case study of deforestation in malaysia

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The impacts of rainforest deforestation in Malaysia

What are the impacts of rainforest deforestation in Malaysia?

The graph below shows the impact of deforestation on natural forest cover in Malaysia.

The map below shows the location of deforestation in Malaysia. The areas shaded green are primary forests, whereas the pink areas show deforestation.

Deforestation

In Borneo, orangutang numbers have fallen by 60 per cent since 1950

in Malaysia has had a range of local and global impacts.

What are the global impacts of rainforest deforestation in Malaysia?

Global Warming

The Malaysian rainforest is significant at a global level. The tree canopy absorbs carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As soon as trees are felled, this stops, and more carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is also released when fire is used to clear the rainforest. In these ways, deforestation is a major contributor to climate change.

Loss of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or a particular habitat. Rainforests are the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Clearing the rainforest means reduced biodiversity, and individual species can become endangered or extinct.

Species richness surveys in Malaysia show a 34.9% reduction in species richness in oil palm compared to forest habitats, and 79.6% of the species found in forest habitats were not found in oil palm habitats.

Species at risk in the Malaysian rainforest include Pygmy Elephants, Orangutans, Sumatran Rhinos and Malayan Tigers, all endangered.

As species are lost, so are many possible cures for life-threatening diseases.

What are the local impacts of rainforest deforestation in Malaysia?

Local Climate Change

Forests have been termed the “air conditioners” of the landscape because they keep things cool by evaporating water. The evaporated water forms clouds, which also contribute to cooling. If evaporation is not happening, then much of the sun’s energy goes into raising temperatures instead.

The clouds reflect a lot of the sun’s radiation back into space and are a source of rainfall. So when tropical forests are felled, local temperatures tend to rise, and rainfall patterns change, becoming less reliable and more extreme.

Therefore, deforestation reduces evapotranspiration, making the local area drier and increasing local temperatures.

The Decline of Indigenous Tribes

Malaysia’s Orang Asli have been stripped of historic lands and are more susceptible to deadly illness.

Loss of forest due to illegal logging has significantly reduced the bat population. Bats are a natural means by which fruit crops are pollinated, so there is an enormous impact on indigenous people and their food security when the forest is illegally cleared (a) because the food source has directly been removed through illegal logging and (b) because the bat population is no longer available to pollinate the wider forest area. Malaysia now has a situation where some communities have to pollinate fruit trees by hand. The problem is exacerbated by the increased use of pesticides, which further cause problems in maintaining wildlife and rainforest. Pesticides are being used more because the bat population no longer provides the natural means by which insect populations are managed.

Soil Erosion

Soil takes thousands of years to form. However, it can be stripped away very quickly. The removal of soil by rain and wind is known as soil erosion. The roots of vegetation, such as trees, bind the soil together. Once vegetation is removed, it becomes loose and can be easily eroded.

Additionally, when soil is exposed, nutrients are leached away by heavy rain, making the soil infertile.

A significant amount of carbon is stored in rainforest soils. Soil erosion releases the stored carbon into the atmosphere, enhancing the natural greenhouse effect and contributing to climate change.

Disputes between the state companies and indigenous people end in conflict.

Pollution of water sources through activities such as mining results in water shortages.

Economic Gains/Losses

It is estimated that illegal logging denies revenues to the people of Malaysia in the order of USD 500m per annum. It is also clear that indigenous people are having their land and, therefore, sources of food and livelihood denied to them at a cost exceeding USD 800 million per annum in compensation and welfare payments.

Illegal logging leads to the loss of forest biodiversity and ecosystem services deprives local communities of their rights and livelihoods and generates approximately US$10–15 billion annually in criminal proceeds. In national revenue terms, the World Bank estimates that Governments lose around USD 5 Billion per annum in direct taxation. Illegal logging can refer to timber from restricted forests, harvesting protected species or over allowable yields, harvesting in violation of land or tenure rights, and failing to pay taxes and royalties.

As areas become less biodiverse, the tourism industry may be negatively impacted.

As climate change is exacerbated by deforestation, produce yields may decrease due to the drier, hotter climate, which will influence trade and the economy.

Mining, logging, agriculture , hydroelectric power, and road building provide local people with jobs and increased incomes.

Products from tropical rainforest lands can be traded with other countries for profit. The palm oil industry has been the fourth-largest sector contributing to the economy for 15 to 18 years. In 2020, palm oil accounted for thirty-eight per cent of the value of Malaysia’s agricultural output and three per cent of its gross domestic product. The palm oil industry employs 441,000 people, half of whom are small landowners.

Companies that exploit rainforests pay taxes, supporting economic development and providing public services, such as healthcare and education.

Improved accessibility to rainforests through the construction of roads supports the tourist industry and connects rural to urban areas, further supporting economic development.

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Causes of rainforest deforestation in Malaysia

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Blind spot in palm policy raises deforestation risk in Malaysia, report says

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• A blind spot in the sustainable production policies of major palm oil companies is allowing plantation owners clearing rainforest in Malaysia to continue feeding the former’s “deforestation-free” supply chains.
• In Indonesia, forests can only be cleared if they are explicitly linked to a particular project; in Malaysia, companies can obtain permits for the sole purpose of clear-felling, making it more difficult to link oil palm growers and plantation owners to deforestation activities.
• Researchers have called on palm oil traders and refiners to trace deforestation beyond the mills in their supply chains, to the plantations the mills are buying from.

A “blind spot” in the sustainability policies of major palm oil conglomerates is allowing plantation companies clearing rainforest in Malaysia to continue feeding ostensibly “deforestation-free” supply chains, according to a new report by eco-watchdog Chain Reaction Research (CRR).

Over the past decade, most of the world’s largest processors, traders and users of palm oil have adopted “zero-deforestation” policies, pledging to sever the link between their sprawling supply chains and the destruction of rainforests, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, which together account for most of the world’s production of palm oil, used in consumer goods ranging from chocolate to laundry detergent.

In Indonesia, the government long ago banned standalone logging concessions. A forest there can only be cleared if it is explicitly linked to another type of development — like an oil palm plantation. This makes it easy to establish when a rainforest has been cleared for the purpose of setting up a plantation, and to label the operator of that plantation ineligible to supply buyers with “zero-deforestation” pledges.

In Malaysia, however, state governments can issue forest clearance permits that have the clear-felling of forests as their sole purpose. Because such permits do not then require companies to disclose what the cleared area will be used for, be it an oil palm plantation, mining project, or some other undertaking, they have led to situations where one company clears an area only to have a different one start an oil palm project there later, the report said.

