Published in The Sunday Star, 15 January 2006

The recent research findings that forests generate methane, a gas responsible for global warming, should not really surprise us, as it highlights how little we understand how ecosystems work. But loggers take note: this is no reason to cut more forest or to avoid our responsibility to rehabilitate damaged forests.

The chemical forces at work within a forest ecosystem have bigger consequences than just locking up carbon or emitting methane. We must take stock of the free and vastly valuable ecological services that forests provide us before we commit yet more damage that may have unforeseen consequences. As a species, we have already seriously mutilated our own ecosystem, to the extent that there is a real possibility that civilization as we know it may cease to exist within the next century. We know that forests and oceans generate the oxygen, water and food we depend on for our very survival, but we extract so much from both for our short term gains and fail to appreciate that these systems can only be taxed so far before they quickly spiral into irreversible unproductivity.

We must therefore apply the cautionary principle: don’t cut forests because one study shows that they generate greenhouse gases, as they are incalculably valuable for other reasons that we have not bothered to quantify. Healthy forests ensure clean water supplies and safe habitats for the myriad of species that make up these unique chemical and biological systems. The plants in Malaysia’s, the oldest, forests in the world are yet to be studied in detail but they surely harbour an entire pharmacopoeia of cures for all man’s ills and needs.

Forests have supported mankind for millennia, and as long as there are healthy forests I believe there will be healthy people.

I appeal to the Prime Minister to realize the impressive National Physical Plan prepared by the Federal Government, by supporting the States financially so that they can protect our forests rather than logging them for short term gain. I believe we face a critical watershed right now: if our forests are allowed to be devastated for the sake of an insatiable world timber market, then the ecology of our tropical paradise may well collapse.

I for one would willingly pay an environmental tax to keep our forests intact.

Angela Hijjas
Member, Malaysian Nature Society

Published in The Star, 1 March 2005

Dear Sir,

I was concerned by the articles in the Star of 22nd February about the
captive breeding programme operated in Janda Baik without legitimate
authorization. It seems apparent that this particular breeder has a special
relationship with someone in Perhilitan, and the fact that it can’t be
explained in an acceptable manner is extremely worrying. The trade in and
ownership of protected species is a crucial test of Malaysia’s commitment to
the preservation of biodiversity, and I strongly support the initiative of
the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in questioning the
legality of this breeder.

The problem of the trade in protected species is not easily solved. It is
the third largest illegal international trade after drugs and weapons, and
government officers need much support if they are to contain it. It is a
sophisticated business that readily resorts to violence.

The recent closure of the Paya Indah Wetlands Sanctuary, however, might
offer a unique opportunity to improve the fate of illegally traded animals.
At present, I believe most animals that are recovered from the trade by
Perhilitan are destroyed, as Perhilitan does not have a sanctuary that it
can use as a transit point to stabilize these animals before they are
returned to the wild or to the countries where they were captured. (Some of
the more valuable species are placed in the Melaka Zoo, which is already
overcrowded.)

I would suggest that Paya Indah be turned into such a sanctuary. It could
be a vital showcase for eco-tourism, where some animals could be on display
and an educational programme would inform the public about our fauna, as
well as demonstrating Malaysia’s commitment to the preservation and
protection of its biodiversity.

I believe Paya Indah failed as it didn’t have a clear mission statement and
the concept of eco-tourism was poorly understood. By converting it into a
working institution with a definite conservation role that would engage the
public and tourists alike, it could be a unique destination for eco-tourism,
conservation and volunteerism.

Currently, many of our forests are developing the ’empty forest syndrome’,
where even if the forest is protected, the animals are no longer there. The
long term survival of the forest depends on the animals to pollinate
flowers, disperse seeds and ensure their germination. By reinforcing the
role of Perhilitan by providing the resources they need there is a chance
that we can reverse this trend and put some of the animals back where they
belong.

I do hope that the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment will
consider this suggestion.

Yours sincerely,

Angela Hijjas
Chairman, Selangor Branch
Malaysian Nature Society

The recent deaths of all five captive Sumatran rhinoceroses at the Sungai Dusun Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Centre in Selangor is yet another step towards extinction for this unfortunate species.   Despite the successful breeding of other endangered species in captivity, it is unlikely that the entire process can be achieved for the rhino.  The objective of captive breeding must always be to release the young into the wild and to repopulate their original habitat.  No species can be artificially sustained in pens forever.

Breeding in captivity is the first problem and this is elusive enough, but the subsequent problem is just as difficult: where is the habitat into which the young are to be released? Malaysia is losing more and more lowland forest every year and with fragmentation and depletion of species diversity as forest reserves are logged, no matter how selectively, there is not enough habitat to sustain wild breeding populations.

To ensure sufficient genetic diversity of any species, biologists believe there must be at least five separate breeding populations of any plant or animal.  We cannot save an animal if there is only one breeding pair as eventually inbreeding saps vitality.

Extinction is not necessarily an easily identified point in time for any species.   Some idealists believe that merely mapping DNA will be enough for future generations to recreate a lost species and that even if all specimens are dead there is a chance to clone it later.  This might produce a zoo exhibit, but it has nothing to do with protecting biodiversity for the long term.

Unfortunately, if an animal no longer has a place in the world, apart from in zoos, genetic banks and breeding centres, then its path to extinction is pretty well determined.  Captive animals are never as vigorous as in the wild and they are easy prey to Sungai Dusun type events. 

This will be the fate of many species in the coming decades as long as we believe that we can have it all.  Unfortunately, we can’t have it all and we must plan now if we are going to really protect our biodiversity rather than just give lip service.  Taman Negara alone is not enough to protect our biological heritage, we need more parks in fragile areas that must be sacrosanct, and a proper network of links between protected areas needs to be planned and enforced so that isolated populations of a species can interbreed naturally.

If they have to depend on man for their breeding, without enough space in the wild, they are doomed;  and so are we.  Our selfishness as a species has made us extraordinarily successful, but we will so easily become victims of that success if we cannot see that the destruction of our shared, broader habitat for short term benefit is not good for our long term survival.  Losing the rhinoceros, tiger, orang hutan and elephant, and the forest ecosystems they have occupied for millennia, will impoverish our own habitat and once that impoverishment spreads to other systems it will impact on us in serious ways.

Angela Hijjas
Chairman, Selangor Branch
Malaysian Nature Society.

Dear Sir,

Regarding the article in April 22nd’s edition of the NST, I would like to express similar concerns about the recent poaching incidents in the Endau Park, Johor.

If we cannot protect our tigers, elephants and rhinoceros in designated reserves, then there is little reason to be optimistic that they will survive into the next century. The numbers of tigers and rhinos, particularly, without counting plants, birds and other animals, has fallen precipitously over the last twenty years.

I welcome the initiative of the Prime Minister to reorganize the federal ministries so that forests are no longer included in Primary Industries; this is a major shift in thinking about our natural assets. Without protecting our forests we will not only lose the animals within them but also the incredibly valuable natural services that forests generate: more and better fresh water, the absorption and retention of carbon dioxide and other green house gasses, and not least the retention of the natural landscape that has shaped the region’s culture for millennia.

What is Malay culture without the kampong and the forest? It provided the only livelihood before the developed era, shaping thinking and ways of life. Now that we have left the kampongs and forests with scarcely a backward glance, we are in danger of losing our sense of place and who we are in the face of globalization. It is this sense of place, engendered in the forests and our natural landscapes, that will shape a new culture for the future.

In so many other ways Malaysians are divided from each other, be it by language, religion or food, but our feelings of ‘Malaysianness’ inevitably come down to the special characteristics of the place that we love and belong to. Looking at the remarkable diversity of Malaysia’s cultural heritage, it is the landscape alone that we truly share with each other. The beaches, the rivers, forests and mountains, give us all a profound sense of place and pride. Malay place names have always followed the predominant physical or botanical features that made the place special, be it Sungai Buloh or Kuala Lumpur. This importance of place is part of our culture, and we stand to lose it if we fail to protect those features of our natural heritage that have sustained us in the past.

I appeal to the government, in particular to the Prime Minister, to protect our landscape, protect our forests and all that is within them, give some real teeth to the enforcement of forest and marine protection. Otherwise, our descendants will be left with a blighted landscape and a blighted culture.

Angela Hijjas