I REFER to the Terengganu menteri besar’s statement on logging (”Plenty of forest left for wildlife” — NST, Nov 14).

WWF-Malaysia would like to address the comments made by the MB with regard to the submerging of forests for dam purposes and the existence of ”plenty of wildlife”. There is a need to clarify some perceptions which the MB’s statement might have created.

The additional logging of 12,620ha proposed by the Terengganu government is not part of the area to be submerged by the dams. This proposal is strictly for the generation of timber revenue and is not connected to the building of the dams.

It is important to note that only 6,130ha of forests need to be cleared to build the proposed dams, including the area to be submerged.

Therefore, it is false to suggest that there will be a recurrence of the Tasik Kenyir incident if the proposed logging by the state government does not take place.

According to the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA), the state proposes to use the clear-felling method to extract timber even from areas that will not be inundated by dam waters.

As WWF-Malaysia has previously highlighted, the Tembat and Petuang forest reserves are where signs of various endangered species, including the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, have been reported. Signs of this elusive species are not easily found in other parts of the peninsula.

The increase in reports of human-wildlife conflict, especially human-elephant conflict, within the area strongly suggests that wildlife habitats in the state are being encroached upon and or are diminishing.

More land clearing in the future will result in more elephants and other wildlife being displaced.

The proposed mitigating measures in the DEIA to reduce the impacts of logging will not be effective in retaining the function of the forests as a water-catchment area. Forests take many years to regenerate and fully resume their ecosystem functions to catch water and prevent soil erosion.

Logging in a dam-catchment forest will increase sedimentation and could reduce the dam’s lifetime in the long run, even if logging was only carried out during the construction stage of the dam.

Recognising this, the National Physical Plan has identified all catchment forests of existing and proposed dams as environmentally-sensitive areas (ESA) rank 1. Here, logging, development and agricultural activities are not permitted.

WWF-Malaysia once again reiterates the need for the state government to gazette the Petuang and Tembat Forest Reserves as water-catchment forests under the National Forestry Act 1984 urgently and not after logging has taken place. This conforms to the directive from the National Forestry Council to the states to protect water-catchment forests under the National Forestry Act.

DATUK DIONYSIUS S.K. SHARMA for WWF-Malaysia

Source: NST – November 30, 2008