“This results in a confusing situation as to whether the [oil palm] grower can still be held responsible for the deforestation,” the report said. This creates a loophole for growers to exploit, and a “blind spot” in the sustainable production policies of traders and refiners, one of the researchers involved in the study, Albert ten Kate, told Mongabay.

“[In Indonesia] you can address the palm oil, industrial tree or mining company, as the clearing is on behalf of them,” ten Kate said. “[In Malaysia] you simply do not know the ultimate purpose of the clearing. The forests are cleared … some years later you see small oil palm trees … and the oil palm grower will say that it was cleared by somebody else.”

CRR’s report, released May 7, analyzed five deforestation case studies in degazetted forest reserves in Pahang, Johor and Terengganu states, cumulatively responsible for some 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of forest cleared since 2015.

It found that, in addition to the clear-felling permits, another factor has been limiting buyers from enforcing their “no-deforestation” policies: a lack of public information identifying the companies clearing forests within concession boundaries.

With only a fraction of environmental impact assessments conducted for forest conversion projects released on government websites, “deforestation can be detected in near real-time, yet … refiners cannot determine who to engage to stop deforestation,” the researchers wrote, a phenomenon they termed “ghost deforestation.”

Eight of Peninsular Malaysia’s largest palm oil refiners, which together cover 70% of the region’s refining capacity, have “no-deforestation” policies in place. These policies cover not only their own plantations but also those of third-party suppliers — though enforcement usually comes too little, too late due in part to ghost deforestation.

In one of the case studies in the state of Pahang, the researchers detailed how trading and refining giants Wilmar International and Mewah International, both of which have “no-deforestation” policies in place, met with a plantation company in their supply chains linked to deforestation activities in 2020; most of the forest had already been cleared between 2015 and 2019.

Malaysia is the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, accounting for more than a quarter of total global output in 2020. Within the country, Peninsular Malaysia makes up 47% of a total planted area of 5.9 million hectares (14.6 million acres) of oil palm plantations. That is to say, nearly half of an area more than 17% the size of the entire country.

Today, the vast and orderly rows of oil palm plantations continue to encroach on forested land. Some 84% of Peninsular Malaysia’s remaining forest is classified as permanent forest reserves, and of these, more than three-quarters are concentrated within the four states of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu. Yet Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu, as well as Johor, are also the states where plantations have been expanding the most rapidly between 2018 and 2020 .

The expanding plantations in these states could derail the central government’s ambitions to keep oil palm planted area at a ceiling of 6.5 million hectares (16.1 million acres) by 2023. They also highlight possible governance gaps and conflicts of interest between the central government’s direction and state authorities’ enforcement, where the latter have full control over the use of their permanent forest reserves and can degazette them at will — in contrast to countries like Indonesia, where the central government largely controls forest policy.

In Peninsular Malaysia, most large oil palm growers are also majority-owned by government institutions. The four biggest growers, which together run 31% of the planted area, are majority-owned by the central government, according to CRR data. Many of the other large growers are owned by state governments, with ownership corresponding to the jurisdiction state authorities have over their land. Some growers are also owned by the sultans of states or their relatives, including in Johor, Terengganu and Pahang.

In one of the case studies, the researchers recorded a 2,190-hectare (5,410-acre) oil palm plantation that appeared in a degazetted forest reserve in Johor after the area was cleared. The plantation was developed by AA Sawit, a company 51% owned by the sultan of Johor, the researchers said. In another case study, 1,800 hectares (4,400 acres) of forest in Terengganu were cleared to make way for an oil palm plantation owned by the sultan of Terengganu and his relatives, the researchers wrote. For both cases, main refiners took little action, they said.

Ten Kate said that since the study was published, the researchers have linked another 8,500-hectare (21,000-acre) oil palm and industrial tree plantation project within the degazetted Bukit Ibam reserve in Pahang to a company 50% owned by a nephew of the sultan of Pahang.

“The sultans … officially have a ceremonial role that is separate from the government that decides [on forest policy],” ten Kate said.  “But in reality, they have a lot of influence.

“Palm oil refiners are tracing deforestation to the mills in their supply chains. But we say they should also pay attention to the plantations that the mills buy from.”

Banner image of oil palm fruit by Dave Barce via Wikicommons.

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State of the Malaysian Rainforest: report

RimbaWatch (formerly known as the Rimba Disclosure Project), as part of its efforts to monitor activities related to deforestation in Malaysia, has published a study entitled “State of the Malaysian Rainforest 2023” which collates and analyses all its data on past and potential future deforestation. This is the first time a study has been attempted to identify the economic drivers of past and future deforestation, estimate statistics for future deforestation, and provide an overall assessment of forestry governance – all on a national scale.

RimbaWatch first analysed deforestation based on an interpretation of Global Forest Watch (GFW)’s tree cover loss data to estimate that, between 2017 and 2021, Malaysia deforested 349,244 hectares, with Sarawak and Pahang experiencing the highest rates of deforestation. The biggest driver of past deforestation that could be identified for this period was timber plantations, accounting for 41.6% of deforestation, followed by palm oil which was responsible for only 15.5%.

Secondly, using data collected from desktop research which includes official forestry maps, project descriptions, etc., RimbaWatch has analysed 438 alerts concerning areas at risk of deforestation in the future through 5 categories: (a) zoning of forested land for non-forest usage, (b) real estate listings of forested land, (c) forest reserve degazettement, (d) approved forest-risk environmental impact assessments and (e) miscellaneous data. From our analysis we estimate that a further 2,346,601 hectares of forests in Malaysia have been earmarked for deforestation.

The Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment & Climate Change lists Malaysia’s 2017 forest cover at 18,332,583 hectares, which is 55.52% of our total land area. In the final analysis, through combining data for deforestation which occurred between 2017-2021 and potential future deforestation alerts, benchmarked against the 2017 forest cover as reported by the Ministry, RimbaWatch estimates that Malaysia’s forest cover could decrease to 15,636,737 hectares, or 47.35% of total land area, in the future. This is below Malaysia’s commitment to maintain 50% of its land as forest cover.

About RimbaWatch: RimbaWatch is an environmental watchdog building an independent, timely and open inventory of data and analytics on deforestation, climate change and human rights issues in Malaysia.

For media enquiries, please contact: RimbaWatch (Kuala Lumpur) [email protected] +44 7721 647013 (whatsapp) web.rimbadisclosureproject.com

Notes: The full study “State of the Malaysian Rainforest 2023” can be read here.

