The Devastating Effects of Uncontrolled Deforestation in Malaysia

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According to Wikipedia (2008), deforestation can be defined as the removal of a forest or stand of trees where there is land. According to the data from the United Nations (2006), Malaysia’s rate of deforestation is accelerating faster than that of any other tropical country in the world. There are countless causes and effects of deforestation on nature and its wildlife and it is essential to determine ways to overcome uncontrolled deforestation.

Due to the failure of the Malaysian government in providing figures showing the change in extent of primary forests during the period of 1990 to 2000 and 2000 to 2005, the analysis of figures from the food and agriculture organization of the United Nations show that the annual rate of deforestation in Malaysia's jumped a staggering 86 percent between those years. In total, Malaysia lost an average of 140,200 hectares, equivalent to 0.65 percent of its forest area every year since 2000. This is devastating because our country lost an average of 78,500 hectares, or 0.35 percent of its forests, annually during the 1990s. The vast declining in forest cover in Malaysia results primarily from urbanization, forest conversion for oil-palm plantations, and agricultural fires.

The number one factor of deforestation is that government institutions and other large lumber companies see extremely large profits in the mass deforestation of forests, namely tropical forests. Due to the profitability of our natural resource; timber, the government and other lumber companies want to make a quick buck by cutting corners in logging. According to Butler (2010), logging, which is generally excluded in deforestation figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization, is responsible for the widespread of fore...

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Richmond, S., Cambon, M., Harper, D., & Watkins, R. (2001). Lonely Planet;

Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd.

Samsudin Musa (2004), addressing deforestation and degradion through

sustainable forest management by [Electronic version]. Retrieved 7th August 2011, from http://unfccc.int/files/methods_and_science/lulucf/application/pdf/060830_samsudin.pdf

Simmer, J. (2010). 8 basic ways of preventing deforestation. Retrieved 4th August

2011 from http://www.save-the-trees.info/8-basic-ways-of-preventing-deforestation/

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