Destruction of natural rainforest to grow oil palm

Felling of a century old rain tree near the train station and field in Tenom town to make way for a public toilet project.

Another 100 years old tree was chopped down to make way for a public toilet project under the Tenom District Council. Many suggest that appropriate action should be taken against those responsible for felling the tree, which was one of four iconic rain trees in Tenom.

There used to be four century-old trees :
1) two near the train station
2) two near the shoplots adjacent to the train station.

One of the two trees near the shoplots has been felled. Some owners of the shoplots have also expressed dismay over the felling of the tree, as it had been there since their childhood, when they played around it. They questioned the wisdom of sacrificing the high value tree for a public toilet project, for there must be other potential sites at the area for the project.

“(the felling of a century old rain tree) defeats the government’s efforts to turn Sabah into a green state............Just early this week Kota Kinabalu .....launched a tree planting programme.......On the one hand the state government is spending a lot of money to plant trees as it wants to tell the world that we want a green state. Then on the other hand, a local authority chopped down a 100-year-old tree.....”

SAPP vice president Datuk Wong Yit Ming
June 2012

Wong questioned the need to build more public toilets in Tenom town, as there are already two public toilets there, one near a petrol station and the other near the railway station.

The oldest rain tree in Kota Kinabalu City at Wisma Muis in Sembulan is about 90 years old and is worth about RM600,000. As such, the century old rain tree in Tenom Town was chopped down in Tenom town could be worth RM1 million.

Century-old tree in Tenom felled for toilet project. Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/06/22/century-old-tree-in-tenom-felled-for-toilet-project/#ixzz1yZZgzScs

Forest Reserve (Left) and Oil Palm Plantation (Right)

In between Malaysian Government Forest Reserve and a Private Oil Palm Plantation is a narrow open track.

Compared to a healthy forest (Left), oil palm plantations (Right) store less carbon, house less biodiversity, and are more prone to erosion than natural forests.

http://wwwflowering.blogspot.com/2011/08/ravaged-tawau.html

A Sabah Forest Reserve was in bad shape after illegal clearing and squatters for 2 decades. More than 7,000ha of the reserve was illegally cleared and planted with oil palm in the 1980s and 1990s.

Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve on Sabah’s east coast is in the process of being rehabilitated after years of illegal clearing and degradation by illegal squatters – thanks to the Sabah Forestry Department.

The Sabah Cabinet has allowed Sabah Forest Department to clear illegal plantations and replant mixed indigenous plant species in the Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve.

The rehabilitation efforts needed heavy police presence as the illegal squatters had attempted to attack the rehabilitation workers. On January 1, 2010 an excavator operator was shot at by a squatter.

Director of Sabah Forest Department Datuk Sam Mannan said that due to nearly three decades of “meek environmental leadership”, some 8,000ha of regenerating forest was cleared and degraded, and the habitat for Sabah’s iconic wildlife such as orang utan and Borneo pygmy elephants destroyed.

“Rivers in the forest reserve turned into open sewers used by squatters,” he said, adding that the situation only changed after Datuk Musa Aman took over as Chief Minister in 2003.

The Star Online
http://thestar.com.my

Southeast Asia is expanding oil palm plantations at the cost of tropical rain forest. Is oil palm a valuable route to sustainable development or a costly road to environmental ruin?

Environmental groups have long expressed concern about over-logging and deforestation in the island of Borneo.

Old palm plantations threatens rich biological diversity—while also offering the finance needed to protect forest.

Old palm plantations offers a renewable source of fuel, but also threatens to increase global carbon emissions.

Oil palm expansion can contribute to :

1) deforestation,

2) peat degradation,

3) biodiversity loss,

4) forest fires and

5) a range of social issues.

But oil palm is also :

1) major driver of economic growth and

2) source of alternative fuel.

Updated on 11 April 2012 Sunday 11:25PM