General: [email protected] Press: [email protected]

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The Borneo Project is fiscally sponsored by Earth Island Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization

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Malaysia’s forest pledges and the bornean state of sarawak: a policy perspective.

1. Introduction

1.1. geographical context, 1.2. research objective, 1.3. studies on forest policies, 1.4. deforestation drivers, 2. research design and materials, 3. results and discussions, 3.1. legal and institutional framework, 3.2. economic development considerations, 3.2.1. national development plans, 3.2.2. state economic and development strategies, 3.2.3. sarawak corridor of renewable energy (score), 3.3. environmental protection considerations, 3.3.1. national policy on the environment, 3.3.2. national policy on climate change, 3.3.3. the national redd plus strategy, 3.4. sarawak land use policy, 3.4.1. forestry policies, 3.4.2. conservation and restoration policies, 3.4.3. agriculture policies, 3.4.4. sustainability certifications and policies, 3.5. land rights and native customary laws, 3.5.1. native customary land, 3.5.2. native land development schemes, 3.6. land use and land use change legislation, 3.6.1. legislation that maintains and protects forests, 3.6.2. legislation that governs land use change, 5. recommendations and conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Koh, J.; Johari, S.; Shuib, A.; Siow, M.L.; Matthew, N.K. Malaysia’s Forest Pledges and The Bornean State of Sarawak: A Policy Perspective. Sustainability 2023 , 15 , 1385. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021385

Koh J, Johari S, Shuib A, Siow ML, Matthew NK. Malaysia’s Forest Pledges and The Bornean State of Sarawak: A Policy Perspective. Sustainability . 2023; 15(2):1385. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021385

Koh, Jane, Shazali Johari, Ahmad Shuib, May Ling Siow, and Nitanan Koshy Matthew. 2023. "Malaysia’s Forest Pledges and The Bornean State of Sarawak: A Policy Perspective" Sustainability 15, no. 2: 1385. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021385

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Pahang Deforestation Adds to Decades of Indigenous Land Rights Struggle in Malaysia

Forest Plantations on the Rise. What's the Deal?

Yao-Hua Law's project investigates the sustainability of forest plantations in Malaysia and...

Omar Rani is an Orang Asli who lives in the village of Kampung Berengoi in the Malaysian state of Pahang. Omar and his fellow villagers, also members of the indigenous group, are illiterate – or as they put it: “We haven’t gone to school”.

Last year, they were asked to sign letters to receive free houses from private company YP Olio Sdn Bhd. Though unable to read a word, Omar and the villagers signed – they trusted the government officers who accompanied the company’s representatives.

If the villagers were able to read the letter, they would have seen it stated that they “have no objection to development project on YP Olio’s land”, the nature of which was left unspecified.

But earlier this month, the Orang Asli villagers received shocking news. YP Olio might have misconstrued their acceptance of houses as support for its logging and plantation project, something they have been protesting since 2019. 

“I didn’t know that taking the houses meant accepting the logging,” says 37-year-old Omar. “Nobody said the letters were about logging.”

A lawyer supporting Malaysia’s indigenous groups has labelled the contract process as “fraudulent”, while another said it was guilty of “exploiting the Orang Asli”. 

The YP Olio Sdn Bhd project  will clear 8,498.58 hectares (about 85 km 2 ) – Pahang’s largest single forest loss for two decades – in what had been a forest reserve until late 2020. The company is set to turn the site into plantations of oil palm and  Paulownia , an exotic tree grown for timber, with the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report currently being reviewed by the federal Department of Environment. 

But concerned groups are criticising the project for destroying habitats of endangered wildlife and displacing indigenous people, with at least eight Orang Asli families, including Omar’s, living in two villages on the site. 

The events unfolding at Kampung Berengoi are just the latest in indigenous communities’ long standing struggle for customary land rights across Malaysia, one that appeared to take a turn for the better in 2018 when the Pakatan Harapan coalition was elected into federal government on a reformist agenda that included defending indigenous rights. 

But the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed in February last year, and since then, Orang Asli land rights disputes have shown no signs of easing, with the Kampung Berengoi community exemplifying the continued struggle of Malaysia’s indigenous groups. 

“Land-grabbing has been an on-going tough situation faced by the Orang Asli for decades,” Jerald Joseph, a commissioner of the  Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) , told the  Globe . “It’s getting worse as a clash between development and the traditional lifestyle of the Orang Asli.”

“Ironically, Orang Asli are not against development, but they want development that is sustainable and [doesn’t] destroy their land and ancestral cultures.” 

About 220,000 Orang Asli, a term meaning ‘first’ or ‘native’ people in Malay that encapsulates numerous indigenous groups, live in Peninsular Malaysia. The poorest, most malnourished, and least educated people in the country, land insecurity exemplifies their daily plight. 

For decades, Orang Asli have had to wage courtroom battles and erect  blockades  to assert their rights. An uplifting change came in April 2019 when the newly elected Pakatan Harapan federal government held  the first National Orang Asli Convention . Indigenous people delegates outlined their struggles and attendees concluded 136 resolutions, with recognition of land rights topping the list.

In response, the then-federal government began drawing  plans to implement the resolutions . But that government was ousted following Malaysia’s political upheaval in February 2020 that saw Mahathir Mohamad’s coalition collapse in a flurry of infighting.

As the government has undergone an overhaul in the time since, that nascent trend of indigenous rights reform has quickly ended as land disputes with the Orang Asli have continued to pile up. Over the past six months alone, at least three Orang Asli communities have received eviction orders after state governments leased the land to developers.

We love the forest, we cherish the rivers. We cannot accept an intrusion of our land

Just two years ago, Omar could step out of his hut into the adjacent forest and walk westward for more than 15km under the canopy. He would have seen signs of tapirs, sun bears, leopard cats, and elephants. Perhaps even tigers.

But loggers started clearing the forest in late 2019. Within a year, bare soil stretched for 5km west of Omar’s hut, with the logging continuing unabated today.

“We love the forest, we cherish the rivers,” Omar tells the  Globe . “We cannot accept an intrusion of our land.”

Rani Jinal, Omar’s father, collects fruits, rattan, gum, and medicinal plants from the forest. 

“My livelihood cannot continue [without the forest],” he said. “My food in the forest will be gone. How can I support [the logging project]?”

YP Olio has possession of the project site on a 99-year lease from the Pahang state government, with the lease starting on December 20, 2019. 

