IPOH: Home to various endangered species of flora and fauna, Gunung Kanthan is one of the last 19 remaining limestone hills left standing in the Kinta Valley National Geopark.
Having a unique karst (limestone area) ecosystem and identified as one of the most important karsts in Perak for conservation, it is home to rare and endemic species.
However, what makes this hill which is estimated to be about five million years old unique is the Dhamma Sakyamuni Caves Monastery.
But the century-old Buddhist monastery's existence is now under threat after the Court of Appeal granted a cement manufacturer, Associated Pan Malaysia Cement (APMC) the right to evict the institution.
Environmentalists and heritage associations have warned the state government not to approve the mining lease application by the cement company as it posed a grave threat to the area's endemic flora and fauna.
The Perak Heritage Society president Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Tahir said that the existence of the monastery saved the area from quarry activity.
"But at the same time, for a long-term period, the existence of the monastery itself will damage the structure of the limestone.
"In this matter, the monastery should leave and the cement manufacturer should not invade the area. We want to make sure that Gunung Kanthan remains untouched," he said when contacted today.
Mohd Tajuddin added that Kinta Valley Geopark should never be placed under Perak State Parks Cooperation (PSPC), an entity with no strong policies to protect the geopark areas.
"We should know that this cooperation could not act based on policies and principles to retain the limestone area because for me it has no teeth, but only gums in terms of legalisation, so they can't do anything.
"The state government should place all the geopark areas under a strong entity which can protect our geopark with legislation and policies," he said.
He added that the state government should interfere in this issue and he had personally voiced the importance of preserving the limestone areas to the state government for future generations.
"The state government should never see this (quarry activity) as state revenue only. That is only for a short-term context, but not for a long-term.
"Because once it's gone (limestones and quarry activity) we can't have it in another 30 years' time. What happens to the next generation? This is not sustainable.
"The state government should be held accountable for the wanton destruction of the limestone hills and the consequences of environmental damage because it is responsible for the issuance of quarrying permits," he said.
Meanwhile, attempts to get Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad to comment on the matter proved futile.
On Sept 4, 2021, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) field researcher Meor Razak Meor Abdul Rahman urged the state government not to approve the mining lease application by a cement company at Gunung Kanthan.
He said parts of Gunung Kanthan have already been destroyed, namely Areas A and B, while Areas C and D, which are home to critically endangered flora and fauna, were still intact.
"Among the endemic flora species found in the area categorised as critically endangered are Meiogye kanthanensis, Gymnostachyum kanthanensis and Vatica kanthanensi,
"While the endemic fauna categorised as critically endangered are a prehistoric spider, Liphistius kanthanensis and a lizard called Cytrodactylus guakanthanensis," he said.