Kinta Nature Park – Upgraded But Not Quite Ready Yet...

The viewing tower 

Lake Puchong and the island where egrets and herons have made it a permanent home

Kinta Nature Park, Perak’s lovely park which is home to over a hundred species of birds including herons and egret is cleaned and tidied up.

But it won’t be opened to the public yet until accommodation for Rangers is ready.

The Park which is now under the responsibility of the Perak State Parks Corporation is waiting for the state to give the opening date.

The Island with Herons resting in the afternoon.

Perak State Parks Director Noor Asmah Mohd Nawawi when contacted said they were targeting the opening for this year but not so soon. 

“There will be a second upgrading where we will be constructing a building to accommodate our Rangers.

“In future our Rangers will be stationed here to patrol 24 hours so we will have to prepare appropriate accommodation for them”

Last November Kinta Chronicles had highlighted the deplorable condition of the Park after Lonely Planet had nominated Perak as the 9th of top 10 regions in the world to visit in 2017.

The state government allocated RM300,000.00 to upgrade the park which included the existing infrastructures such as the office, camp site, small hall and toilet.

Kinta Nature Park was gazetted a state park in early 2016 after which it was handed over to the Corporation. The size of the area measures 396 hectares.

Lonely Planet described Kinta Nature Park as one in the list of must-visit locations in Perak in its report ‘Adventure in Perak: outdoor thrills and spoils in the heart of Malaysia.’  

Kinta Nature Park came about after the end of mining operation in the area in the mid 1980’s.The mining operations left behind a wetland of disused mining ponds and secondary jungle which attracted more than 130 species of birds.

At one of the cluster of ponds, a 41ha wide Lake Pucung, is an island that had attracted five families of egrets and herons and made it their permanent home.

Kota Baru. Kinta Nature Park is another 6km to the west

 It is accessible via Gopeng heading towards Kota Baru and thru to KNP.

JAG