The site encompasses 4,047 hectares of customary territory claimed in 2017 by Orang Asli villagers, something the state government hasn’t recognised to date. 

“In Pahang, they have a very bad track record in recognising and protecting Orang Asli land rights,” Dr Colin Nicholas, who holds his PhD in Orang Asli issues and founded the Center for Orang Asli Concerns in 1989, told the  Globe . 

Nicholas cites government data that shows only 7,156 hectares of Orang Asli customary land as being gazetted – formally recognised through legal government notices – as aboriginal areas or reserves in Pahang. About 45,000 hectares more have been pending for years.

“It’s a very clear case that the government is not protecting,” said Nicholas. “And because these lands are not secured in the Orang Asli’s name, anybody can take it.”

Between September 2019 and December 2020, loggers cleared at least 1,684 hectares of forest on YP OIio’s land around Omar’s village, according to figures in the EIA report. The resident Orang Asli denounced the logging, and in November 2019, Omar submitted a letter, with the help of a literate relative, to multiple government agencies protesting YP Olio’s project in their customary territory. 

He was not a lone voice. The EIA report shows that 85% of Orang Asli villagers surveyed in and near the site objected to the project. In Omar’s village of Kampung Berengoi, all respondents objected.

“[If the project continues] our farms and all the trees will be cut. They have already damaged our ancestral graves,” Omar said. “We don’t have a place to move to. How to move? This has been our place inherited through generations.”

Four of the signees – Omar, Rani, Sani Kotiz, and Maarof bin Abdullah – told the  Globe  they signed the letters without knowing they were related to logging.  

Kai Ping Hon, a lawyer and member of the Malaysian Bar Council’s Committee on Orang Asli Rights, labelled the consent letters as “fraudulent”. If the Orang Asli did not know that accepting the houses implies consent for the logging and plantation, they “must write to revoke their signatures”, Hon told the  Globe . 

“On top of that, they should actually sue the various authorities, especially if the project gets the go-ahead.”

SUHAKAM’s Joseph says the consent letters “definitely don’t meet the standard for meaningful prior, free and informed consent”. 

Joseph says that such discussions with the Orang Asli must be done in the presence of representatives “who have [the Orang Asli’s] interest at heart”, such as civil society organisations or lawyers from the Malaysian Bar Council, to “avoid gaps or misinterpretation”.

In this case, the consent letters are “exploiting the Orang Asli’s understanding by not giving full disclosure of the project to the affected and original peoples of the village,” he said.

The Department of Environment told the  Globe  that they are investigating allegations of deception in getting the Orang Asli to sign the consent letters. The Chief Minister of Pahang did not reply to the  Globe’s  request for comment.

The directors of YP Olio, through their appointed lawyer, refute allegations of fraud and misrepresentation in dealing with the Orang Asli. 

YP Olio has four directors. The founding director is Tun Putera Yasir Ahmad Shah bin Mohamed Moiz, who also owns 50% of the company through Metallic Hallway Sdn Bhd. Yasir is nephew to the Sultan of Pahang, who is also Malaysia’s current ruler as king.

In a statement to the  Globe , the directors say YP Olio “adheres to proper protocols and management” and that it “works closely” with the relevant government agencies and is “in strict adherence with the law”.

The  Globe  asked the directors if they believed that the villagers had consented to the company’s logging and plantation project, a question which they did not answer. The directors say that the company has always engaged the Orang Asli in the presence of the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA), the government agency mandated under the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 to oversee Orang Asli affairs.

Omar and Rani confirmed that JAKOA officers had accompanied YP Olio’s representatives during visits and signing of the letters. But the officers did not say the letters were linked to logging, say Omar and Rani. 

Nicholas, the coordinator of the Center for Orang Asli Concerns, contends that JAKOA has “failed their responsibility to inform the Orang Asli of what is in store for them in signing this agreement”. 

“According to the law, JAKOA are supposed to protect the interests of the Orang Asli, for their well-being and progress,” said Nicholas. “JAKOA have failed in their fiduciary duty for the Orang Asli in this case.”

The  Globe’s  enquiries to JAKOA, the Forestry Department of Pahang, and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia were not answered.

On its part, YP Olio has promised to prioritise the Orang Asli for job opportunities in the new project. The EIA report concludes that the project can develop the economy and mitigate environmental impact, outlining mitigation measures like drainage systems to reduce erosion, electric fences to deter elephants, and new protected areas for wildlife.

But surveys in the EIA report show that almost all local Orang Asli respondents disagreed that YP Olio’s project would give them jobs or improve their income. Rather, they rejected the project due to concerns of water pollution, loss of forest products, and damage caused by logging roads. 

But while developers would benefit from selling logs and palm oil, the potential losers from the project’s environmental fallout span indigenous groups, local residents, as well as the state and federal governments.

Besides displacing Orang Asli, the project will destroy thousands of hectares of forests and prime wildlife habitats. Google Earth images dating back to 1984 show that the site was last logged sustainably in 1989-1994. In Malaysia, forest reserves are selectively logged every 25-30 years for reduced impact, and by 2018 the forest had regenerated into an  ecologically rich area  with  trees taller than 30 metres . But now, the forest is set to be cleared without the prospect of regeneration.

Pahang today is the most forested state in Peninsular Malaysia, but over the last decade, it has lost forest reserves of 15,565 ha. This project site, at nearly 8,500 hectares, is the largest forest reserve loss in Pahang in the last two decades. 

Continued loss of forest reserves in Pahang is not sustainable, says Balu Perumal, head of conservation at the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS). Although the state government approved YP Olio’s project with the condition that the forest lost will be replaced, Perumal “doesn’t see this happening at this stage”. 

The EIA report also estimates that over the next 30 years, YP Olio’s project would incur a net loss in environmental services of $9.5 million. This loss means that sales of timber and palm oil is insufficient to offset the cost of losing forest functions like carbon sequestration. 

“The state government should not have degazetted and given the forest for conversion in the first place,” said Perumal. MNS was invited by the Department of Environment to review the project.

The area sits between coastal peat swamp forest and interior wetland forest. 

“Losing this area to plantation and other unsustainable activities” will ruin the integrity of the forest landscape, says Perumal. He warns that cutting off space for large mammals to move and locking them into isolated forest patches would escalate conflict between wildlife and humans.

Recent surveys by environmental consultants found sun bears, gibbons, leopard cats, and the endangered tapirs in the forest. The site is believed to house endangered helmeted hornbills, while Omar says elephants live there too.

