Ulu Muda

Ulu Muda is the last great piece of rainforest in the northern state of Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia, located in the north eastern side and straddling the Thai border. This important forest reserve which spans 120,000 hectares, serves as a water catchment area for a major part of Kedah. Three great lakes are located in Ulu Muda - Tasik Pedu, Tasik Muda and Tasik Beris. Despite its immense natural beauty, Ulu Muda is still relatively unknown.

Today, the inner reaches of Ulu Muda remain relatively unexplored, and many wildlife species are believed to lie undiscovered. Unlike other national parks in Peninsular Malaysia like Taman Negara in Pahang or Endau Rompin, Ulu Muda, while being tropical, has some features typical of the dry monsoon types found in Thailand and other parts of northern Southeast Asia. The mix of lowland and hill dipterocarp forest in the reserve protect a large array of flora and fauna. Bird watchers will appreciate this area as hornbills and raptors are a common sight along the fringes of the lakes. Ulu Muda also teems with mammals, especially elephants which flock to the many salt licks in the area.

Most visitors will spend their time at Pedu Lake (Tasik Pedu), which is the most developed part of Ulu Muda with with a recreational forest, proper tourist facilities and accommodation. This picturesque lake is the largest in the forest reserve and most accessible. To access the inner reaches of Ulu Muda, visitors need to take a boat from the Gubir jetty at Tasik Muda or follow the old logging trail with 4WD vehicles from Gulau.

The boat ride takes an hour or more depending on how far you want to go in, especially if you decide to follow one of the many river tributaries in Ulu Muda for further exploration. On this slow boat ride, it is easy to spot birds flying among the tree tops and large mammals foraging by the side of the lake. Also watch out for the otters, which pop in and out of the water gracefully.

The logging trail, on the other hand, leads to a deep campsite that is currently being developed into an eco-tourist resort. Many of the visitors to Ulu Muda consist of sport anglers, who spend the night fishing from one of the many islands, or fishermen, often seen casting their nets in the evenings. Conventional eco-tourists form only a tiny fraction of the visitors to Ulu Muda.

This may change once the resort located deep inland takes shape. Currently, Ulu Muda is under threat from commercial logging, as it has not been gazetted as a national park, with only some sections of the entire reserve enjoying protection as water catchment areas. Intense logging will certainly decimate the many wildlife species found here, and ruin any eco-tourism potential of this pristine rainforest. This will indeed be a tragedy, as Ulu Muda, being the last great rainforest of Peninsular Malaysia's extreme north, has so much to offer and discover from its natural heritage.