1MALAYSIA -MENTERI KELENTONG LAGI !

Natural forest cover figures suspect

IN a recent report, Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin denied claims by some international NGOs that Malaysia is destroying its natural forests to plant oil palm. He also asserted that 60 % of Malaysia was covered by natural forests.

These are incredulous claims. According to the book, Deforesting Malaysia, by Jomo K. S., Chang Y. T. and Khoo K. J., only 56% of Malaysia was covered by natural forests in 1991. Since then, there has been rampant destruction of natural forests for conversion to commodity crops, for hydro-electric and water supply dam-building projects and other types of land development. In addition, logging activities have degraded our forests.

Once a tropical forest is destroyed it takes millions of years for comparable biodiversity to evolve again. In 2008, Malaysia gained new notoriety around the world when it emerged as the country with the third longest list of plants and animals threatened with extinction in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red Alert of Threatened Species.

I beseech the deputy minister to tell Malaysians and the world by what magic has Malaysia been able to destroy her forests so aggressively on the one hand and on the other hand increase its reported cover of natural forests year by year?

JC Tansen Petaling Jaya
Updated: 10:32AM Wed, 19 Aug 2009

From :The Sun