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By Himanshu Bhatt.
NESTLED in a northern corner of peninsular Malaysia lies a verdant rainforest which protects scores of rare, endangered wildlife. The Ulu Muda forest in Kedah is also a critical source of survival for human populations in the region.
WWF Malaysia recently met the Kedah government to express concern about the status of the forest, which covers some 160,000ha of water catchments that provide water for millions of people. As much as 96% of Kedah’s water supply and 80% of Penang’s supply are derived from the Muda River from the forest.
In June 2008, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak stunned many quarters when he announced the state government’s plan to log Ulu Muda. He reasoned that the area was commercially worth more than RM16 billion, and the timber industry should therefore be allowed to exploit the forest. So the state approved logging at the sensitive Pedu, Muda and Ahning dam catchment areas. After being approached by WWF Malaysia, the state government has proposed that some 20,000ha be gazetted. But such a small size is hardly adequate to ensure water security, particularly for the northern states. What is ironic about this whole affair is that Kedah itself would suffer badly if its government went ahead with logging plans around its water catchment reserves. These areas are the main source of water supply to Kedah’s agriculture which contributes to 40% of the total rice production of the country. Water-resource experts and NGOs had warned that logging in the earmarked area would not only drastically affect water supply, irrigation and power, but also raise the temperatures in the whole region. According to Prof Chan Ngai Weng of Water Watch Penang, the Kedah forests act like a sponge soaking up between 30% and 70% of rainfall. Any logging would not only pollute water resources, but also increase water quantity due to lesser vegetation and trees to retain rain. The consequence of this would be increased downstream flooding. What the forest also does is to act as a "carbon sink" in that the trees, plants and soil store carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere. "When these forests are gone, there will be localised warming of temperature which will add to global warming," Chan said. It is no wonder then that, heeding good advice, the federal cabinet rejected a proposal to log the forest some years ago after studies were carried out when the previous government in Kedah made such plans. As it is, there was some alarm in February last year when the level of the Muda River plunged from 2.51m to 2.18m. The situation was of such concern that the Penang authorities were considering water rationing. They have now imposed a water surcharge to penalise consumers who use water above a certain limit. There have been many other warnings that water supply in the northern part of peninsular Malaysia may soon face depletion. There are signs that acute water shortage may be felt within the next five years if the consumption trend is left unchecked. But the crisis is much larger in scale. It is not just the Ulu Muda and its surroundings that are at risk. More than half of the forests in Malaysia have yet to be classified in any legal category for protection under the National Forestry Act 1984. This means that they can be exploited for logging and commercial activities that would adversely affect the environment and the people who depend on their water catchments. If these forests are not placed in any of the 12 categories for protection, they are by default considered "production forests" which can be logged or subjected to development projects. Should a government ignore all these facts and appeals, and go ahead to allow development and logging in our sensitive forests what we would all end up seeing would be nothing short of a tragedy. ** Republished with permission. This article first appeared in the November 18, 2010 issue of theSun. Himanshu is theSun’s Penang bureau chief.
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