone caves and hills because these areas are harder to access.
“The tower karst, for instance, is very steep on all sides and it’s hard for researchers to find entry points, ” says Zarris, who describes himself as a speleologist.
Zarris adds these limestone sites act like “museums” over millions of years, pointing to the presence of primitive species like trapdoor spiders (Liphistius kanthan) found in a cave in Gunung Kanthan and described as “living fossils”, and cycads, known as the “ultimate Jurassic plant”, found on the hills.
“These specimens can tell us how plants or spiders have evolved. The cold climate fossils tell us how Malaysia has evolved, how hot or cold our Earth used to be, how high the sea levels were, and even the content of CO2 in our atmosphere as recorded in the sedimentation.
“They are museums, ” he reiterates.
But these “libraries” and “museums” are under threat from quarrying, urban development, land clearing, and the lack of buffer zones in many states. However, earlier in the year, the Perak government said that it would conduct an in-depth study of the state’s limestone hills and caves to preserve their heritage and historical, archaeological and geological values.
An aerial view of Gunung Kanthan, Perak, from the north-east. The right side of this 2014 photo shows the larger part of the 150ha hill being quarried. — Filepic/The StarDigging in deep
While Tasik Cermin will soon become the 19th site in Perak’s Kinta Valley National Geopark, its vicinity is also home to 36 licensed quarry operators. For the Batu Caves, it is the dense residential and commercial estates surrounding them that pose the most immediate problem.
Even being listed as a site in the Geopark doesn’t guarantee protection: Gunung Matsurat, near the famous Gunung Lang, is encroached on by livestock and illegal diggers searching for crystals and is defaced with graffiti.
Making things difficult is the lack of a single management body to oversee and protect the country’s limestone hills and caves: “The problem for Malaysia is that it (the management) is very fragmented, ” says Zarris.
Batu Caves comes under the Selayang Municipal Council in the Klang Valley and in Perlis, limestone hills are under the state Forestry Department, for instance.
“There is a need to properly zone these areas, ” says Zarris, adding that the Conservancy group is trying to work with the stakeholders on how to conserve Batu Caves.
Of course, there is also the question of economic viability – can ecotourism such as nature trails and spelunking generate enough money to replace revenue from quarrying?
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, total production of quarry rock in Malaysia in 2016 was at 180.95 million tonnes, of which 27.51 million tonnes were limestone used to make cement and in the smelting of iron ore.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah had reportedly said in May that the mining and quarrying industry (excluding oil and gas) was worth RM9.04bil – or 0.7% of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product – and provided 15,275 jobs last year.
While the ministry is responsible for overseeing the mining and quarrying industry, it is states that have the power to approve permits, in consultation with federal agencies, as the activities are carried out on land over which states retain control.
In October 2019, the Perak Quarry Association said quarrying activities, including blasting, have been conducted for decades in these areas under the strict supervision of various government authorities. Its president, SK Chong, also said the association strongly supports ecotourism in Perak and urged parties involved to fully utilise and develop the area outside the designated quarry zone and within the Kinta Valley Geopark. The park was established in 2018 by the state government and is an area where tourism can be safely conducted.
Vivien Lian from the Kinta Valley Watch conservation group, which had alerted scientists to the Stegodon fossil, calls for state governments to find a balance between revenue and environmental sustainability using modern technology.
“The quarrying industry and the responsible government agencies ought to re-examine their business operations and relationships in a fundamental way for essential and non-renewable limestone.
“The industry should implement the concept of sustainable development, seeking to integrate the pursuit of economic growth with social development and environmental consideration and protection, ” she says.
Some point to Lafarge Malaysia Bhd’s conservation works on Gunung Kanthan, where it operates the quarry, as an example of balance between sustainable development and biodiversity protection.
Lian says that government agencies, however, should also be responsible for reviewing, implementing and enforcing conservation policy by conducting a thorough assessment of all limestone hills and caves in Perak – if not the whole of Malaysia – and issue a blanket prohibition forbidding mining and quarrying activities in scientifically valuable areas by declaring them preservation sites.
“Some countries, such as the Philippines, have already issued such blanket prohibitions to protect the environment and preserve indigenous cultures, ” she points out.
For quarrying contracts that have been previously agreed on, Lian urges stakeholders to take the initiative to research and develop green technology.
Back to the future
Lian says there are still many unrecorded caves in the Kinta Valley, with Gunung Lanno alone having at least 44 caves; the group, which has grown to include archaeologists, palaeontologists and botanists among its members, has only explored a few of them and has made a number of fossil finds.
“The discoveries were only made in recent years – back then, we were just a bunch of thrill-seekers who didn’t have proper gear, took blurry photos, and didn’t even know the names of the speleothems (cave formations).
“I’m sure we’ve walked past many fossils since we didn’t even know they were all around us!” recounts Lian.
The group is eager to unearth more findings on the area’s palaeoenvironment history and at the same time push for its conservation. Rare formations like tower karst hills, says Lian, are only found in a few sites in South-East Asia, and the Kinta Valley is one.
Besides the unique hill formations as well as picturesque scenery along the North-South Expressway reminiscent of a Chinese brush painting, the valley’s limestone hills harbour endemic cave flora and fauna and host cave paintings waiting to be decoded and translated into history, says Lian.
“All these natural treasures are at risk of being wiped out by human activities and weather erosion.
“We need government intervention for conservation, ” she says.
