GUNUNG ARONG CHALLENGE 2024 PROMOTES MERSING AS EXTREME SPORTS LOCATION

MERSING, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- Gunung Arong Challenge 2024 is seen as a catalyst in promoting the Mersing district as an extreme sports location to attract tourists on the international stage.

Mersing District Officer Jamil Hasni Abdullah said the degree of difficulty of the trail run, which was held for the third time, had become increasingly challenging with three running distances of 10 kilometres (km), 25 km and 35 km.

He said this year's programme attracted 546 runners from within and outside the country, including Singapore, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Japan and Poland, thus becoming a catalyst for economic spillover to the local community.

“This significant increase in the number of participants proves that Gunung Arong is capable of satisfying trail climbing enthusiasts and has great potential to be promoted as an extreme sports tourism destination.

“In addition, the Gunung Arong Forest Reserve also has its own history of attraction and is rich in unique flora, fauna and ecosystem biodiversity,” he told Bernama after closing the programme here today.

In his speech, Jamil Hasni said the forest reserve area is often the focus of local and international tourists, especially fans of climbing or trail running.

“This is due to the presence of various interesting sights such as the Gunung Arong Peak, the stark scenery in Teluk Arong as well as the existence of quartz ridges, which are dikes made up entirely of silica minerals.

"There are five confirmed forest strata in this reserve, namely Lowland Dipterocarp Forest, Kerangas Forest, Peat Swamp Forest, Mangrove Forest and Freshwater Swamp Forest, as identified during the Gunung Arong Forest Reserve Biodiversity Scientific Expedition conducted from Sept 17 to 21," he said.

He believes that the initiative will not only benefit the department or the state government but will also drive researchers to conduct studies and research.

Jamil Hasni said the Gunung Arong Challenge 2024 Carnival was also held with interesting activities like colouring competitions, a folk sports contest, an exhibition, and food and drinks sales by the district community.

“Indirectly, activities like this can increase community competence and become a platform to promote the resources available in Mersing, besides generating socio-economic spillover for the homestay, food and tourism sectors,” he added.

The programme was organised by the Johor State Forestry Department, Mountain Goat Events, Ribuan Kembara Johor Outdoor Activities Club, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

-- BERNAMA