From: azran@leland.Stanford.EDU (Azran Osman Rani)
Subject: Re: The ecosystem and the malays
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 92 04:30:48 GMT

In article <1992Apr11.190747.6881@leland.Stanford.EDU> rezal@leland.Stanford.EDU (Rezal Adzly Abdul Rahman) writes:

>
>	Agreed. A tropical climate is called so not because of its
>	geographical location at the earth's eqautor but due to its
>	humidity and warm temperature. The current conditions of
>	the earth place these conditions that define a tropical forest
>	in precarious balance.
>

>	The effects of a tropical rain forest is not localized.
>	In fact, one of the reasons that Singapore still has a tropical
>	climate may not only be attributed to the Malaysian and Indonesian
>	forests but also the Amazon jungle half a  world away.
>

>
>	The Forestry Institute of Malaysia does indeed have a law that
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Actually, its the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), the best
source to learn about forestry issues in Malaysia, for people who have
a *genuine* and *sincere* interest in the issue. And I don't think they
have a law about controlled logging. What they do is conduct extensive
environmental and economic research on the deforestation issue and based upon
the findings of these research projects, they advise the gov't on how 
to formulate logging laws. I don't know the details of the actual
legislation, but I'm sure it contains logging rates and replanting policies.
The problem with deforestation is not with government policies but rather
the corruption of local agencies in charge of the implementation of these
policies, and the greedy timber tycoons out to make as much money as they
can. Of course, this is not say that gov't policies on forestry are perfect.
This ties in with my next point:

>	requires replanting. There is a specific quota of the area to
>	be logged and the logger must initiate replanting to repair the
>	damage that he has done.
>
>	There are many factors that contribute to overlogging in Malaysia.
>	Besides corruption within government agencies, there have also
>	been cases of illegal logging with highly efficient methods of 
>	operation.
>
>	Last summer, a politician went in personally to investigate what was
>	reported as illegal logging within a few hours away from KL.
>	His four-wheel drive vehicle was nearly pushed into a ravine by
>	one of the tractor operators. What followed then was a full coverage
>	article in the Malay Mail and several other papers that resulted
>	in a public outcry and a full scale investigation was launched by
>	the government to apprehend the criminals. Another investigation
>	was also held to apprehend government officials who have been 
>	aiding the criminals in thwarting the enforcement agencies.
>
>	So, as you can see, the government does make an effort to control
>	logging and retain the dynamic ecosystem of the tropical jungle.
>
>	While I do not support the complete abolishment of logging,
>	I support every effort to maintain nature while still being
>	able to export wood. One simple solution would be specific
>	plots which can be rotated on a 10-15 year basis to provide
>	a continuous source of wood while letting our virgin jungle
>	remain virgin.


Controlled logging rates and replanting policies is not sufficient to 
ensure the continuous existence of our rainforests. They are only temporary
measures taken to alleviate the crisis of deforestation. Malaysia still
relies on income from its logging industry and it is thus not practical to
demand the termination of this industry immediately. The real key is to look
for an ALTERNATIVE source of income, or an ALTERNATIVE substitute to timber.
The aforementioned policies can only buy us so much time. If people are
sincere about saving the rain forests, then energy must be invested in search
of these alternatives, instead of blindly demanding the immediate stop to
deforestation. It does not help any party to have people arguing about
whose fault it is. This is where the government needs to have more
emphasis on. It would also help if people all around the world work to solve
this crisis that affects all of us.

>
>-Rezal Adzly Abdul Rahman
>Stanford University. Home of the NCAA champions...
>
>"We did not inherit the earth from our fathers but borrowed it from our
>children."
(Hey - this sounds awfully familiar, wink wink nudge nudge)


Azran Osman-Rani
President of the Crazy Fans of Molly Goodenbour Club.