There are suggestions that tigers use or live in the project site too, with a recorded incident involving the animal occurring in the area in 2017, according to data cited in the EIA report. Ironically, one of YP Olio’s directors, Felix Danai Link, is associated with tiger conservation in Thailand. 

Link is also a director of Thailand-listed energy conglomerate B. Grimm Power PCL, and son to B. Grimm Power’s president, Harald Link – both of which have been  supporting WWF Thailand’s tiger conservation for seven years . Neither Felix nor Harald Link responded to the  Globe’s  inquiry.

We make our livelihood in the forest. Come lightning, storm, elephant or tiger, it doesn’t matter

But fundamentally, “the party that has betrayed the Orang Asli’s trust is the state government”, says Nicholas, the expert on Orang Asli matters. 

“Ultimately, we have to go to court … It will involve a lot of work, but legally, in terms of rights under the common law, they have a very good case,” said Nicholas, citing various precedents where the Malaysian courts have recognised the Orang Asli’s customary rights. 

“We make our livelihood in the forest. Come lightning, storm, elephant or tiger, it doesn’t matter,” said Rani. 

A dozen villagers gather around him and his son Omar raises one fist in the air.

“Now, what do the government and the big officers want? Have they no compassion or thought for us, the people in the forest?” said Rani. 

“We do not agree!” the villagers respond. “We protest the logging!” 

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Deforestation in Malaysia: Killing the lungs of our planet

Written by: Katlin Donnelly

Photo credit

As a home to such species rich and diverse environments Malaysia is also responsible for some of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world. Clearing of vegetated and forested land in Malaysia is predominately driven by the demand for palm oil cultivation and other agricultural developments, permanently changing the land use [1] and leading to a long list of implications on the local and global environment.

Deforestation is a key contributor to our world’s current environmental threats; the tropical regions of Malaysia and Indonesia occupy over 80% of Southeast Asia’s primary forests [2]. Malaysian forests are logged for commercial gain and most companies and government agendas have corrupt goals to maximise economic profits alone [3]. Tropical forests are hugely responsible for storing carbon dioxide which is released into the atmosphere when trees no longer photosynthesis and die. Therefore, without them CO 2 cannot be absorbed in exchange for oxygen and on a global scale this increases the CO 2 levels in the atmosphere [4]. The process of converting forested land exposes the world to exacerbated effects of greenhouse gas emissions along with other issues such as pollution and disruption to peat soils [2].

Malaysia is one of the biggest cultivators for palm oil, and the crop itself is increasingly becoming the most predominant equatorial crop [5]. The production of palm oil thrives in a climate such as the tropical conditions of Malaysia, so the land is exploited for plantations [2]. It requires intensive clearing of land and new plantations disrupt and remove habitats for native plant and animal species that cannot sustain life in environments that have been stripped of their rich species diversity. Figure 1 outlines the distribution of palm oil also highlighting the intensity of oil palm plantations as well as the density of endemic species in Malaysia which are both occurring in the same areas.

Figure 1: Global distributions of palm oil plantations, suitability environments and endemic species. Credit.

Malaysian forests hold some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems and species. At the equator terrestrial species richness is at its peak due to the prime conditions for complex ecosystems [6]. Simultaneously projections for the loss of biodiversity in Southeast Asia are showing extreme declines and extinctions due to loss of habitat. As a country that dominants in the palm oil industry in return its biodiversity suffers, and everyday more and more forested landscape is cleared to satisfy our population.

People are gradually starting to wake up to the realities of this destruction but solutions to the issue are seemingly difficult to implement. Increasing global demand that requires the unsustainable practice of deforestation leaves no room for our natural environment to persist. Malaysia is both guilty and a victim of this detrimental process, whilst it brings economic support for the country its impact on biodiversity loss and contribution to global warming begin to outweigh the positives of this industry. Efforts into conserving natural habitats alongside an industry that is so harmful to species is an urgent challenge to be overcome in saving our planets lungs.

References:

• Chakravarty, S., Ghosh, S.K., Suresh, C.P., Dey, A.N., Shukla, G. (2012). Deforestation: causes, effects and control strategies. Global perspectives on sustainable forest management. Retrieved from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/global- perspectives-on-sustainable-forest-management/deforestation-causes-effects-and-control-strategies
• Fitzherbert, E.B., Struebig, M.J., Morel, A., Danielsen, F., Bruhl, C.A., Donald, P.F., Phalan, B. (2008). How will palm oil expansion affect biodiversity? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 23(10), 538-545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2008.06.012
• Kummer, D.M., Turner, B.L. (1994). The human causes of deforestation in Southeast Asia. BioScience, 44(5), 323-328. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1312382
• Zhang, H., Henderson-Sellers, A. (1996). Impacts of tropical deforestation. Part I: Process analysis of local climate change. Journal of climate, 9(7), 1497-1517
• Koh, L.P., Wilcove, D.S. (2008). Is oil palm agriculture really destroying tropical biodiversity? Society for conservation biology, 1(2), 60-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00011.x
• Manokaran, N. An overview of biodiversity in Malaysia. Journal or tropical forest science , 5(2), 271-290. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43581030

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• DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-7158-5_11
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Deforestation in Malaysia: The Current Practice and the Way Forward

• A. Omran , Odile Schwarz-Herion
• Published in Sustaining our Environment… 2019
• Environmental Science
• Sustaining our Environment for Better Future

9 Citations

Utilization of remote sensing technology for carbon offset identification in malaysian forests, does trade openness cause deforestation a case study from indonesia, assessing the suitability of globeland30 for land cover mapping and sustainable development in malaysia using error matrix and unbiased area estimation, palm oil industries in malaysia and possible treatment technologies for palm oil mill effluent: a review, occupancy of wild southern pig-tailed macaques in intact and degraded forests in peninsular malaysia, the predicament of macaque conservation in malaysia, application of a hybrid cellular automaton-markov model in land use change detection and prediction in flood-prone area, johor, malaysia, agricultural habitat use affects infant survivorship in an endangered macaque species, adult literacy education and reduction of poverty in tanzania: a review of policies and their implementation, 39 references, exploring land use changes and the role of palm oil production in indonesia and malaysia, the causes of deforestation in developing countries, landslide hazards: household vulnerability, resilience and coping in malaysia, perspectives on five decades of the urban greening of singapore, addressing the threats to biodiversity from oil-palm agriculture, climate change and variability over malaysia: gaps in science and research information, the impacts of oil palm on recent deforestation and biodiversity loss, an overview of theoretical and empirical studies on deforestation, socio-economic, environmental, and governance impacts of illegal logging, illegal logging and related trade: indicators of the global response, related papers.

