Ravaged by mining and logging, Perak forest now threatened by farming

 

A forest reserve in Perak, which is part of a key wildlife corridor in Peninsular Malaysia, is now being threatened by plans to develop monoculture farming there.

Last week, Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said three companies had received permits to develop 400 hectares in the Piah Forest Reserve, pending environmental impact assessments.

Environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) said monoculture farming will be yet another blow to the forest reserve in Lenggong which has already been ravaged by mining and logging activities.

The permits have been issued despite the reserve being part of the Central Forest Spine - a network of four main forest complexes which supplies 80 percent of the water supply in Malaysia and is a habitat to various endangered wildlife such as the Malayan tiger.

SAM advisor Meor Razak Meor Abdul Rahman said that although the law permits parts of forest reserves to be used for agriculture, mining, and logging, those activities can have an irreversible impact on the environment.

“All parties should know that when a forest complex, especially one that is protected and has “security of tenure”, is exploited through logging and other damaging activities, the forest’s functions will be affected.

“This means the goals of forest management, which is the core of national resource management, too will be affected,” he said.

Most of Piah Forest Reserve can be logged or mined

According to the National Forestry Act, forest reserves can be classified for different usages, including for “production” under which forest products like timber and minerals can be legally harvested. Parts of the forest reserve can also be used for agricultural purposes.

Meor said that out of the Piah Forest Reserve’s 72,190.46 hectares, only 17,107 hectares (23 percent) are gazetted as catchment areas.

The remaining are classified as “production” forest, including parts which were previously classified as virgin jungle reserve.

Meor Razak Meor Abdul Rahman

“Within the 55,083.46 hectares classified for “timber production forest under sustained yield”, parts are already and will be exploited for monoculture farming and quarries,” he said.

Monoculture farming, such as the mass planting of fruit trees including the popular musang king, has previously been blamed for the obliteration of biodiversity in forest complexes in Kelantan.

“When a forest ceases to be a permanent reserve, and a reserve then becomes a monoculture farm, the original forest cover would be completely logged.

“This logging is not controlled by sustainable forest management principles, the Semenanjung Malaysia Annual Allowable Cut for Permanent Reserved Forest, or the Malaysia Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management,” he said.

This means that, although a portion of the forest reserve is still considered a "forest" on paper, it no longer functions as one - it no longer performs a forest's functions such as being a carbon sink, a water catchment, and a wildlife corridor.

Monoculture plantations within forests can also cause wildlife to search elsewhere for food and shelter, causing them to venture onto highways or areas populated by humans, leading to human-wildlife conflict.

Besides Perak and Kelantan, Pahang, Kedah and Terengganu are also looking at using its forest reserves for monoculture farming.

“The authorities should manage the Piah Forest Reserve sustainably by maintaining its current coverage so we can all enjoy the direct or indirect bounty and services provided by this forest,” Meor said.

He said the Piah Forest Reserve is especially important because it is home to wildlife that migrated from the neighbouring, and now defunct, Chior Wildlife Reserve, the country’s first-ever wildlife reserve established in 1903.

The Piah Forest Reserve is also a connecting path between various forest complexes in the peninsular which forms the main wildlife corridor in Peninsular Malaysia, he said.

They include the Air Cepam, Temenggor, and Korbu reserves in Perak, and the Perias forest reserve in Kelantan.

These are homes to some of the world’s most endangered animals, including Asian elephants, sun bears, tapirs, and tigers. - Mkini