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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Malaysian Loggers Get Six Months to Prepare Environmental Reports

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

July 17, 1995

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

At long last, after most of Malaysia, particularly the state of

Sarawak on the Island of Borneo, has been industrially logged;

Malaysian loggers have been given 6 months by the government to

prepare environmental impact assessments. As the forests of

Malaysia have been depleted by years of unsustainable logging, the

industry has turned to other developing countries with still

pristine tracts of forests to plunder. Papua New Guinea and the

Solomon Islands in particular are being cleared voraciously; and

plans are being laid for such "development" in Surinam, Guyana and

elsewhere. It only seems appropriate that the very same companies

that are being called to operate under an environmental plan in

Malaysia do so elsewhere also. Unfortunately, much logging occurs

by Malaysian companies, particularly in Papua New Guinea, with no

environmental plan and few if any benefits to the local

communities. Maybe after the forests are nearly entirely cleared,

within a decade or so, such a requirement will be made. This item

was posted by "Hornbill" in econet's rainfor.general conference

and initially was a _New Straits Times_ article.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 11:36 PM Jul 15, 1995 by Hornbill@pactok.peg.apc.org

in igc:rainfor.genera */

/* ---------- "(Long Overdue) EIA for logging in S" ---------- */

Posted by Hornbill in peg:rainfor.general on 15th July 1995.

LOGGERS GET SIX MONTHS TO PREPARE EIA REPORTS

NST July 12, 1995 (New Straits Times)

KUCHING. Tues.- Sarawak's State Natural Resources and Environment

Board (NREB) has given logging operators six months to prepare

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports before they can

carry out work in concessions of more than 500 hectares.

The order, which came from the board's controller of environmental

quality James Dawos Mamit, is in compliance with the Natural

Resources and Environment (Amendment) Ordinance 1993 which came

into force on Feb 1, 1994.

Dawos said that up till recently none of the logging operators has

complied with the EIA ruling.

"An EIA is essential because extensive logging could cause

pollution of inland rivers and waters and cause erosion of river

banks. This would disturb the forest biodiversity."

Dawos said considerable sedimentation in the Rajang river had been

cause mainly by logging.

"Rain washes down the soil from logging tracks, compounding the

problem."

He said excessive sedimentation has caused the aquatic life in

rivers to decrease over the years.

"By introducing mitigative measures at an early stage through EIA

studies, we can prevent or reduce the environmental damage which

if not addressed, can cause costly damage."

NREB's EIA regulations came into effect five years after it became

compulsory in Peninsular Malaysia with the passing of the

Environmental Quality (Amendment)Act 1985 by the Federal Cabinet.

The Act was extended to Sarawak when the Environmental Quality

(Prescribed Activities)(Environmental Impact Assessment) Order

1987 came into force on April 1, 1988.

In Sarawak, anyone intending to carry out any prescribed activity

must submit an EIA report to the NREB instead of the Department of

Environment.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

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