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WHERE WE REPORT

Excision: The Main Threat To Forests in Peninsular Malaysia

Deforestation in Malaysia: Gaps and Drivers

Drivers of forest loss in Malaysia are deeply rooted in the country’s legislation and in the lack of...

Decades ago, rampant logging looked set to decimate forests in Malaysia. That is no longer the case but a less familiar force is driving forest change – one over which state governments have full control. This is Part 2 of the Forest Files series.

The 1970s were the golden age of logging in Peninsular Malaysia, veteran loggers told Macaranga. Then the federal government came up with the National Forestry Policy in 1978 and the National Forestry Act in 1984 to promote sustainable forestry in the country.

As a result, most forests in Peninsular Malaysia were gradually reclassified as permanent reserve forests (PRFs).

PRFs serve primarily as renewable sources of timber and are managed by each state's forestry department according to sustainable practices.

These practices include logging only selected trees and resting forest blocs up to 30 years after logging.

I wanted to see evidence of such practices. So, in June, I followed a logger to his logging site in a PRF in Johor.

En route, we drove through a bloc of PRF on a muddy road not much wider than a jeep.

My logger guide explained that this bloc was last logged in the early 1970s – before sustainable logging was compulsory in PRFs – by operators who used light machinery, took only the most valuable timber and left much of the site untouched.

The undergrowth was dense and the trees tall. Although I did not see giant trees of the sort found in virgin forest, I did not see any signs of logging damage either.

What I saw suggests that sustainable forestry practices in Peninsular Malaysia can conserve forests, at least as far as the evidence of a few decades has shown.

It is too early to tell if sustainable forestry can conserve forests for perpetuity, as the National Forestry Policy envisions.

Most forest researchers and conservationists to whom Macaranga spoke agreed that rigorous sustainable logging methods in Malaysia can allow for logged forests to regenerate well.

Furthermore, there are third-party certification schemes that use market forces to promote sustainable forestry.

Throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) acts as the national governing body that oversees the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS).

The MTCC was established in 1998 and is a company limited by guarantee and independent of government.

Sustainability certificates

MTCC promotes the certification of forestry and timber products in Malaysia that meet international standards of sustainable practices.

In 2009, the MTCS was endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the largest forest certification programme worldwide.

Because the certificates grant access to premium markets like the European Union (EU), the scheme encourages sustainable forestry in Malaysia, conservationists and foresters told Macaranga .

For the last 4 years (2016 – 2019), timber exports to the EU fetched higher sales per volume than other regions. (Figure 1).

It appears then that within PRFs, a combination of legal and market forces can facilitate sustainable logging and conserve the forests.

What then of forests outside of PRFs?

There, the National Forestry Act does not apply. That means that outside of PRFs, forests can be legally clear-cut.

As of 2019, PRFs make up about 85.5% (4.9 million hectares) of forests in Peninsular Malaysia; protected parks (e.g., Taman Negara) and wildlife reserves make up another 10.3% (589,569 hectares).

The remaining 4.2% (240,968 hectares) of forest sits on state land for development purposes. (Figure 2)

This might indicate that most forests in Peninsular Malaysia are safe from unsustainable logging and clear-cutting.

But this is far from the reality because the PRF is a classification that can be stripped from or given to any piece of land at any time.

And only one party can do that – state governments.

Authority over land

In Malaysia, the Federal Constitution ( PDF link ) ) grants state governments sole authority over land.

The exceptions are the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, where land authority is vested in the federal government.

What’s more, excising an area from a PRF in Peninsular Malaysia involves just one simple step: the state government publishes the excision in a gazette, an official government notice.

Adding PRFs

Conversely, state governments can add areas to PRFs by the same process. In the peninsula, these procedures are outlined in the National Forestry Act .

State governments often excise or expand PRFs (Table 1).

PRF land could be excised and reclassified as state land or private land, neither of whose management needs to apply sustainable forestry principles. The opposite happens in PRF expansions.

To illustrate the possible consequences – environmental, economic, and social – of excising forests from PRFs, Macaranga examined the result of two recent PRF excisions in Johor.

Case Study: A 17,532 hectare excision in Johor

The Jemaluang PRF and the Tenggaroh PRF, gazetted in 1923 and 1951 respectively, sat along the northeastern coast of Johor.

In 2015, both PRFs amounting to 17,532 hectares, were excised by the Johor government.

The land was transferred into private ownership with agricultural status, according to environmental impact assessment (EIA) documents sighted by Macaranga .

At the time, all of Johor’s PRFs had the MTCS forest management certification.

The certification allows only a 5% limit on forest conversion. The excised Jemaluang and Tenggaroh PRFs had exceeded the threshold.

After the excision, the forest certification audit team concluded that the Johor State Forestry Department had failed to present specific evidence to explain the excision and showed no progress to correct the violation.

As a result, the auditing body suspended Johor’s forest management certification in January 2016.

Perfectly legal

To be clear, the excision of Jemaluang and Tenggaroh PRFs was legal and entirely within the rights of the Johor government.

But “certification isn’t about legality only, it’s about sustainability,” said Siti Syaliza Mustapha, senior manager of forest management at MTCC.

She added that excising forests would undermine the commitment for long-term management of forests and is clearly not sustainable.

State foresters

However, state-level forestry officers, whose job it is to oversee sustainable forestry practices in their respective states, including certification, are caught in the middle.

“The [state] forestry department had no control over [the excision],” said Siti. “They can’t do anything, and they are very upset that they lost the certificate.”

“It wasn’t because of them not complying [with] the requirement but it’s because the state decided to degazette beyond the allowed limit.”

How it works

Dato’ Lim Kee Leng, retired deputy Director-General of the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia, told Macaranga that state-level foresters are federal officers but seconded to state governments and notably, are paid by the latter.

Foresters advise their respective state governments on regulations related to sustainable forestry management.

Some officers told Macaranga that they would always try to dissuade state governments from excising forests. But when the state government insists on excision, the forestry office must accept it.

“The final decision [on PRF status] is still with the political masters,” said Lim. “[We] just advise and follow orders.”

Replacing PRFs

All is not necessarily lost though. When states excise any parts of a PRF, they should try to replace it with a similar area, according to the National Forestry Act.

