No! Worst-Hit Malaysian States In 12/14 Flooding Most Heavily Deforested - Mongabay

[hatrack]

Five states hard hit by flooding last month in Malaysia had high rates of forest loss in recent years, bolstering assertions that environmental degradation may have worsened the disaster.

According to satellite data from researchers led by the University of Maryland's Matt Hansen and displayed on Global Forest Watch, the states of Johor, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, and Terengganu each lost more than 10 percent of their forest cover between 2001 and 2012. Loss was greatest in areas with dense tree cover. Near-term data from Global Forest Watch shows the forest loss has continued since the end of 2012 in the states.

That data lends support to claims by local environmental groups that deforestation may have exacerbated flooding by accelerating runoff during heavy rainstorms. But the impacts may be even more widespread than indicated by deforestation data alone, since it doesn't fully capture the extent of selective logging, which can degrade a forest's ability to retain water, nor the reduced absorptive capacity of timber and oil palm plantations, which have less ground cover and root development than natural forests.

"Logging would usually result in erosion, causing mud to flow down from the highlands during rain, eroding hills and destroying water catchments and causing lowlands to become flooded," Datuk Abdul Malek Yusof the president of Sahabat Alam Sekitar Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia), was quoted as saying by Malaysian state media.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0119-flooding-malaysia-deforestation.html

[MisterP]

1. but I was told that concern about forests is just a plot to cripple development!

just like how Rafael Videla assured me that human-rights concern was mere Anglo backdoor imperialism!!!111

who to believe?!!!!