The environment of Malaysia is the biotas and geologies that constitute the natural environment of Malaysia. Malaysia's ecology is megadiverse, with a biodiverse range of flora and fauna found in various ecoregions throughout the country. Tropical rainforests encompass between 59% and 70% of Malaysia's total land area, of which 11.6% is pristine. [1] [2] [3] Malaysia has the world's fifth largest mangrove area, which totals over a half a million hectares (over 1.2 million acres). [2]
Human intervention poses a significant threat to the natural environment of this country. Agriculture, forestry and urbanisation contribute to the destruction of forests, mangroves and other thriving ecosystems in the country. [4] [5] Ecosystems and landscapes are dramatically altered by human development, including the construction of roads and damming of rivers. [6] Geographical phenomena, such as landslides and flooding in the Klang Valley, along with haze, stem from widespread deforestation. Subtle climate change occurs as a direct result of air pollution and the greenhouse effect, which in turn is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. Low-lying areas near the coastline of Sabah and Sarawak are under threat from current sea level rise. [7]
The environment is the subject of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment at the federal level. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks is responsible for the preservation of flora and fauna in Malaysia. Several environmental organisations have been established to raise awareness regarding the environmental issues in Malaysia.
Malaysia is home to 15500 species of higher plants, 746 birds, 379 reptiles, 198 amphibians, and 368 species of fish. [3] There are also 286 species of mammals in Malaysia, of which 27 are endemic and 51 are threatened. Some of these mammals are found in both Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. The former has 193 species of mammals, while the latter has 215. Among the mammals that are native to Malaysia include the Asian elephant, the Indochinese tiger, the leopard cat and the pot-bellied pig. Endangered species include the orangutan, the tiger, the Asian elephant, the Malayan tapir, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Singapore roundleaf horseshoe bat. The tropical moist broadleaf forests of Peninsular Malaysia consist of 450 species of birds and over 6000 different species of trees, of which 1000 are vascular plants that occur naturally in karsts. [8] The rainforests of East Malaysia are denser, with over 400 species of tall dipterocarps and semihardwoods. [1]
The national flower of Malaysia is the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis , an evergreen that was introduced into the Malay peninsula in the 12th century. The rafflesia is also widely found in the country.
There are various ecoregions in Malaysia with varying degrees of prevalence. Major forests account for 45% of all ecoregions in the country, interrupted woods represent 33%, major wetlands constitute 3%, grass and shrubs make up 2% while other coastal aquatic regions form 8% of the country's land area, with crops and settlements taking up the remaining space. [9] Malaysia has many national parks, although most of them are de facto state parks. The Taman Negara National Park in central Peninsular Malaysia is 130 million years old, making it one of the oldest rainforests in the world. [3]
The Matang Mangrove Forest, otherwise known as the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MMFR), located in Perak State in peninsular Malaysia is about 40,000 hectares in size and is considered the largest stretch of mangrove forests in peninsular Malaysia. Conservationists and local residents work together to maintain the Matang Mangrove Forest, and aside from five small fishing villages located inside the forest, the land is uninhabited. Since conservation efforts started in 1906, after it was designated as a permanent forest reserve and managed closely by the Forestry Department, the MMFR has become one of the world's best managed mangrove forests, utilizing a 30-year rotational conservation method involving two artificial tree thinnings occurring in 15 and 20 year-old blocks, and then a clear felling during the 30 year-old block. [10] [11]
About 41% of the land area is classified as "low human disturbance", 19% is categorised as "medium human disturbance" and 40% falls under the "high human disturbance" category. 2.7% of the land is totally protected, 1.77% is partially protected and 4.47% is totally or partially protected. [9]
Malaysia lies along the 1st parallel north to the 7th parallel north circles of latitude, roughly equal to Roraima (Brazil), the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Malaysia has a tropical rainforest climate due to its proximity to the equator. The country is hot and humid all year round, with an average temperature of 27 °C (80.6 °F) and almost no variability in the yearly temperature. [12]
The country experiences two monsoon seasons, the Northeast Monsoon and the Southwest Monsoon. The Northeast Monsoon brings heavy rainfall to the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and western Sarawak, while the Southwest Monsoon signifies dryer conditions throughout the country except Sabah. During the Southwest Monsoon, most states experience minimal rainfall due to the stable atmospheric conditions in the region and the Sumatran mountain range, which brings about the rain shadow effect. Sabah experiences more rainfall because of the tail effect of typhoons in the Philippines. [13]
The urban heat island effect is caused by overdevelopment and general human activities in the cities of Malaysia.
