SPECIAL REPORT While incessant rainfall lasting for a period of more than four days was touted as the main cause for the recent massive floods in the East Coast of the peninsula, an environmental researcher claims that there is more than meets the eye.

Other factors such as deforestation also played a crucial role in worsening the floods which were among the nastiest the nation has seen in decades, especially in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.  

“The rain was the main cause of the floods, but the huge floods this time around can also be traced back to deforestation,” forest researcher Lim Teck Wyn told Malaysiakini in an interview.

While uncontrolled logging has largely been the norm for deforestation in Malaysia, this was, however, not the case in Kelantan, which was hardest hit by the floods.

The PAS-led state government’s Ladang Rakyat (People’s Estate) agriculture scheme, which involves the planting of latex-timber clone (LTC) trees in forest areas, has largely been contributing to the floods in the state, Lim ( left ) said.

Deforestation there is being done through the clear-felling of more than 70,000 hectares of forest land that are converted into extensive Ladang Rakyat projects.

The widespread project promotes the planting of the LTC, which is a type of timber that produces rubber wood in forest areas to support the growing furniture industry of Malaysia.

According to a report by mongabay.com, via a global forest map in November 2013, Malaysia has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.

The report showed Kelantan as a victim of deforestation for natural recovery, reforestation and the establishment of industrial timber and oil palm plantations, especially in the Kuala Krai and Gua Musang areas, which were the worst hit in the recent floods.

Legal loophole in forestry law

The plantations are being implemented by the state government in permanent forest reserve (PFR) lands, through a loophole it discovered in the National Forestry Act 1984, Lim explained.

“Under the provisions of Section 11 of the Forestry Act, the state government is allowed to repossess the PFR lands as long as these provide sustained timber yield.

“By clearing the land and planting LTC, the state is able to maintain a sustained timber yield and at the same time, clear the forest lands,” Lim said.

He said that under the law, PFR land can only be used for timber production, with any sort of agriculture on it being forbidden.

However, since LTC trees do produce timber, the loophole has been exploited by the state government to fund its cash-strapped administration.

“The Kelantan government does not have much resources, so it has to source out other revenues.

“Converting more forests into LTC plantations helps bring in more money for the state government,” Lim added.

How rivers become shallow

Lim explained when the forests are cleared to plant the LTC trees, a host of problems are created in the environment and the surrounding areas.

Among the problems is soil erosion, which causes the river beds to get a lot shallower. This was one of the contributing factors to the flooding in the Kuala Krai and Gua Musang areas.

“When the land is bare and has no trees, the rainwater directly hits the ground, without any cover.

“The direct rainfall causes the soil to erode and be washed away. Soil that is washed away ends up in the rivers, making the river beds shallower.

“When it rains heavily, the river overflows easily as it has become shallow, causing floods to occur on the surrounding land,” Lim said, adding that almost 40 tonnes of soil are displaced yearly by rainfall.

Moreover, when natural forests are cleared and replaced with LTC trees, they do not provide natural flood mitigation, Lim stressed.

“Flood mitigation functions in the virgin forests and the plantations are very different. When a plantation is newly established, it means the forest has just been cleared.

“The trees are very young and there is no cover from the ground. The rain comes down and hits the grounds directly, and soil erosion takes place, with the soil washed into the stream,” Lim said.

Kelantan MB denies logging

Asked about Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob dismissing claims that uncontrolled logging has been carried out in the state, Lim admitted that the menteri besar was right in terms of technicality.

However, Lim said, the situation was quite the opposite in terms of reality, for instead of logging, the forest land is being cleared for plantations.

“The Kelantan government is right in that it adheres to the yearly allocation of 5,960 hectares approved by the National Land Council, specifically for logging alone.

“However, it also practises clear felling of forests for the purpose of forest plantations, which are the cause of the flooding,” Lim claimed.

According to the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE), in Kelantan alone the past 10 years, from 2005 to 2014, about 136 forest development plans have been approved, but only a mere four of the plans were for logging.

The other 132 projects were sanctioned for agricultural purposes, with 87 projects for LTC trees, 26 projects for oil palm, six projects for vegetables and 13 projects for other purposes.

This inevitably means that, on paper, the state is playing by the rules of not practising uncontrolled logging, but in reality, trees and forests are still being cleared for other purposes.

This, ultimately, in one way or another has become one of the contributing factors to the massive floods which displaced more than 200,000 people last year.