TEMERLOH: The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project will see the construction of more than 20 animal crossings built along the 665km alignment to accommodate environment-friendly initiatives for wildlife conservation.
Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) Environment head Norhasrul Abu Hassan said 11 of the wildlife-friendly animal crossings would be built at the Kemasul forest reserve in Mentakab which had a huge elephant population.
"The wildlife box culverts built at a height measuring 5.3m and 6m in width are designed for elephants along with other smaller animals including Malayan tapirs and sun bears. The culvert's height is ideal for elephants which usually move in big groups.
"The longest wildlife box culvert in Kemasul measures about 75m long while the shortest is 15m. The size varies due to the topography and the height of the animal... smaller box culverts were built near the Kuantan tunnel in Kuantan," he told reporters during a media trip to the Kemasul's wildlife box culvert crossings here yesterday.
Norhasrul said prior to designing and building the animal crossings, MRL had worked with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) to conduct a wildlife survey and set up camera traps(capture images of roaming animals) to identify the animal habitat areas.
"Wildlife surveys and camera traps were used to determine the species living in the area and the design of the animal crossings(bigger for elephants). If the area has no big mammals, then the animal crossings will be designed smaller catering for tapir and sun bears.
"Initially, only seven animal crossings were planned to be built in the Kemasul forest reserve but as the project progressed, the final design had planned 11 box culvert crossings.
All the animal crossings in Kemasul will be completed by the end of this year," he said, adding that less than 40ha of the 21,900ha of the Kemasul forest reserve were utilised to build the animal crossings and rail alignment.
Meanwhile, Norhasrul said to attract the mammals to utilise the wildlife crossings to help minimise human-wildlife conflicts, a wildlife management programme would be rolled out to help identify suitable plants or trees to be planted for nourishment.
"Perhilitan will assist to identify the suitable nourishment plans for the animal and this will be planted near the crossings to encourage the animals to frequent the area and become familiar with the crossings.
"This is part of the collaboration between ECRL main contractor China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd (CCC-ECRL) and Perhilitan," he said.
He said beside the animal crossings at the forest reserves, viaducts would be built at selected areas along the alignment to provide a safe crossing option for wildlife.
In 2018, CCC-ECRL had pledged over RM9 million to Perhilitan to minimise negative impact from the ECRL project, including protecting the natural habitats of flora and fauna.
CCC-ECRL inked a supplementary agreement with Perhilitan on a Wildlife Management Plan in September last year where it was reported the ECRL alignment encompasses 58 tunnels — collectively about 61km long — along with 128km of viaducts and multiple wildlife crossings.
The ECRL, launched in 2017 and scheduled for completion by December 2026, will traverse the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang through to the Klang Valley.