THIS past week, Malaysians, especially Sabahans, were rudely awakened by a big fat surprise. Sabah’s Conservator of Forests was allegedly the main man in plundering the very rainforests he was supposed to protect. God forbid these allegations are true! This would be another classic case of “harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi”, or as the idiom’s modern version would aptly state, “harapkan tin, tin makan biskut”.

When will this ever come to an end? News about rapes of our rainforests have been coming more frequently, not just from the timber-rich Bornean states of Sabah and Sarawak, but also peninsular Malaysia. Kelantan of late has seemed to join in the fracas more aggressively as well.

Often fury and protests over the bared “molestations” are short-lived. As soon as the dust settles, the matter is quickly forgotten. As we are oblivious to what happens next, our rainforests continue to disappear at alarming rates. Once in a while, we are rudely reminded of such irresponsible acts committed by state governments and the logging industry when adverse impacts ensue. These are usually in the more direct and observable forms of flash floods or heavy siltation of rivers. Invariably, usual protestations of anger fill the newspapers again, only to be quickly consumed by time.

Why is this so? Besides being an academic and a scientist, I’ve also been wearing the hat of an environmentalist since I was in UKM Sabah in the 80’s. I’d like to think I have the answer to the nagging question of why deforestation is showing no sign of slowing down in this country.

It is ignorance and, henceforth, indifference on the part of our politicians, industry leaders, stakeholders, and the public at large. They are simply not informed enough to realise the adverse consequences of deforestation. They have not the faintest inkling of what deforestation is all about.  How could cutting trees way deep in the pristine jungles bring ill effects to their daily lives?

The community leaders and kampung folks would give me puzzled looks and ask: how would deforestation cause devastating flash floods and turn rivers the colour of teh tarik, but at the same time bring less rain to their villages and possibly even cause severe drought? That sounds incongruous, doesn’t it? Politicians and industry leaders casually shrug their shoulders and question how would our oil palm plantations be responsible for global climate change. How can saving insects and other animals in the forests result in the dwindling of our rich natural resources? How could biodiversity have anything to do with our ultimate survival on this planet Earth? Head-scratching moments even for experts in the field. These constitute basic information that need to be understood with absolute clarity by all Malaysians before we can even place any hope of putting a lid on the senseless rape of our precious rainforests.

But where do we start this awareness campaign? As it stands now, we have three separate ministries that can effectively play their respective roles: The Primary Industries Ministry under Teresa Kok Suh Sim, the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry under Xavier Jayakumar, and the Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Ministry under Yeo Bee Yin. Each of these ministries has its part to play in educating and spreading scientifically correct messages about deforestation. We need to deliberately sensitise stakeholders, especially who bear the brunt of deforestation. The ills and adverse consequences of clearing our rainforests must be comprehensively and effectively relayed to the masses from every perspective; both locally with respect to environmental, health, agricultural, social, cultural, economic consequences, as well as globally with respect to climate change, global warming, and biodiversity loss.

Today, deforestation around us and our Asean neighbours is colossal and real. Recent analysis of satellite image data revealed deforestation in Southeast Asia is greater than previously recorded. Between 2000 and 2014, it was estimated Southeast Asia lost 293,000 sq km of forests. That’s an area the size of Italy.

To the Primary Industries Ministry, several very basic questions need to be addressed immediately. How much is our rainforest worth? Would it be good enough to simply count the number of trees and identify the species so that we can figure out how much they are worth sold as timber? That would be a good approach traditionally. But a forest is worth much more than the timber it holds. It provides unique habitats for a host of wildlife species. Forests filter and store water before draining them to rivers or forming clouds in the sky. These are non-tangible ecological benefits that forests provide not in absolute monetary terms. Socially and culturally, forests provide recreational benefits where we can understand, appreciate and learn from Mother Nature. Prudently exploited, Malaysia’s pristine rainforests can hugely benefit our economy from being  promoted as ecotourism destinations. All the above considered and articulately factored in, are we then at that juncture to still believe in striking a balance between conservation and exploitation of our rainforests? That would be a million dollar question for the Primary Industries Ministry today.

Under the Pakatan Harapan government, a new federal office dedicated to look at climate change issues has also been formed under the Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change, and Environment Ministry. Kudos to this expression of local sensitivity to a global concern. But how we strategically tackle this portfolio is important, I think.

