COP26: Is Malaysia committed to ending deforestation?
Malaysia is not yet on the list of the signatories who have committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 - File Pic
The UK’s Presidency Programme for COP26 or the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 in Glasgow is entering its second week of negotiations on Monday (Nov 8, 2021).
What do we know so far?
In general, many nations have pledged or promised to:
1. End deforestation,
2. Curb methane emissions and
3. Stop public investment in coal power.
Although it is not the first time countries make such a commitment to end deforestation, over 130 countries have taken the pledge. The signatories include our neighbour Indonesia, apart from Brazil and DRC known to house more than 90 percent of the world’s forests.
As of the first week of negotiations, Malaysia is not yet on the list of the signatories who have committed to work “collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.”
However, the Minister of Environment & Water Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man will provide more information in the upcoming week according to his Twitter post as Malaysia has decided to sign the declaration on deforestation and methane emissions.
COP26 in Glasgow is seeing discussions on nature and forests on an unprecedented scale.
“We’ve never seen this much attention. It could be a pivot point,” said ecologist and president of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City Cristián Samper, according to a recent article in Nature.
Slowly depleting forests in Malaysia?
Even if Malaysia becomes a signatory, environmental and civil society organisations are wary of Malaysia’s commitment to end deforestation.
Environmental and civil society groups like Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Third World Network (TWN) acknowledge that deforestation is one of the main environmental issues in the country.
An independent report by The Rimba Disclosure Project identified that a minimum of 9992.2 hectares of forests in Peninsular Malaysia, an area larger than the city of Seremban is under threat of depletion solely in August 2021.
Another month, MORE massive loss of Malaysias remaining forests.
Some of the forests identified in the report have already been deforested, some are in the process of being deforested, and others have been approved for deforestation or are pending approval for deforestation.
While Malaysia’s official statistics do not reflect the state of forests as of 2021, we can look at how the country has done based on the past data.
Peaks of Paradise
"Peaks of paradise: Slowly depleting forests in Malaysia?" is a Future News Worldwide alumni project in relation to the global climate crisis and UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) which aims to shed the light on the state of forests in Malaysia by predominantly looking at the available environment data in the country. Photo: Matt La Brooy
Firstly, it is important to understand the terminologies and the forest landscape of the country.
Malaysia's forests are complex ecosystems that host a diverse range of species. Based on reports, Malaysia has constantly kept more than half of its landmass under forest cover.
Any terrain encompassing more than 0.5 hectares with trees taller than 5 metres and a canopy cover greater than 10 percent, or trees capable of reaching these criteria in situ, is considered a forested area. A forested area does not include areas primarily used for agriculture or urban development such as a recreational park or a playground.
The total forest cover of the country is made up of state land forests (SLFs), fully protected areas or conservation forests (TPA/PA), and permanent reserved forests (PRFs).
For the uninitiated, SLFs are a type of forest that is not reserved (preserved) through gazettement. Meanwhile, TPA/PA or conservation forests and PRFs are types of forests that are reserved through gazettement.
PRFs are said to be managed in accordance with the principle of sustainable forest management for economic, social, and environmental interests. The PRFs are further functionally categorised into protection forests and production forests.
According to SAM, these different terms used at the federal level are purely for administrative purposes and the terms differ in the legal context.
“These terms when used at the federal level to tabulate the different legal classes of forests and conservation areas that have been gazetted by the states throughout the country under a host of different legislation, are purely administrative terms. Legally, they do not exist.
“The federal government does not have the power to gazette forests or even land for that matter in the country, save for those located within the federal territory. In order to know their actual legal classification in the eyes of the law, one must return to the actual legislation that has been used by state governments to gazette them,” SAM described in an article.
According to Malaysia’s Third Biennial Update Report submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2020, “In 2016, 18.24 million hectares, or approximately 55.2 percent of the total land area of Malaysia, was under forest cover. The remaining land area comprises of agricultural and commodity crops, settlements, wetlands, and grasslands”.
“It is almost certain that the total forest cover will stay that way for many years although it used to be a little bit higher around 59% in the past,” said Shamila Ariffin of SAM.
A comparison of permanent forest reserve
A 2017 and 2018 comparison looking at the areas in hectares of the permanent forest reserves in Malaysia. Photo: Matt La Brooy
If we look specifically at the status of the PRFs as per the 2020 Environment Statistics Report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the total area of permanent reserved forests has decreased more in 2018 than it increased compared to 2017.
The DOSM’s reports also show that the forest area licensed for harvesting has increased in 2018 although no precise breakdown is given as to the type of forests that are harvested.
Shamila emphasised, “The key questions to ask are actually how much of the total forest cover is devoted as protection forests, and how much of the total forest cover is devoted to production forests and of this amount for production, how much is devoted to plantations."
The Rimba Disclosure Project added, “The main driver of deforestation in Peninsular Malaysia in recent years have been forest plantations, which involves converting forest reserves into mono-crop plantations of rubber and durian without changing the legal status of the land.”
#MasterlistPergiMana: Where is the missing Masterlist of forestry data?
Environmental data deficiencies are a common problem worldwide and it is not unique only to Malaysia and when such data exist, they are often ad hoc or outdated and can be misleading for the public as the full picture cannot be properly constructed.
The pivotal role that statistics or data play is indisputable.
"The role of statistics is very significant to the well-being of the country and society in preparing Malaysia as a highly competitive country, the availability of quality, comprehensive, and timely statistics is essential," said DOSM’s Chief Statistician Datuk Sri Dr. Muhd Uzir Mahidin in his MyStats Day 2021 speech.
Also, if anything the COVID-19 pandemic has further shown us the crucial need for reliable data.
“Data is always our first and primary defense in a crisis. COVID-19 is a great example of data’s pivotal role in containing the pandemic. We needed it to track the spread, implement measures to combat spread, and monitor the efficacy of the measures.
“Similarly, data is also our first point of defense in a climate crisis. We need data across all stages of implementing a climate action from collecting data to analysis and implementation,” said BloombergNEF analyst Kesavarthiniy Savarimuthu.
She added, Malaysia like every other nation engaging in the COP26 negotiations must focus on gathering the necessary data, using theory and analysis to gain insights, and act early in order to undertake strategic climate policies.
In an increasingly data-driven world, missing or incomplete data can be a bane to anyone who relies upon it.
The most exhaustive list of TPA/PA is that missing Masterlist from the ministry asserted both SAM and TWN.
“Masterlist pergi mana? Where has the Masterlist gone? If ever we want to make complete sense of the state of forests in Malaysia, the once available Masterlist with forestry data which is now missing should be made accessible to public and environmental and civil society organisations.”
** Sahabat Alam Malaysia or Friends’ of the Earth Malaysia (SAM), is an independent non-profit national organisation established in 1977 in Malaysia under its Societies Act 1966.
** Third World Network (TWN) formed in November 1984 in Penang is an independent non-profit international research and advocacy organisation involved in issues relating to the development, developing countries, and North-South affairs.
** The Rimba Disclosure Project is an independent, non-political initiative that aims to facilitate enhanced transparency on the economic sectors, activities, and parties responsible for the loss of Malaysia’s rainforests.
** Sathesh Raj is a regular contributor at Astro AWANI. He is also a British Council Scotland’s Future News Worldwide alumni working on a special report in relation to the climate crisis and COP26.
** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.
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