13 February 2019

Press statement by MCA National Organising Secretary cum Johor MCA Youth chairman Ling Tian Soon

Having ratified Ramsar Convention, Malaysia must honour its obligation to protect Ramsar wetlands

At a time when Malaysia is under pressure by developed countries to further protect the country’s forests due to growing consumer backlash against palm oil, the revelation of a golf course and hotel project within the Sungai Pulai mangrove reserve in Gelang Patah only makes matters worse.

It has been repeatedly said by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to maintain 50 per cent of our territory covered with forests. But news of forest clearing in Pakatan-led states continue to make headlines from time to time. In fact while serving as Prime Minster for the first time in 1981, Dr Mahathir remarked that: “While the developed countries had destroyed their forests, it was not fair for them to ask us to earn less from our forests. Malaysians and local non-governmental organisations should not get carried away with the so-called environmental consciousness of the foreigners until we are forced to sacrifice our forests’ economic importance for their comfort”.

Now that Tun Dr Mahathir has been appointed the Prime Minister the second time, the country under Pakatan Harapan is therefore incapable to show that development and conservation can co-exist. You simply can’t have the cake and eat it. There has to be a compromise, period.

The affected area is a Ramsar site, ie designated wetland under the Ramsar Convention. Having ratified the Ramsar Convention in 1994, Malaysia is obliged to maintain the ecological character of the listed wetland sites. Putting a golf course or resort within the wetland will only affect ecosystem structure and functions including decomposition, nutrient cycling and water flows; as well as the distribution of ecosystems within landscapes, which further threaten the survival of exquisite flora and fauna endemic to the area.

Furthermore, when destroyed or over-harvested, wetlands would become sources of the greenhouse gas. Wetlands such as mangroves and peat swamps are crucial carbon sinks and are one of the reasons why the constant increased emissions over the years have been regulated by the services our forests provide.

As pointed out by Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka), the de-gazettement of part of the protected mangrove forest for a golf course project may strip Sungai Pulai of its Ramsar status. This is something we must halt to maintain Malaysia’s impressive record of managing forest sustainably.

Our campaign to promote palm oil abroad will also come to an end, if news of de-gazetting forest reserve for development comes under the spotlight again.

I strongly urge the Pakatan government to monitor and intervene in any projects that open up forest reserves in the country. Even if land and forest matters fall under the state, the federal government is still helmed by Pakatan Harapan.

The central Pakatan government could provide incentives or grants to states to help preserve forest reserves. By conserving habitats rich in carbon, such as forests and peatlands, we can ensure that carbon remains stored in these ecosystems and also continues to be sequestered from the atmosphere. 

Ling Tian Soon
MCA National Organising Secretary
Johor MCA Youth chairman

-MCA Online-