First and foremost, Malaysia needs to constantly assess its forest land-cover so that we can make wise decisions on contributing with respect to carbon storage, biomass, biodiversity and, land degradation. An accurate estimation of forest cover is critical to keep track of the impact of human activities on climate change. This requires an accurate estimate of our carbon stock at all times. Failing to do this, we will never know how we, as a small nation, are contributing to the climate change agenda at the global scale. This, in my view, is crucial. Without such information, Malaysia will forever be a scapegoat as one of the major contributors to climate change and global warming. Currently, developed nations seem bent on using this as the raison d’être for boycotting our palm oil in the international market. It’s hurting our economy.

On the role of rainforests in global warming, the general public must be able to appreciate the science of this phenomenon. They must understand the fact that rainforests absorb atmospheric carbon, and burning forests contribute carbon to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. The science is clear on how carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases cause global warming. The public needs to be assured that global warming is real. Creative means to get these messages across need to come their way through the media and community programmes.

Although monocrop plantations like rubber and oil palm do absorb atmospheric carbon and are thus able to substantially maintain our carbon stock, they don’t support the high biodiversity of a tropical forest ecosystem. Our vast areas of oil palm plantations all over the land now simply lack the complex structure and diversity of a tropical rainforest.

Malaysia’s biodiversity would fall under the jurisdiction of the Water, Land, and Natural Resources Ministry. Addressing the loss of biodiversity from deforestation should be of paramount concern. In recent years, news on our TV channels have been jam-packed with devastating forest fires, deadly heat waves, and violent hurricanes that ravage the planet. Climate change has been the primary cause of these catastrophes, which also seem to be occurring more frequently and ruthlessly.

These upheavals, caused by global warming and climate change, seem to grab our attention at the expense of our neglecting the biodiversity issues caused by deforestation. David Suzuki, a prominent scientist and author, regards species loss as a silent epidemic. Of the species we know exist on planet Earth, about 17,000 plant and animal species are facing extinction. Malaysia is one of 12 megadiverse countries in the world. An estimated 1,500 species of terrestrial vertebrates alone are found in our country. They occur in unusually high densities in huge tracts of our pristine rainforests, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak. As high as 14% of Malaysia’s mammals are listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as endangered.

Sadly, our abysmal response to rein in deforestation activities to curb biodiversity loss has been pathetic. This is unacceptable. Some of our most beautiful and charismatic species like Malayan tigers, Malayan tapirs, orangutans, Borneo pygmy elephants, sumatran rhinoceroses, proboscis monkeys, and sunda pangolins have been steadily pushed to the brink of extinction.

The public at large needs to understand that deforestation also affects them closer to home. Within their rural settings, deforestation results in steeper hill slopes devoid of vegetation cover. This accelerates the risks of soil erosion turning their rivers heavily silted and muddy. Denuded slopes caused by deforestation also negatively affect soil retention.

Therefore, not only does deforestation reduce water quality and quantity in the surrounding villages, but it also results in the loss of fertile topsoils much needed for productive planting and agriculture.  Furthermore, rainfalls also accelerates runoff of agricultural fertilisers, herbicides, and pesticides from these slopes, polluting rivers with chemicals toxic to aquatic life.

Since the beginning of human civilisation, people have been felling 15 billion trees each year to meet their needs and wants. On the global scale, 46% of the total three trillion trees have been cut. But forests are important to humans, not just for their products, but also for their ability to maintain biodiversity, store carbon, preserve water quality, and perform other ecosystem services. As much as 45% of the carbon stored on land are in the forests. We Malaysian have been clearing our forests for monocrop plantations since time immemorial. But it has never been at the rate we have been clearing our forests for the oil palm industry in the last five decades.

Perhaps it is timely and worthwhile to remind Malaysians that human civilisation has always started with the first tree cut and ended with the very last tree down. Just equally as important is to keep reminding ourselves that every organism that devours more resources than can be restored eventually starves one day.

Once Malaysian stakeholders are sufficiently sensitised about issues deliberated above, their cries of protest against deforestation will be loud and long. The voices of the rural folks echoing from the deep valleys and steep terrains of the magnificent Crocker Range of Sabah wo;; be duly heard by the policymakers of Putrajaya. We will not again be jolted out of our slumber by news of rape and plunder of our rainforests by the people who are supposed to be protecting them. Good luck, new Malaysia. – August 10, 2018.

* Dr Ghazally Ismail is a retired vice-chancellor and academic.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.