However, this is not compulsory. Nor does the Act mention a time frame or quality of the replacement area.

When the Jemaluang and Tenggaroh PRFs were excised in 2015, the Johor government had a running list of more than 80,000 hectares of PRFs to be gazetted since 2007; by 2019, about 74,000 hectares remained on the list.

And since 2015, Johor has had a net loss of 7,000 hectares of PRFs.

Taken together, these numbers suggest that neither of the Jemaluang or Tenggaroh excisions have been replaced.

The current and past directors of the Johor state forestry department did not answer questions from Macaranga .

Datuk Khaled Nordin, who was Johor Menteri Besar between 2013 – 2018, told Macaranga that he does not remember the details of the excision and recommended we ask the current state government.

Plantations

So, what happened to the two excised PRFs? Their fate is clear from EIA documents and satellite images.

In Tenggaroh, at least 5,252 hectares were approved for an oil palm plantation run by Nadi Mesra Sdn Bhd and more than 900 hectares have been clear-cut since 2018.

As of August 2020, the same company is applying to develop oil palm on another 2,245.3 hectares in the same excised forest.

Oil palm has also replaced trees in the Jemaluang excised forest. As of January 2019, at least 2,000 hectares of forest were clear-cut and converted into a plantation run by AA Sawit Sdn Bhd. (Figure 3)

These cleared forests might have harboured large animals like elephants, tigers and tapirs, according to both sites’ EIA documents.

As a result of the excision and clear-cutting, residents in the nearby town of Jemaluang are now at their wits-end , with herds of up to 30 elephants roaming into town and damaging farms and plantations.

Some residents are asking for the cleared forests to be replanted.

Federal master plan

Aside from impacting local wildlife and communities, the excision and subsequent clearing of the Jemaluang PRF has also contradicted the federal government’s master plan for forest connectivity.

The National Physical Plan is the federal government’s highest-level directive for land use planning in the country.

In 2010, the National Physical Plan 2 introduced the Central Forest Spine, a strategy to conserve biodiversity and limit unsustainable development by connecting the largest remaining tracts of forests in Peninsular Malaysia (Map 1).

The former Jemaluang PRF was part of the Central Forest Spine master plan.

This master plan had identified an ecological corridor called ‘SL04’ which aimed to connect the forest complexes of Endau-Rompin and Jemaluang, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources told Macaranga in a written reply.

The Ministry, which oversees forestry, also said that the federal government through the Ministry continues to “engage closely with the state governments through various platforms in the management and conservation of our forest.”

Ramifications

But now, the Jemaluang PRF has been excised and almost half of it cleared and planted with oil palm.

What ramifications does this have on the Central Forest Spine, SL04 and the National Physical Plan?

Neither the Ministry nor Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia answered that question.

In the same basket

Other states have lost forest certifications too.

Kelantan lost its certification in 2016 due to the conversion of natural forests to forest plantations in ways that violated the certification.

Kedah lost its certification in 2019 , though the exact reason is not known because the public summary report of Kedah’s audit is not available yet.

Johor however, applied anew for the certification and was awarded it in July 2020 .

But this time, the certification only covered 285,293 hectares of PRFs in the state, a significant drop from the 321,841 hectares prior to 2015.

Economic consequences

It is not only forestry officers who are concerned about the loss of certification. The loss of certification hurts loggers too.

Amin Mokhtar, the Chairman of the Kedah Timber Association, told Macaranga that logs without certificates are sold at US$150 (RM420) less per tonne.

Siti, senior manager of forest management at the Malaysian Timber Certification Council, said after the three states lost their certificates, she has heard timber companies “complaining that costs have increased because they now have to source [logs] from other states with certification”.

Certification matters

She added that logging associations are “really pleading for us to help them to get their forests re-certified because they aren’t able to sell their [uncertified] timber.”

This was confirmed by Goh Chee Yew, Chairman of Malaysia Wood Industries Association , and the Malaysian Timber Association.

But “we are so powerless” in effecting change in forest management at the state level, said Goh, a 40-year timber industry veteran.

“In terms of regulation, we keep asking questions during dialogues with the forestry departments and state governments.”

“But because forest matters are all under the state government … it’s so complicated…[and] sensitive.”

Edited by SL Wong.

Next in Part 3: What drives the decision-making in land-use change?

This is the second of a four-part In-Depth Macaranga Forest Files feature on forest loss in Peninsular Malaysia. Read also Part 1: Forest loss—under whose watch?

Macaranga 's In-Depth series was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center’s Southeast Asia Rainforest Journalism Fund awarded to YH Law and SL Wong.

We thank the many foresters, researchers, timber trade stakeholders, lawmakers and citizens living near forests who helped us with our reporting. We also thank the six reviewers of an early draft of this series: Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, Chua Ern Teck, Nuradilla Mohamad Fauzi, Sharaad Kuttan, Theiva Lingam, and one who wishes to stay anonymous.

RELATED CONTENT

Forest loss: under whose watch.

November 30, 2020

November 27, 2020

Addressing The Impact Of Deforestation In Malaysia

There is a critical issue that affects Malaysia’s lush landscapes and biodiversity: deforestation . Malaysia’s rainforests play a vital role in providing a home to the diverse flora and fauna. With some of the world’s oldest rainforests like the Taman Negara Rainforests and Borneo Lowland Rainforest (divided between Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia), the forests are not just picturesque landscapes of our country but also crucial in maintaining global ecological balance.

Have you ever wondered about the far-reaching impact of deforestation?

The Brutality Of Deforestation In Malaysia

You need to understand the serious impact deforestation brings to Malaysia. Here are some of the effects:

1. Loss Of Biodiversity

Image via Pure Breaks

One of the most brutal effects of deforestation is the loss of biodiversity. As trees are felled to make way for development, habitats are destroyed, leading to the decline and extinction of numerous species.

Malaysian Wildlife stated that the species at risk now include the Orangutans, Asian Elephant, Malayan Tapir, and Malayan Tiger. According to an article by WWF Malaysia , there are fewer than 150 Malayan Tigers in Malaysia because their habitats are destroyed.

2. Temperature Rise

Image via South China Morning Post

We all know how hot the Malaysian weather can get especially during the mid-year. This is because deforestation has impacted the cooling process in our environment. Trees evaporate water into the atmosphere, which contributes to cooling. Our rainforest is actually our natural ‘air-conditioner’ and deforestation has impacted the environment’s cooling process, causing a temperature rise and leading to climate change .

