LOGGING CAN HURT WATER SOURCES
HEALTHY catchments protect rivers, dams and the environment. They provide clean drinking water, habitats for plants and animals, healthy vegetation and waterways.
Professor Dr Chan Ngai Weng of Universiti Sains Malaysia says logging exposes land, making it susceptible to erosion. Splash erosion and surface erosion wash sediments into the rivers, causing water pollution and shallowing of riverbeds.
Logging in water catchment areas, like Ulu Muda Forest in Sik, Merapoh Forest in Kuala Lipis, and Bukit Ulu Sat and Bukit Tapong in Pasir Puteh, has polluted rivers and threatened water supply, as well as wildlife.
Uncontrolled logging can hurt the efficacy of water catchments and jeopardise the economies of affected areas.
For example, water from the Muda Dam catchment area at the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve is pumped into Pedu Dam, and this is primarily used for cultivating about 97,000ha of padi under the Muda irrigation scheme.
Uncontrolled logging has caused massive landslides. In 2015, landslides occurred at Km52.4 of the Karak Highway, near Lentang-Bukit Tinggi.
The destruction of watershed areas will result in floods. Deforestation is the culprit.
Deforestation eliminates trees and undergrowth that prevent sediment run-offs.
In 2014, the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia was hit by one of the worst floods in history due to uncontrolled logging. Uncontrolled logging in water catchments also affects the quality of water due to the deposition of sediments. The water becomes murky and muddy. Many people rely on natural highland water sources for their daily use.
For example, Orang Asli in Gua Musang use natural water sources for cooking, bathing and other potable uses. However, due to the uncontrolled clearing of forests, the water catchment areas in Lojing Highlands have been destroyed.
Logging also affects water temperatures. It wipes out trees that provide shelter and thermal cover, raising water temperatures and pH levels, as well as degrading the chemical and ecological conditions and food webs that fish depend on for survival.
Besides that, uncontrolled logging can alter the local microclimate, resulting in hotter and drier conditions, which contribute to global warming and quicken climate change.
Uncontrolled logging in water catchments should be taken seriously as such areas are shrinking.
In Kedah, water catchment areas were reduced by 87.3 per cent, from 98,400ha in 1969 to 12,484ha last year.
More and more illegal and uncontrolled logging has occurred in other parts of water catchments in Malaysia, such as in Ulu Tembeling and Lojing.
Safe and high-quality drinking water begins with safe and healthy water catchments. Uncontrolled logging must be stopped so that consumers can have safe drinking water from safe sources.
NUR IMANI ABDULLAH Secretary, Forum Air Malaysia