G R E E N ( ^_^ ) A P P L E

TAMAN MELAWATI , KUALA SELANGOR.

@ MELAWATI HILL

Melawati Hill is located in the coastal town of Kuala Selangor, a 30-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur. In the late 18th Century, the second Sultan of Selangor had a fortress constructed on Melawati Hill to protect the state from intruders.

The hill provided a vantage point to monitor ships in the Straits of Malacca. Even with a strategic hold, the Melawati Fort yielded to the Dutch cannons.

It was again destroyed during the Selangor Civil War, when warring factions fought for tin-rich lands. All that remains of the fort now are its cannons, its original foundation stones and fabled execution block. The landscaped hill offers a panoramic view of the Selangor coastline.

Visitors will be delighted to watch the free-roaming Silverleaf Monkeys in the area. The adults are dark-haired with a tinge of silver, while the young ones are a bright orange. Gentle and adorable, they graciously wait for bread or fruits from visitors, unlike the mischievous Long Tail Macaques.

Today, there is a tram car service that takes you to the top. In the vicinity is a royal mausoleum where past Selangor sultans were buried. Other attractions here are a lighthouse, a royal mausoleum and a quaint rest house.

The park, as part of the Selangor River estuary, is home to a number of large bird species such as Milky Storks and herons as well as primates, namely silver leaf monkeys and macaques. The area was a breeding ground of an endangered Milky Stork species before the program was suspended. An abandoned aviary still stands in the middle of the park.

Kuala Selangor is an old royal capital of Selangor. It was conquered by the Dutch in 1784, when they successfully attempted to expand from their base in Melaka to control the tin trade of Perak and Selangor.

Bukit Melawati is a hill overlooking Kuala Selangor and the Strait of Malacca. The Dutch destroyed the existing fortifications on the hill during their 1784 invasion, and built a European-style castle, naming it Fort Atlingsburg after their commander. The fort was fought over repeatedly by the Dutch, Sultanate of Selangor and later the British, until all that remains today are some scattered ruins.

With a total area of 2.4 km2, the park is a combination of secondary forest and wetland with a man-made coastal bund separating the wetland from the forest. Inside the park itself is a large pond surrounded by another bund. A water lock connecting the pond with the river controls the water level of the pond.