Malaysian environmental organizations are joining hands to run a series of online petitions to garner public support and increase awareness on the state of Malaysia's natural forests and reserves. SHARYN SHUFIYAN speaks to the petition organizers to get the lowdown on these petitions.

Written by Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan on 26 Aug 2010 with 0 comments. Be the first!

Petitions as a sign of public protest have been in existence as early as the 18th century. With the advent of social media in recent times, NGOs have jumped on the bandwagon recognizing the value and reach of online petitions to promote causes and to mobilize the masses into a collective voice demanding and pressuring governments, officials and industries for change.

In Malaysia, petition campaigns are relatively new and are used mainly to raise awareness and the effectiveness of such campaigns have yet to be measured. However, this does not hamper the efforts by local NGOS.

Various local NGOs are organizing online petitions to protect five key conservation areas namely Ulu Muda in Kedah, Belum-Temengor in Perak, the Permanent Reserved Forests in Peninsular Malaysia, the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge in Selangor and Langkawi's last remaining rainforests.

On top of these, the recent announcement by the Malaysian government to build a coal-fired power plant in Sabah has sparked protests throughout the country. A collective of NGOs known as Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) is heading the No Coal Sabah campaign to combat this proposal. A member of Green SURF, Land Empowerment Animals and People (LEAP) Executive Director Cynthia Ong says, "There are both a local and an international petition. I see the democratic process and the opening of democratic space as something which is as important as the issue and the outcome. The awakening and mobilization of civil society is critical to health and balance in any state or nation."

Accompanying the online anti-coal petition is a creative campaign called "Postcards to PM" created by Sabah-born visual artist, Yee I-Lann. "The project was initiated by emotion - anger, frustration, and also a deep concern that Sabah was being pushed into a band aid solution that did not address fundamental energy problems of the state and could potentially cause more problems than it will solve," she explains.

The campaign first went online via Facebook on May 13th, 2010 followed by a blog site. The campaign provides a creative outlet for the public to write their messages and directly post to the prime minister's office. It is an innovative way to reach out to the public and getting them to speak up about the coal-fired plant. I-Lann adds, "A picture speaks a thousand words. West Malaysians, I think needed to see pictures of the site to understand the global significance of the area. People wanted to reach out to the prime minister and tell him what they think and they wanted to feel like their opinion counts too."

However, environmental awareness is still relatively low. These impacts do not affect our daily lives directly hence the public often adopts an apathetic attitude towards environmental conservation. According to one of the online petition organizers, "When it comes to what the public can do for the environment, the usual things that come to mind are, to recycle and maybe plant a tree or two. While these things are good, they don't necessarily address urgent current issues, such as large-scale deforestation. Advocacy, on the other hand, is traditionally seen as the business of NGOs and affected communities, if there are any. With petitions, the public have an avenue to lend their names to a cause. This is important, as in a growing democracy, I think we are starting to realize that we can have a say in how things are done, and that the decision-makers are sensitive to public opinion, especially when a large number of people are speaking out."

Ultimately, the petitions act as a lobbying tactic to raise these issues to the Malaysian government and to spur them to action. One of the petitions, Save Belum-Temengor, is endorsed by the Body Shop Malaysia. Through the Body Shop's "Kick the Bag Habit" campaign, donations made from refusal of bags are donated to the Malaysian Nature Society's Belum-Temengor Conservation Initiative.

Affected Conservation Areas

Ulu Muda Forest

The Ulu Muda Forest in Kedah currently faces logging threats since the state government announced plans to open the area for logging. Ulu Muda spans more than 160, 000 ha and is one of Malaysia's main conservation areas and an important water catchment area, being the source of water which is supplied to Kedah, Perlis and Penang for industrial, agricultural and daily usage. Logging activities will definitely affect water quality and some 63, 000 farmers and their families in the area that are dependent upon the water supply.

Belum-Temengor Forest Complex (BTFC)

Spread over 300, 000 ha, the BTFC is considered to be the oldest rainforest in the world and is believed to be more than 130 million years old. The BTFC holds unique biodiversity and diverse mammalian fauna but is facing the threats of logging and poaching.

Permanent Reserved Forests (PRFs)

In recent times, large segments of natural rainforests within PRFs in Peninsula Malaysia have been cleared for Latex Timber Clone (LTC) rubber plantations. 80% of the Peninsular's rainforests are PRFs managed by the respective State Forestry Departments. The government is targeting to develop 375, 000 ha of timber plantations by 2020. The grave concern raised here is that most of these forests being cleared are important ecosystem services for us, serving as water catchments, flood retention zones and carbon sinks, not to mention preserving biodiversity of threatened and endangered species found in our rainforests. 17, 433 ha of PRFs are already developed in 2007, and the plantations continue to expand till this day. With increase rubber plantations deep within the PRFs, human-wildlife conflict is bound to happen.

Klang Gates Quartz Ridge

The Klang Gates Quartz Ridge, located just on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, is under threat by a proposed expressway which will fragment and disturb current habitats. The quartz ridge, composed almost entirely of quartz, is believed to be the longest in the world and is of World Heritage Site material. Housing rare and threatened species of plants and animals, fragmenting the quartz ridge will affect these species by making it difficult for plants to propagate and animals to forage for food. With the expressway, poachers will be able to easily access wildlife. The forests serve as a water catchment area and continuous road works will pollute and affect clean water supply which we're dependent upon.

Langkawi's last remaining rainforests

Langkawi, being one of Malaysia's main tourist attractions, has lost half of its natural forests due to developments of rubber, rice and fruit farming. Langkawi boasts diverse ecosystems from lowland rainforests to mangroves and wetlands. Langkawi's attractions are a source of income for its people and if the remaining natural areas are not protected, Langkawi's eco-tourism industry would be severely affected. On top of that, depleting rainforests to maintain ecosystem equilibrium results in prolonged droughts and flash floods which will destroy farmed crops and an increase in erosion and siltation will affect the fishing industry. These are all sources of income for the residents of Langkawi.

Coal-fired Plant Proposal in Sabah

Since 2007, three proposals for a coal-fired plant in Sabah have been made. The first proposal was to build the plant in Silam, Lahad Datu and the cost of building the plant was estimated to be RM1.3 billion. The Sabah state assembly rejected the proposal based on health and environmental concerns. Another proposal took place in 2008 in Sandakan but because of strong objection from the local community, the proposal was yet again canceled. The plant proposal was raised again in 2009 with the prime minister's announcement to have it build in Kampung Sinakut, Lahad Datu and the struggle of the people of Sabah continues till today.

On Borrowed Time

These issues that are affecting our rainforests will in turn affect us without us realizing it. Our rainforests provide crucial ecosystem services such as water catchment areas, flood retention, erosion and siltation prevention among others and if these services continue to be affected, it would cost more to restore ecosystems than maintaining them.

Cynthia further asserts that "We are about to commit ourselves and future generations to contributing to eco-social destruction, increased carbon emissions and local-global warming. The civil society voice is necessary in bringing balance, equitability and accountability which currently does not exist in our system."

Social media is a powerful tool to disseminate information because not only does it build a collective voice, but being part, or contributing to a campaign empowers a person and connects them to others who share the same concerns. I-Lann adds that "Communities meet more and more online to rant and to exchange ideas and information. A healthy community is one that cares and gets involved in issues that affect the well-being of that community."

Note: Article was written with inputs from petition organizers.