Stop Illegal logging once and for all to minimise the occurrence of landslides and floods

The increased frequency of landslides and floods has had a devastating toll on lives, livelihoods and the environment.

While struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, society still has to deal with unexpected losses from environmental disasters.

During the current northeast monsoon period, the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) revealed that Malaysia experienced 133 landslide incidents in total.

As of Dec 31, 2021, Selangor recorded the most number of landslides (55 cases) followed by Pahang (42), Negeri Sembilan (17), Kuala Lumpur (eight), Sarawak (six) and Terengganu (three). In that same period, Melaka and Sabah have recorded one landslide incident, respectively.

In addition, eight Malaysian states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, Pahang, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Sabah – have been facing some of the worst flooding in living memory.

From the deadly incidents such as the Tambun landslide, flood in Yan district and the ongoing flooding in the various states, the adverse effects of climate change – more extreme weather patterns than usual – are becoming more real and concerning.

Some might wonder: Why have more thunderstorms, heavy rainfalls, landslides and floods, for instance, been happening during recent years?

Illegal logging disrupts the ecosystem

Aside from rising temperature, the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events is associated with the human activity of illegal logging, which eventually disrupts the whole ecosystem of how nature works.

Illegal logging exists when timber is harvested, transported, processed, bought or sold in violation of national or sub-national laws. It can also happen when forests convert into agricultural plantations such as oil palm and rubber.

However, when companies prioritise profit over the environment, they would continuously cut down more trees to meet the increasing demand for timber, paper and derivative products, including packaging.

When individuals or for-profit corporations convert more natural forest areas into human land use, more carbon dioxide will be released back into the atmosphere. Subsequently, it would lead to excessive greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, contributing to a rise in the global average temperature of about 1.1° Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

Rise in temperature in urban areas

Such a phenomenon is not new in Malaysia. The Think City’s land temperature study indicated in March 2021 that a rise in temperature in urban areas is associated with the phenomenon of urban heat island (UHI), the lack of greenery and global warming.

As a result, five cities in Malaysia such as Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Bayan Lepas and George Town recorded higher temperatures of between 1.64° Celsius and 6.75° Celsius over the last few decades.

Ipoh was among the five cities witnessing the highest temperature increase of 6.75°C within 21 years between November 1998 and March 2019. Johor Bahru recorded a peak temperature increase of 6.70°C in 13 years between May 2005 and May 2018.

In addition, Bayan Lepas and George Town saw a temperature rise of 5.63°C and 6.37°C, respectively, between February 1988 and February 2020. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur recorded a peak temperature increase of only 1.64°C over 30 years between December 1989 and October 2019.

Tree cover loss

Under Budget 2022, the aim is to plant 20 million trees a year under the 100-million Tree Planting Campaign. Nonetheless, it is arguable that this is still not adequate to compensate for the tree cover loss over the past few decades.

According to the Global Forest Watch, Malaysia has lost 8.39 million hectares (Mha) of tree cover from 2001 to 2020 – equivalent to a 29% decrease in tree cover since 2000 and 4.82Gt of CO₂e (equivalent) emissions.

Comparing among the Malaysian states, Sarawak had the most tree cover loss, at 3.04 Mha, followed by Sabah (1.67 Mha) and Pahang (1.15 Mha) between 2001 and 2020.

While logging companies enjoy high-powered support from and privileged access to the state governments so as to obtain lucrative earnings from chopping down more trees, this comes at the expense of disrupting the basic/economic livelihoods of the Orang Asli in the interior who are highly dependent on the forest for their survival.

Moreover, even fast-growing trees will take at least three years to mature while other species require eight years or more.

As the tree planting effort takes time, a reduction in tree cover ultimately would increase the likelihood of surface water runoff, soil erosion, and a rise in river and sea levels – leaving communities staying in low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding. The loss of trees also would cause the sloped lands to be more prone to landslides.

When a large amount of debris from trees, shrubs and wood waste flows to the downstream rivers, it would eventually destruct the natural habitats and biodiversity in the years to come.

EMIR Research would like to propose the following policy recommendations: