A tropical natural bounty, but can this treasure be kept?

Malaysia, one of the 'Asian tiger' economies, has enjoyed remarkable growth over the last few decades, with industrialization, agriculture and tourism playing leading roles in this success story.
But today, despite a relatively positive environmental record, Malaysia faces problems of deforestation, pollution of inland and marine waters, soil and coastal erosion, overfishing and coral reef destruction, along with air pollution, water pollution and the problem of waste disposal.

Deforestation
Oil palm plantations are a prevalent feature of the Malaysian landscape, as this industry has become a major contributor to the countrys export earnings. The increase in palm oil production has been driven by strong global demand for oils and fats, notably from Europe and China. However, this expansion of land for oil palm cultivation has taken place at the expense of lowland tropical forests, which are ecologically sensitive habitats. The fate of a magic floodplain in Sabah This includes the Lower Kinabatangan Floodplains in Sabah. In this area, stretching along the northeastern coast of Borneo, forests have been reduced to scattered pieces, while endangered animals such as elephants have lost their natural homes. Flooding has also intensified.

WWF

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Palm oil, oil palm plantations and their impacts What is WWF doing about the environmental impacts of oil palm in Malaysia? What is WWF doing about the environmental impacts of agriculture and plantations globally?

Because the remaining forest is fragmented, elephants are forced to move through plantations and smallholdings to get from one patch to another. They prefer to use forest on dry ground, so during floods they are also forced into agricultural land, sometimes causing considerable damage. Habitat fragmentation has also affected the orangutan populations and other species of high

conservation priority (rhinoceros, monkeys, storm storks, oriental darters and others).

Pollution
Malaysia has enjoyed one of the least polluted urban environments in Asia. However, with the massive industrial development of recent years, and an increase in urbanization and vehicle use, air and water pollution are of growing concern.

Haze Haze has been an ongoing problem in many countries The main cause of this haze is the slash and burn practice by farmers and peat fires in Indonesia. A state of emergency was announced once in 2005 at Port Klang as the Air Pollution Index (API) was raised above the 500 level.[1] Malaysia is working with the Indonesian authorities to help curb peat fires.[2] Malaysia and Indonesia, together with other members of the ASEAN community, signed the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002 as a result of a 1997 haze. However, Indonesia is the only country that has not ratified the agreement. A repeat incident in 2005 and 2006 has forced Malaysia and Singapore to pressure Indonesia to ratify it.[3] [edit]Air Pollution Index Main article: Air Pollution Index The air quality in Malaysia is reported as the Air Pollution Index (API). Four of the index's pollutant components (i.e., carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide) are reported in ppmv but PM10 particulate matter is reported in g/m3. This scale below shows the health classifications used by the Malaysian government.

0-50 Good 51-100 Moderate 101-200 Unhealthy 201-300 Very unhealthy 301- Hazardous

If the API exceeds 500, a state of emergency is declared in the reporting area. Usually, this means that non-essential government services are suspended, and all ports in the affected area are closed. There may also be a prohibition on private sector commercial and industrial activities in the reporting area excluding the food sector. [edit]2005 Malaysian haze The 2005 Malaysian haze was a week-long choking smog-like haze over Malaysia that almost brought the central part of Peninsular Malaysia to a standstill, prompted crisis talks with Indonesia and caused widespread inconvenience. The haze was at its worst on August 11, 2005. This was a comeback of the haze crisis which last hit Malaysia in September 1997.