FOR years, scientists have been trying to warn us that deforestation will unleash infectious diseases onto human populations. International travel then helps some of these diseases spread, damaging human health and economies significantly.
The act of rapid forest clearing, even without the hunting and poaching of wildlife that usually accompanies encroachment into forests, is enough to trigger chains of events that create the right conditions for deadly infectious diseases to spread to domestic animals and nearby human populations.
The Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases has documented the steep increase in malaria cases in areas in East Malaysia where forested land has been cleared for agriculture. Mosquitoes and other pathogens proliferate in forest edges where the boundaries between human habitation and forested areas become blurred, and primates and other disease carriers wander into human habitation.
The Nipah virus outbreak in 1999 was caused by rampant deforestation in Indonesia which resulted in fruit bats losing their forest habitat and venturing into farms in Malaysia, where they inadvertently spread the virus to pigs, which then jumped species to humans.
HIV is believed to have arisen from the hunting of primates in central African forests. Ebola has been associated with hunting in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
This does not mean that we need to clear forests and kill wildlife in order to eradicate diseases. Many of these viruses exist harmlessly with their forest-dwelling host animals because the animals have co-evolved with these viruses.
It is human activity that make humans unwitting hosts for these viruses and other pathogens. To protect national and global biosecurity, it is imperative that we protect our forests and keep forests intact. Intact forests protect watersheds and water quality, are more resistant to fire and drought, regulate climate and weather patterns, provide habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna, and prevent wild species from crossing into human habitation and spreading both known and new diseases to domestic animals and humans.
Intact forests absorb approximately 25 per cent of the world’s human-generated carbon emissions and sequester far more carbon than logged, degraded, or planted forests.
Can we keep on bearing the loss of human lives and increased healthcare costs arising from forest loss and declining air quality?
The testing, screening and treating of individuals for Covid-19 in Malaysia have not been disclosed yet, but we can assume it is tremendous, not to mention economic stimulus packages and financial aid for vulnerable groups.
Can Malaysia bear the healthcare and socio-economic costs of managing and mitigating future zoonotic outbreaks arising from deforestation and human-wildlife interactions? The answer is no, yet the continued destruction of Malaysia’s tropical rainforests and natural environment indicates that we have not learned our lesson.
Even as the nation is reeling from the shock of Covid-19, the Selangor government has decided to proceed with the degazettement of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve.
As a propitiatory gesture, the Selangor Menteri Besar has offered to replace the degazetted area with a “bigger area” in Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, and Hulu Selangor as a substitute forest reserve.
This is problematic, as the biodiversity and complexity of natural forests and the ecosystem services they provide cannot be replicated or replaced so easily. We are rapidly losing forested areas to agriculture and development, and states will run out of suitable sites to gazette as replacement forest reserves.
Science News and Global Biodefense have already identified Malaysia as the next ground zero for malaria infections. Global disease surveillance network USAID Predict had in 2017 identified at least 48 new viruses in Malaysian rainforest species, and only time will tell which of these viruses will be the next to jump species to humans.
If we don’t halt deforestation and protect our natural forests fast, prepare to face the next zoonotic outbreak, and the ones after, that will arise from our callous disregard for the environment.
WONG EE LYNN
Petaling Jaya, Selangor