TANJUNG BUNGAH, Aug 9 — The vanishing hills of Tanjung Bungah, Penang, as highlighted by Malay Mail yesterday, are among the many instances where nature is being sacrificed in the name of development.
While open spaces and fields in Kuala Lumpur have been taken over for other activities for decades, illegal logging and excessive land clearing have continued in several parts of the country including Perak, Pahang, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak.
The clearing of land in Cameron Highlands resulted in a massive mudslide that destroyed houses and claimed lives last December. Flooding caused by heavy rains the same month forced the evacuation of some 200,000 in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. Transportation was disrupted with areas cut off, forcing rescues by helicopters and boats. More than 20 people were killed.
According to WWF-Malaysia, the lower Kinabatangan floodplains in Sabah have been reduced to scattered pieces while endangered animals such as elephants have lost their natural homes. Flooding has also intensified.
Even the iconic Malayan tiger will soon be extinct following land-clearing and poaching.
Yet, it remains to be seen what proactive measures have been taken to ensure such episodes will not recur.
Rampant logging at the Gunung Besout forest reserve in Sungkai, Perak, and transporting of bauxite in Pahang that has led to massive air pollution, were among issues highlighted by activists in recent days. Many more remain unreported.
The United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation website said Malaysia’s deforestation rate was accelerating faster than that of any other tropical country in the world.
It said that between 1990 and 2010, Malaysia lost an average of 96,000ha or 0.43 per cent per year, or 8.6 per cent of its forest cover, or about 1,920,000ha in total.
“Apart from deforestation, the remaining forests face threats from unsustain-able logging, illegal removal of forest products and encroachment,” it said.
