Citing climate crisis, Abim calls for blanket moratorium on logging activities

 

The Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) has called on Putrajaya to issue a blanket moratorium on all logging activities as part of its proposed long-term solution for major issues including massive annual floods.

Abim president Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz said rampant logging and deforestation are the main causes of climate change which, in turn, triggers unpredictable weather patterns.

"Abim firmly views that major floods that repeatedly happen are partly due to climate change.

"This situation leads to unpredictable rainfall, at any given time, and can cause major flooding, when flood mitigation measures cannot function properly," said Faisal, who is also coordinator for the Malaysian Interfaith Climate Change Network, in a statement today.

Faisal pointed out that forests are the cheapest and most effective method in dealing with the issue of climate change, trapping carbon dioxide, a gas that causes climate change.

Rather than sanction more logging activities, Faisal said the government should instead push for protection and expansion of existing forest areas.

"Abim firmly views that it is timely for the government to issue a moratorium order to put a stop to all logging activities as a concrete solution to these disasters which ultimately have burdened the people.

"Given the current situation the world is facing including Malaysia, where we have entered into the phase of a climate emergency, immediate action must be taken to tackle this problem," he stressed.

 Faisal also referred to a recent announcement by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali stating that logging activities are allowed to resume during the period of movement control order (MCO).

He said Abim believes the latest development runs contrary to the explanation given by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that the advice to Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the emergency proclamation was made to find solutions for major national issues, namely the Covid-19 pandemic and massive floodings.

Aside from environmental impact, Faisal said loss of wildlife habitat from deforestation is also an added risk for Covid-19 transmission, citing a finding by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) pharmacologist associate professor Dr Vellayan Subramaniam that Covid-19 falls within the category of "zoonotic diseases".

He said the loss of habitat has led to more frequent contacts with humans, triggering stress response in the animals.

"When animals get stressed, they start to shed or expel the harmful viruses or bacteria in their bodies and [this can] affect human lives.

"Therefore, in the long run, logging activities and the disappearance of forests have a direct relation with the catastrophe that we are facing now, that is, the outbreak of a virus which has affected our lives," he said.

In announcing Putrajaya's decision last week, Khairuddin said permission for the forestry and timber sector, as well as its chains, would enable contribution to the country's economic growth even while under MCO. - Mkini