No Other Country Is Losing Their Forests Like Malaysia. These Maps Will Shock You.

Malaysia had the world's highest rate of forest loss between 2000 and 2012, according to a new global forest map developed in partnership with Google.

The map for Malaysia's deforestation shows that the most intense clearing activities took place in the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor, while there are also many red areas appearing in the long coastal areas from Sibu to Miri in Sarawak.

malaysiakini.com

Malaysia's total forest loss during the period amounted to 14.4 percent of its year 2000 forest cover. The loss translates to 47,278 square kilometers (18,244 square miles), an area larger than Denmark.

The findings of the mapping - which documents forest loss and gain between 2000 and 2012 based 650,000 satellite images - was carried out by a team from University of Maryland and was published in a science journal, reported international broadcaster BBC.

malaysiakini.com

Malaysia's forest loss was partly offset by a 25,978 sq km gain in vegetation cover resulting from natural recovery, reforestation, and establishment of industrial timber and oil palm plantations. During the period, Malaysia's oil palm estate grew by roughly 50 percent or 17,000 sq km.

After decades of unsustainable logging, which depleted timber stocks and undermined the viability of traditional forestry management, Malaysia's forests are increasingly being converted for industrial oil palm plantations. The palm oil industry is a powerful political force in the country.

Malaysia's rate of forest loss during the period was nearly 50 percent higher than the next runner up, Paraguay (9.6 percent). Its area of forest loss ranked ninth after Russia, Brazil, the United States, Canada, Indonesia, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Australia. Malaysia's net forest loss — 21,480 sq km — ranked 12th globally.

The same source tells us that over 50% of the forests Malaysia lost in little over a decade were dense ones that not only housed endangered species such as orangutans, pygmy elephants, Sumatran rhinos, and clouded leopards, but were also quite effective at trapping carbon and storing it.

softpedia.com

Dan Zarin, program director of the Climate and Land Use Alliance, an association of philanthropic foundations, says trading natural forests for planted forests represents a net loss for the planet. “You can't ‘net out’ deforestation by planting trees," said Zarin, "because newly planted forests are far less valuable for carbon, biodiversity and forest-dependent people than standing native forests.”

Offsetting the loss in forests was a 25,978 sq km gain in vegetation cover resulting from natural recovery, reforestation and establishment of industrial timber and oil palm plantations. The report noted that the oil palm industry was a powerful political force in the country.

msn.com

Malaysia's land surface was once almost entirely covered with forest. Today, forests still cover about 59.5% of the total land area. In the 20 years from 1983 to 2003, there was a reduction of about 4.9 million hectare of forest cover in Malaysia.