climate of Malaysia suits oil palms. Based on FAO’s data about land use in Malaysia
from 2007 (FAO 2019), palm oil plantations used about 42,380 km
2 out of
328,300 km
2 of total land area. Before planting oil palm, land must be cleared. In
Malaysia, the common techniques to clear the land are burning (Tegnäs and Svedén
2002) or ploughing and weeding (Clay 2004). Such practices actually contribute to
several bad effects, such as climate change, landslide and primate extinction. To
overcome the problem, in the following section we herewith propose four recommendations we believe serve the solution to deforestation. They are sustainable
plantation, reforestation, disaster risk management and vertical housing.
11.7.1 Sustainable Plantation
Sustainable management of plantations is important for ensuring an adequate supply
of wood and other forest products for future generations (Sankar et al. 2000).
Harwood and Nambiar (2014) state that sustained productivity is, arguably, the
best measure for integrating the functioning of planted forests, and changes in
productivity signal the direction for changes in response to management practices
and ecological events including climate change. Deforestation is one of the critical
problems to address, because it has several negative effects. Sustainable plantation
management is a safer, better technique of oil palm planting. Through it, a plantation
keeps going without negatively impacting the environment. So, it can keep generating benefit both for company and country. Sustainable plantation works by not
destroying the forest to build new plantations, but by minimizing the environmental
footprint, so that the basic rights of local owners and local farmers are fully
respected. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil was formed in 2004, is
headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and has its secretariat office in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. It aims to promote the growth and consumption of sustainable palm oil
products while using credible global standards in producing palm oil and active
engagement of stakeholders. It has more than 3082 member organizations. RSPO is
now a standard for sustainable palm oil, consisting of eight principles and criteria
that should be fulfilled by members. The principles and criteria relate to social,
environmental and economic good practices. In order to build a sustainable plantation, following guidelines and principles of RSPO will be beneficial for any plantation company in implementing sustainable palm oil plantation.
11.7.2 Reforestation
Locatelli et al. (2015) stated that tropical reforestation has been highlighted as an
important intervention for climate change mitigation because of its carbon storage
potential. Reforestation and afforestation have both been integrated as forestry-based
mitigation schemes into the international climate change regime (Aguilar et al. 2007;
11 Deforestation in Malaysia: The Current Practice and the Way Forward
187
from 2007 (FAO 2019), palm oil plantations used about 42,380 km
2 out of
328,300 km
2 of total land area. Before planting oil palm, land must be cleared. In
Malaysia, the common techniques to clear the land are burning (Tegnäs and Svedén
2002) or ploughing and weeding (Clay 2004). Such practices actually contribute to
several bad effects, such as climate change, landslide and primate extinction. To
overcome the problem, in the following section we herewith propose four recommendations we believe serve the solution to deforestation. They are sustainable
plantation, reforestation, disaster risk management and vertical housing.
11.7.1 Sustainable Plantation
Sustainable management of plantations is important for ensuring an adequate supply
of wood and other forest products for future generations (Sankar et al. 2000).
Harwood and Nambiar (2014) state that sustained productivity is, arguably, the
best measure for integrating the functioning of planted forests, and changes in
productivity signal the direction for changes in response to management practices
and ecological events including climate change. Deforestation is one of the critical
problems to address, because it has several negative effects. Sustainable plantation
management is a safer, better technique of oil palm planting. Through it, a plantation
keeps going without negatively impacting the environment. So, it can keep generating benefit both for company and country. Sustainable plantation works by not
destroying the forest to build new plantations, but by minimizing the environmental
footprint, so that the basic rights of local owners and local farmers are fully
respected. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil was formed in 2004, is
headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and has its secretariat office in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. It aims to promote the growth and consumption of sustainable palm oil
products while using credible global standards in producing palm oil and active
engagement of stakeholders. It has more than 3082 member organizations. RSPO is
now a standard for sustainable palm oil, consisting of eight principles and criteria
that should be fulfilled by members. The principles and criteria relate to social,
environmental and economic good practices. In order to build a sustainable plantation, following guidelines and principles of RSPO will be beneficial for any plantation company in implementing sustainable palm oil plantation.
11.7.2 Reforestation
Locatelli et al. (2015) stated that tropical reforestation has been highlighted as an
important intervention for climate change mitigation because of its carbon storage
potential. Reforestation and afforestation have both been integrated as forestry-based
mitigation schemes into the international climate change regime (Aguilar et al. 2007;
11 Deforestation in Malaysia: The Current Practice and the Way Forward
187