3. Natural Disasters

Image via CNA

Deforestation is one of the main reasons for natural disasters in Malaysia, such as landslides and floods. The absence of tree roots makes the soil more susceptible to erosion which could lead to landslides or send heavy layers of sediments downstream, preventing rivers from flowing smoothly, which is why we always suffer from floods.

4. Displacement Of Indigenous Communities

Image via Eco-Business

Many indigenous communities in Malaysia have deep connections to the forests, relying on them for their livelihoods and cultural practices. Deforestation often leads to the displacement of these communities, disrupting their cultural identity and livelihoods.

A case study by Earth.org has shown that the Penan tribe in Borneo’s rainforest has been affected negatively due to deforestation for palm oil and timber plantations. This has caused them to no longer have access to traditional resources which has resulted in food poverty and a loss of cultural identity.

You can also read about the empowerment journey of our indigenous women that shines through The Asli Co .

5. Economic Impacts

Image via MarketWatch

While short-term economic gains may be achieved through deforestation for logging or agriculture, the long-term consequences can be detrimental. Deforestation may continue to impact industries such as agriculture and tourism in Malaysia.

The impact of deforestation in Malaysia becomes evident, and the consequences are far-reaching and affect us all. By understanding these effects, we can advocate for sustainable practices , conservation efforts, and policies that preserve our invaluable forests. After all, the forest has always been taking care of us, so it is time to return the gratitude!

Next, you can read about 1 Utama’s Feed-The-Fish charity initiative to combat illegal wildlife trafficking .

Thurgahshiny Gunasegaran

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Causes & Impacts of Deforestation ( AQA GCSE Geography )

Revision note.

Geography Lead

Causes & Impacts of Deforestation

• There are six main human causes of deforestation
• The frequency and severity of wildfires have increased this is linked to human induced climate change

Human causes of deforestation

It is important to remember that deforestation is often the result of a combination of factors which are linked together rather than any one cause. For example, the growth of settlements also leads to more land being cleared for agriculture to support the people in the settlements.

Impacts of deforestation

• Areas that have been deforested are planted with monoculture which reduces biodiversity
• Interception and infiltration decrease which reduces evapotranspiration and as a result precipitation decreases
• This also increases overland flow which leads to soil erosion and sedimentation of the rivers
• Sediment builds up on riverbeds reducing their capacity and increasing the flood risk
• Lack of interception increases the leaching of nutrients
• Fewer trees increase the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere adding to the enhanced greenhouse effect
• Soils become less fertile and drier
• They may turn reddish brown due to increased iron oxide

Environmental impacts of deforestation

Impact on the nutrient cycle

• The majority of nutrients in the tropical rainforest are held in the biomass 
• When trees and vegetation are cleared by deforestation the main store of nutrients is removed 

Effect of deforestation on the nutrient cycle

Social impacts of deforestation

• Indigenous communities have less land to sustain their traditional way of life this means:
• Land does not get the opportunity to recover
• Less food available 
• Improved quality of life for some people due to increased income and jobs
• Indigenous communities may give up their way of life leading to a loss of culture and traditions
• Increased risk of landslides which can destroy homes and block roads
• Loss of potential medicines 
• Increased risk of flooding settlements

Economic impacts of deforestation

• More jobs available in mining, forestry, agriculture and HEP
• Increased income for the country through the export of goods from the forest - minerals, timber, crops
• Almost a quarter of Brazil's GDP comes from activities in the deforested areas of the Amazon

Worked example

Give one effect of deforestation on the soils of the rainforest..

• They become less fertile [1]
• They become drier as they more exposed to the wind [1]
• They are eroded/washed away (as tree roots no longer hold the soil in place)  [1]
• They lose their nutrients/ heavy rain leads to leaching  [1]
• They turn red/may have a reddish colour due to the presence of iron oxide [1]

Case Study: Malaysia

• Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia

Map showing location of Malaysia in southeast Asia

• Almost 70% of the land is covered by tropical rainforest

Deforestation in Malaysia

• It is estimated that Malaysia has the fastest rate of deforestation in the world
• Since 2000 an average of over 140,000 hectares of forest has been felled and cleared each year
• Malaysia is the largest exporter of tropical hardwoods
• Although Malaysia has environmental protection policies there is still evidence of illegal logging in areas of Borneo
• Selective logging is the dominant type of logging but this requires road construction and settlements which result in deforestation
• The construction of dams to provide Hydroelectric power results in the flooding of large areas of forest
• The Bakun Dam will result in 700 km 2  of land being underwater in Sarawak, Malaysia
• Tin mines are widespread and require deforestation for the mine itself but also for road construction 
• An iron ore mine planned for the Som Forest Reserve will result in the deforestation of over 60 hectares
• There is also drilling for oil and gas
• Malaysia exports over 30% of the world's palm oil and is the second largest producer
• Many palm oil processes now adopting a zero-deforestation policy so that they do not buy palm oil from deforested areas. However,  Clear felling permits  are sometimes used in Malaysia to clear land and then sometime later another company will plant palm oil
• This led to the deforestation of approximately 15,000 hectares of rainforest
• This can sometimes involve slash and burn where areas are cleared using fires - these can sometimes get out of control and destroy large areas of rainforest

Effects of deforestation

• Without the tree roots to bind the soil, the soil is more easily eroded by wind and rain
• Exposed soil is more vulnerable to the leaching of nutrients and the soil becomes less fertile
• Habitats are destroyed and the ecosystem is affected by deforestation so the variety of plants and animals decreases
• Oil Palm plantations lead to a 35% reduction in species
• Orangutans, pygmy elephants, Sumatran Rhino and Malayan tigers are all endangered
• Reduced transpiration and evaporation lead to a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperatures
• Rainfall patterns become less reliable and more extreme
• Felling of the trees leads to a decrease in the absorption of carbon dioxide 
• Increases carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and as this is a greenhouse gas this increases human induced climate change
• Use of fire for clearance also increases carbon dioxide emissions
• Indigenous communities such as the Orang Asli and Temiar have been forced off the land 
• This has reduced the available food sources
• In Kuala Koh village in 2019 at least 15 indigenous Batek died after an outbreak of disease possibly transmitted by loggers working near the village

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Author: Bridgette

After graduating with a degree in Geography, Bridgette completed a PGCE over 25 years ago. She later gained an MA Learning, Technology and Education from the University of Nottingham focussing on online learning. At a time when the study of geography has never been more important, Bridgette is passionate about creating content which supports students in achieving their potential in geography and builds their confidence.