Although the rainforest situation in Malaysia is far removed from our own personal lives for most of us, the impact of the Malaysian forest is significant for our planet and the local fauna and flora.
Just recently, the Malaysian government has announced that it will prohibit any expansion of oil palm plantations.
Additionally, they also promised to maintain the forest cover for at least 50%.
This is a huge victory for the local wildlife and environment.
The news was made public by the country’s Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok. At the moment, the forest cover rate of the country is at over 50%, and the current government has no intention of falling underneath that percentage.
“We are committed to maintain at least 50 percent of the land as forest cover, so we won’t allow any expansion of these oil palm plantations,” were the minister’s literal words.
This is particularly excellent news for the orangutan population, which are facing extinction.
The forest area includes a quarter of the island Borneo, which is considered to be the home of the orangutans. In a report from 2016, scientists warned that orangutans would go extinct within ten years. The reason was simple: too much forest area was being burned to make way for plantations – but not if this government can help it.
In the past 25 years, a whopping 76 million acres of forest area has disappeared in favor of industrialization, putting the future of the orangutan species in grave danger. Aside from the loss of habitat, orangutans are also threatened by hunters.
“If the current destruction of the rainforest continues, then I have absolutely no hope that any orangutans will remain in the wild,” CEO of the International Animal Rescue charity said two years ago.
The Malaysian minister faced criticism and doubts about the country’s revenue, but she’s convinced that the economy won’t be affected.
Long-term revenue seemed to be an issue if the expansion of oil plantations is halted, but the situation right now is unfavorable as well.
“The situation now is, there is excess palm oil supplies, here and in Indonesia.”
“In the long run, we will let the individual plantation companies decide if they want to maintain their land as palm oil estates or harvest different crops,” Kok told.
Reportedly, a number of Malaysian oil companies have already switched to other, more ecologically friendly and more profitable crops. For example, some of the plantations have switched to coconut farms.
Because there is too much oil currently on the market, the government is now planning to co-operate with several Malaysian companies and increase the quality and broaden the international appeal of the product. The minister hopes that a perfect 100 percent Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification rating can be achieved before the end of 2019 and that all plantations are will be regularized.
“We want to explain to the planters the importance in making first class or five-star standard palm oil.”
“And we have to make sure that all planters even the small ones are accepted and not marginalised, and they need the MSPO certification first to be accepted,” she said.
We can only hope that other countries in the region will follow Malaysia’s footsteps and ensure a healthy forest for wildlife to live in and give orangutans a place to thrive.
After years of seeing rainforests disappear in favor of more and more plantation, this new promise by the government can only be applauded.
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