SUNGAI Lembing in Pahang is dying at the hands of greedy loggers. In its exclusive report yesterday, the New Straits Times likened the haphazard logging activity to “a time bomb”. Sadly, there have been other “Sungai Lembings” elsewhere in Malaysia. Our ecosystem takes eons to grow, but our loggers and other deforesters take minutes to kill it. According to World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch (GFWM), Pahang had 1.67 million ha of natural forest, extending over 72 per cent of its land area in 2001. Last year, the state lost 71,100 ha of natural forest. GFWM estimates that from 2001 to last year, the state lost 989,000ha of tree cover, equivalent to a 30 per cent decrease since 2000, and 108 million tonnes of CO² emissions. Four regions in Pahang — Rompin, Pekan, Bera and Maran — lost 54 per cent of tree cover between 2001 and last year. This is not a problem peculiar to Pahang. Seven other states — Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Kelantan, Selangor, Kedah and Sarawak — have suffered a similar fate. On a national scale, our days are numbered too. GFWM says Malaysia had 16.9 million ha of natural forest in 2010. Last year alone, it lost 479,000ha of natural forest, equivalent to 52 million tonnes of CO² emissions. In the estimation of GFWM, Malaysia’s tree cover loss from 2001 to 2017 was 7.29 million ha, equivalent to a 25 per cent decrease since 2000, and 784 million tonnes of CO² of emissions.
The dismal data point to nothing less than a national neglect. We, as a nation, seem to care very little for our ecosystem. Trees, insects, birds and other living things matter very little, it seems. Perhaps we need a reminder. At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, Malaysia pledged that it will maintain 50 per cent of its land area (330,712sq km or 33 million ha) as forest cover, an area equivalent to 16.5 million ha. We have been reaffirming the pledge in many subsequent summits. According to Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)’s calculation, the 50 per cent of forest cover of the three regions in Malaysia would be 6.63 million ha for Peninsular Malaysia, 3.68 million ha for Sabah and 6.22 million ha for Sarawak.Would Malaysia be able to meet this target? Not in the view of SAM. Reason? Already in 2014, Peninsular Malaysia had only 5.8 million ha of forest cover left.
Like the muddy waters of many rivers before, the murky waters of the rivers in Sungai Lembing are telling us that the greedy intentions of the loggers and other deforesters will pose a great challenge to Malaysia’s Rio Summit pledge. Unless, of course, the federal and state governments practise what they preach. If we truly believe in sustainability — meeting the needs of our generation without compromising the needs of our future generations — we will do our all to put a stop to uncontrolled logging. And deforestation, generally. Malaysia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world with more than 2,000 endemic species. Uncontrolled logging has killed some of them. Many more are threatened with extinction. We may be the next.