Malaysian Forests FelledFor Massive Rubber Tree Plantations

Malaysia’s remaining rainforests are rapidly being clear-cut and replaced with plantations of cloned trees that yield latex rubber and can also be harvested for timber, according to a report in The Star in Malaysia. The newspaper says that permanent forest reserves — protected areas in which some selective logging is allowed — are being converted to monoculture plantations that grow not only the latex-timber clone but also stands of African mahogany, teak, Acacia, and other species. Up to 80 percent of Malaysia’s remaining intact rainforests are threatened by the plantations, which harbor a fraction of the biodiversity found in pristine rainforests, the newspaper reported. “What we’re seeing today is wholesale clearing of permanent forest reserves and massive conversion to plantations,” said Surin Suksuwan, protected areas conservation manager for WWF-Malaysia.