Logging in Tembat, Petuang in Malaysia in anticipation of dam building

Letter to the Editor: Additional logging in Tembat, Petuang
WWF-Malaysia 26 Nov 08;

WWF-Malaysia refers to the Terengganu Menteri Besar’s reply on logging. In particular, 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 State government is not part of the area to be submerged by the dams. This proposed additional logging is strictly for timber revenue generation and is not connected to the building of the said dams. It is important to note that only 6,130ha of forests needs to be cleared for the purpose of building the proposed dams, including the area to be submerged. Therefore, it is false to suggest that the Tasik Kenyir incident will reoccur 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 the areas that will not be inundated by the dam.

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 infers that wildlife habitats are being encroached and or are diminishing. More land clearing in the future will result in more elephants, and other wildlife, being displaced. WWF-Malaysia does not agree with the MB’s view that the translocation of displaced elephants to the closest elephant sanctuary is a viable solution. This would be too costly and the sanctuary would not be able to accommodate all the elephants in the state in the long term.

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 forest. Forests take many years to regenerate and fully resume its ecosystem function as water catchment and prevent soil erosion. Logging in a dam catchment forest will increase sedimentation and could reduce the dam lifetime in the long run, even if logging was only carried out during the construction stage of the dam. In recognising this, the National Physical Plan has identified all catchment forests of existing and proposed dams as Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Rank 1. Logging, development and agricultural activities are not permitted in these areas.

WWF-Malaysia strongly calls on 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.

From: Dato' Dr. Dionysius S.K. Sharma D.P.M.P., Executive Director/CEO, WWF-Malaysia

Plenty of forest left for wildlife, says Ahmad
The New Straits Times 14 Nov 08;

KUALA TERENGGANU: World Wildlife Fund Malaysia "need not worry" about logging in the Tembat and Petuang forest reserves, says Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said.

It was reported on Wednesday that the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and Malayan tiger would face a bleak future after forests the size of 7,000 football fields were cleared to build the Puah and Tembat hydroelectric dams in Hulu Terengganu.

A recent detailed environmental impact assessment report said the state government also proposed to log the adjacent forests, an area double the size of the forest reserves.

The Tembat and Petuang forest reserves act as water catchments for Tasik Kenyir. The logging threatens rare wildlife and risks polluting rivers.

Ahmad said the state would have plenty of virgin forest left and that efforts were being made to care for the wildlife.

"The area will be submerged when the second dam is built in 2011. We have to fell the trees or the Kenyir Lake incident will be repeated," Ahmad said yesterday.

The completion of the Kenyir dam in 1986 left more than 60,000 ha of forest to rot in the lake, and the state lost timber revenue.

"The revenue from the timber will be pumped into development in the state."

No worry over logging
R.S.N. Murali, The Star 19 Nov 08;

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu government will not compromise on the impact to the environment caused by logging in the Tembat and Petuang forest reserves for the construction of two dams fringing Kenyir Lake.

“There is no need to worry as efforts are in place to safeguard the environment,” Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said recently in response to concerns from World Wildlife Fund Malaysia over the logging.

It was reported last Wednesday that the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and Malayan tiger faced an uncertain future as 6,130ha of forests, the size of 7,000 football fields, was being cleared.

Details in an Environmental Impact Assessment released recently showed that the state had also proposed the logging of adjacent forests, an area double the size of the forest reserves.

The logging poses a threat to wildlife and risks polluting rivers as the Tembat and Petuang forests reserves act as water catchment areas for Kenyir Lake.

WWF also expressed concerns over erosion due to logging in the catchment areas leading to a decrease in freshwater fish such as kelah.

Ahmad said that efforts were being made to protect wildlife.

These include the establishment of an elephant sanctuary with the co-operation of the National Parks and Wildlife Department, which will relocate endangered animals in the area.

Ahmad explained that the logging was to prevent the area from being submerged when the second dam was built in 2012.

He referred to 1986 when the Kenyir dam was completed and 60,000ha of forest was inundated, causing loss of revenue.

“The trees have to be felled. Otherwise, there will be a repetition of the Kenyir incident,” he said.

If the trees were not chopped, they would degenerate under water, and it would be costly for the state to retrieve them later, he said.

“We are gaining logging revenue, which will be channelled into the state’s development fund.

“Terengganu is making a sacrifice for the nation,” he said in reference to the construction of the two dams to generate hydroelectric power for the country.

More widespread logging threatens critically-endangered animals
The New Straits Times 13 Nov 08;

KUALA LUMPUR: The critically-endangered Sumatran rhinoceros and endangered Malayan tiger face an even more uncertain future as a massive chunk of their habitat in Terengganu forests, roughly the size of 7,000 football fields, is being chopped down.
About 6,130ha in the Tembat and Petuang forest reserves in the state are being logged to make way for the Puah and Tembat dams.

A Detailed Environmental Impact Assesment (DEIA), released recently, shows that the state government is proposing to log the adjacent forests, an area double the size of the forest reserves.

The ongoing and proposed logging threatens rare wildlife and risks polluting the river.

The Tembat and Petuang forests reserves act as water catchment areas for Tasik Kenyir.
In a statement yesterday, the World Wildlife Fund Malaysia claimed that satellite images in the DEIA indicated that felling of the reservoir area and adjacent hills started three years ago.

The DEIA stated that the catchment sites had changed by 20 to 30 per cent between 2005 and 2006 and that new logging tracks were visible.

"Evidence on the ground also suggests that logging and clearing of the reservoir area has already started prior to the approval of the DEIA.

"There seems to be little regard for relevant laws and the DEIA process," said WWF-Malaysia CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma.

The DEIA also stated that 30 per cent of the existing elephant population within the project area will be forced into nearby plantations, creating more human-elephant conflict.

"Conflict is already occurring near the Tembat Forest Reserve, with cases reported in Hulu Setiu and Hulu Nerus.

"This will result in loss of revenue to plantation owners and property damages. In the long run, the government will incur higher cost for human-wildlife conflict management."

Sharma also expressed his concern over the anticipated high erosion rate due to logging activity in the catchment areas.

"The kelah fish population found in rivers there will undeniably decrease. Kelah has high conservation and commercial values," he said, adding that eco-tourism activities would also be affected.

This, Sharma said, was also confirmed by the DEIA report which stated that ecotourism activities in Sungai Tembat and Sungai Terengganu Mati would be affected as high soil erosion and sedimentation affects fish biodiversity and spawning grounds.

"Increased siltation from logging could reduce the dam lifetime in the long run even if logging was only carried out during the construction stage of the dam.

"Forests take many years to regenerate and fully resume their water catchment ecosystem and soil protection functions," he said.

"The Federal Government has recognised this and that is why the National Forestry Council had directed all state governments to gazette catchment forests as water catchment forests in 2005."

The Terengganu state government has gazetted about 49,107ha of forests as catchment forests. The Petuang and Tembat Forest Reserves, however, are yet to be gazetted as catchment forests.