By Nelson Benjamin

JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA - The state's forest reserves are rapidly shrinking and poor management, including illegal activities within the reserves, are contributing to air and water pollution, soil erosion as well as the destruction of flora and fauna.

According to the Auditor-General's Report 2008, a total of 557,864ha had been gazetted as forest reserves but until December last year, this had shrunk to 340,940ha, or just 18% of the state size.

Of the balance, 216,121ha have been classified as production forest and the rest as protected forest.

The report stated that the main reason for the shrinkage was due to the high demand for forests with good economic potential and the state's inability to identify alternative land to swap as forest reserves.

The report also stated that 47,322ha of forest reserves had been developed for farming, putting up of telecommunication towers, setting up of buildings, mining activities, estates and extraction of timber between 2006 and 2008.

The report also referred to an article in The Star on March 31 this year about the wildlife habitat at the Sungai Mas Forest and buffer for the Endau Rompin National Park which had been cleared to make way for a rubber estate.

In some of the projects like the ones in Labis and Semberong, the Environment Impact Assessment report has yet to be filed with the Department of Environment but the forest has already been cleared for wood for the furniture industry.

The report also pointed out that between 1997 and 2008, a total of 100,310ha of forest area statewide had been earmarked as forest reserves but it took between one and 12 years to be gazetted.

The report also stated that excessive mining and use of chemicals in farming would cause environmental problems including soil erosion.

--The Star/ANN