Case Study: Malaysia Flashcards
__% of Malaysia is TRF
67
Increasing rate of deforestation ______ than any other country
Faster
Reasons - Palm oil:
Palm oil is used in many products, so it can be sold. Palm oil plantation owners receive a reduced tax rate, so more people want to own plantations.
Reasons - Logging:
TRF wood is often valuable, so people cut trees down to sell the wood. In the 1980s, Malaysia became the world’s largest exporter of tropical wood.
Reasons - Transport:
Roads are required to access places in the rainforest and on the other side of the rainforest, and well as to allow logs from logging to be exported.
Reasons - Dams:
Dams give a reservoir of water and provide hydro-electric power. The Bakun Dam flooded over 700km squared of forest and farmland.
Reasons - Farming:
A technique for removing the forest for farming is slash and burn - people cut down everything they find and burn it, leaving fertile soil behind.
Reasons - Mining:
Valuable minerals and metals can be found in the TRF in Malaysia, so people mine it.
Reasons - Urbanisation:
As the population grows, more buildings are needed to house the population.
Why is the TRF used for these reasons:
No-one owns it, so anyone can use the land without permission and no-one will object to it.
Positive impacts of deforestation:
Improved infrastructure opens up new areas fro factories and tourism
Development of land creates jobs
Companies in the rainforest pay tax, which is used to improve public services
Hydro-electric power from dams creates lots of cheap power
Negative impacts of deforestation:
Loss of biodiversity
No trees = nothing stopping the soil from being washed away = no nutrients = no growth
Less trees = more climate change
Less tourism for the rainforests
Out of control tree burning becomes a higher risk the more people do it
9000 indigenous people were forced to move for the Bakun Dam, many of whom suffer from depression and alcoholism
Plants that could be medically beneficial and provide profit may become endangered
