Time to save Asean's forests

Lee Poh Onn, For The Straits Times 3 Nov 11;

THE recent declaration of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve as an Asean Heritage Park may seem consequential - or is it?

Are there any tangible benefits derived from the conservation of a forested area?

To be sure, there is a certain 'feel good' factor felt by segments of the population who care that a nature reserve is conserved.

Beyond this, the protected forested area will serve as an important source of storing carbon, an increasingly significant function to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases, especially in the light of increasing temperatures and climate change in the years to come. Biodiversity and natural ecosystems sustain the livelihoods of human populations, animals and plant species.

To ardent conservationists in Singapore, this piece of news marks a milestone in protecting biodiversity and promoting nature conservation. This is especially so in a country where land is so expensive and scarce. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is said to hold about 40 per cent of Singapore's native flora and fauna: a diverse 840 species of flowering flora and 500 species of fauna are in this 1.64 sq km nature reserve.

Importantly, the declaration of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve as a protected area sets a precedent among Asean member countries, some of which have ample forested areas and land areas but have yet to allocate more of their forested areas to nature conservation and the protection of biodiversity.

The Asean Heritage Parks form part of the Protected Area coverage among the Asean member countries. Such protected areas reflect efforts by Asean countries to contribute to the 2010 Convention of Biological Diversity target to protect at least 10 per cent of the world's forested areas. Incidentally, Asean also has four of the world's 34 biodiversity hot spots, which are areas which have exceptional levels of endemic species facing serious loss of habitat.

Protecting biodiversity has many ramifications. One, as pointed out earlier, is to mitigate climate change, as forested areas serve as important carbon sinks. With about 43 per cent of forest cover, compared with the world average of 30 per cent, Asean has more forested areas than countries in other parts of the world. In Asean, Brunei has the highest forest to land ratio as at 2007 (76 per cent), while Malaysia has 62.4 per cent and Cambodia 55.3 per cent.

However, Asean faces a worryingly fast rate of deforestation, averaging about 1.11 per cent a year between 2000 and 2007. This appears minimal but, if compared with the global average of 0.16 per cent, translates to an annual decrease of 23,144 sq km or the equivalent land area of 14,112 Bukit Timah Nature Reserves destroyed every year. Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar had rates of deforestation above 1.6 per cent between 2000 and 2007, higher than the Asean average of 1.11 per cent.

Deforestation in the region has been caused by logging, illegal mining, farming, commercial agricultural development and the expansion of the palm oil industry.

The main driver of tropical peatlands deforestation is the development of oil palm and pulp wood plantations. Indonesia and Malaysia currently account for 85 per cent of the world's supply of crude oil. It is no surprise then that oil palm plantations are favoured above just leaving forested areas standing for carbon. Planting oil palm has been estimated to yield net present values of between US$3,835 and US$9,630 (S$4,870 and S$12,200) per hectare compared to leaving forests standing for carbon credits of between US$614 and US$994 per hectare.

One common practice - of clearing peat swamp forests for planting oil palm trees - may seem harmless and helpful for reducing greenhouse emissions. This is especially so when climate-friendly bio-diesel can be produced from processed palm oil mixed with petro-diesel.

However, peatlands contain twice the carbon stock compared with other types of forest land. Carbon emissions also continue to take place long after the conversion of such areas for other purposes. Clearing peat swamp areas for oil palm plantations and the production of bio-fuels releases about eight times more carbon when compared to emissions generated from the use of fossil fuels. Planting in other forested areas, farther away from the coast and river systems where peatlands are found, may be better options than clearing peatlands.

Deforestation and the clearing of forested areas for oil palm plantations are likely to be a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions in the years to come, especially when oil palm is planted on drained peatlands. In addition to increasing greenhouse gas emissions and causing temperature variation, climate change is likely to become the dominant driver of biodiversity loss by the end of the century.

This recent move by Singapore shows that where there is political will by a government, difficult and important decisions can be achieved that have far-reaching benefits to future generations, not only in Singapore but also in countries in the region. With this year being the United Nations International Year of Forests, it would be timely for the protection of forested areas and conservation of biodiversity around the region to begin in earnest, especially from countries which are better endowed with forested and land areas.

The writer is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.