Welcome to my Blog......!!!!: January 2010

Tanjung Piai

Tanjung Piai is also known as “The Southernmost Tip of Mainland Asia”. Tanjung Piai is named after this fern locally known as ‘Paku Piai’. It is a type of fern that can live in saline conditions. Tanjung Piai is also home to many species of mangrove plants and species of animals. Tanjung Piai State Park (Ref: 1289) wetland designated on 31/01/03; 526 ha; 01°16′N 103°31′E is a State Park consisting of coastal mangroves and intertidal mudflats.

According to Wetlands International, Johor holds 28.7% of mangrove forest in Peninsular Malaysia (27,733 ha) or 4.7% of total mangrove forest cover in Malaysia. Tanjung Piai covers 526 hectares of Mangroves and another 400 hectares of inter tidal mudflats. Mudflats are soft and muddy soil. It has high salt content and low oxygen levels (anaerobic). However, they are subject to hot and dry conditions.

Mangroves gazetted as Mangrove Forest Reserves (MFR) in Johor are managed by the State Forestry Department. Mangroves gazetted as National Parks and RAMSAR sites by the State Government of Johor are managed by Johor National Parks Corporation (JNPC)

It forms the only mangrove corridor that connects Pulau Kukup and the Sungai Pulai wetlands. Five rivers dissect the Tanjung Piai State Park.The mangrove in this State Park is a typical example of a Rhizophora apiculata-Bruguiera cylindrica dominated coastal forest.The mudflats however are extensive, namely at the southern-most tip of Tanjung Piai. Five species of large water birds and 7 species of shorebirds were seen to be feeding on these mudflats. The mangroves of Tanjung Piai have been conserved in the past for the protection of the shoreline, as the immediate hinterlands are all cultivated farmlands.

Bunds were created along the west and east coasts of Tanjung Piai to protect farmlands from being inundated by salt waters. Tidal currents heavily erode Tanjung Piai with the coastal mangrove fringes being reduced to 50m at certain stretches. The Tanjung Piai State Park is home to about 20 ‘true’ mangrove plant species as well as 9 more mangrove-associated species, which demonstrates high species diversity in such a small area.

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