The Air Pollution Index (API) is used by the government to describe the air quality in Malaysia. The API value is calculated based on average concentrations of air pollutants, namely sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and fine dust (PM10). The air pollutant with the highest concentration is the pollutant that will determine the value of the API. Fine dust is typically the dominant pollutant. [14]
The API is reported on a scale starting from 0. A score of 0 to 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 is very unhealthy and anything higher than 300 is hazardous. A state of emergency is declared in the reporting area if the API exceeds 500, which occurred in Port Klang in 2005. Non-essential government services are suspended, and all ports and schools in the affected area are closed. Private sector commercial and industrial activities in the reporting area might be prohibited.
In 1906, the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MMFR) was designated as a permanent forest reserve and has been closely monitored and maintained by the Forestry Department since 1908. [15]
The Environmental Quality Act of 1974 and other environmental laws are administered by the Division of Environment. Clean-air legislation was adopted in 1978, limiting industrial and automobile emissions. However, air pollutant remains a problem in Malaysian cities. [2]
The National Forestry Act of 1984 was enacted for sustainable forest management, but the act has not been enforced. [3]
Malaysia is a party to the following international environmental agreements:
Malaysia signed but did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of several non-governmental organisations devoted to the preservation and conservation of the environment in Malaysia: [16]
There are a number of environmental issues faced by Malaysia, such as deforestation and pollution. According to a study by Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies in 2008, about 30% of Malaysian coastline is subject to varying degrees of erosion. [17] According to the United Nations, Malaysia's deforestation rate was the highest among tropical nations. The country's annual deforestation rate increased 86% between 1999–2000 and 2000–2005. Malaysia lost an average of 140,200 hectares of its forests or 0.65% of its total forest area every year since 2000, whereas in the 1990s, the country lost an average of 78,500 hectares, or 0.35 percent of its forests annually. [3] [ needs update ]
Widespread urbanisation, agricultural fires and forest conversion for oil palm plantations and other forms of agriculture are the main causes of Malaysia's high deforestation rate. Logging is responsible for forest degradation in the country, and local timber companies have been accused by environmental organisations of failing to practice sustainable forest management. [3]
Mining in peninsular Malaysia has left a mark on the environment. Deforestation, pollution of rivers, and siltation have resulted in losses of agriculture, and road projects have opened new areas to colonisation. [3]
Air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions is a major issue in the urban areas of Malaysia. Malaysia is ranked 42nd in the world in terms of vehicle ownership per capita, with 273 Malaysians having vehicles out of every 1000. Public transportation has been introduced in the form of bus networks and railway systems as mitigation, but utilisation rates are low. [18]
Water pollution occurs due to the discharge of untreated sewage; the west coast of the Peninsular Malaysia is the most heavily populated area. 40% of the rivers in Malaysia are heavily polluted. The country has 580 cubic km of water, of which 76% is used for farming and 13% is used for industrial activity. Cities in Malaysia produce an average of 1.5 million tons of solid waste per year. [2]
In 2000, Malaysia was ranked fourth in the world in terms of per capita greenhouse gas emissions after taking into account land use change with 37.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per capita.
Periodic fires, which usually coincide with the events of el Niño, burn thousands of hectares of forests across Malaysia, especially in Malaysian Borneo. The haze originating from these fires and the fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia typically have adverse health effects on the populace, besides causing air pollution. [3] In particular, the 1997 Southeast Asian haze, the 2005 Malaysian haze and the 2006 Southeast Asian haze were caused by slash and burn activities in neighbouring Indonesia.
On 23 June 2013, the air pollutant index (API) in Muar, Johor has spiked to 746 as of 7.00am, which is more than twice the standard hazardous levels according to the Department of Environment website on Sunday. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has agreed to declare emergency status in Muar and Ledang with immediate effect after the API readings reached more than 750. He stated that the haze is due to the open-burning in Indonesia and he offered cloud seeding for them. However, the Indonesian Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya has identified eight companies with Malaysian links that are being investigated for burning in Riau and Jambi, that has led to the haze that is choking neighbouring countries Malaysia and Singapore. All schools in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are also called to close for a day due to the haze situation worsening as of 5pm. The highest API ever recorded in Malaysia was in Sarawak in 1997 with a reading of 860. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel was flayed by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for prioritising the pandas more than Malaysians, a RM25 million exhibition centre will be completed by November and two pandas will be transported from China. The minister also announced that he would be meeting his Indonesian counterpart this Wednesday to discuss about solutions to overcome the haze problem. [19] [20]
The geography of Malaysia includes both the physical and the human geography of Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country made up of two major landmasses separated by water—Peninsular Malaysia to the West and East Malaysia to the East—and numerous smaller islands that surround those landmasses. Peninsular Malaysia is on the southernmost part of the Malay Peninsula, south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra; East Malaysia comprises most of the northern part of Borneo island, and shares land borders with Brunei to the north and Indonesian Borneo to the south.
Peat swamp forests are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates.
The environment of Sri Lanka exhibits a remarkable biodiversity.
Environmental issues in Indonesia are associated with the country's high population density and rapid industrialisation, and they are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels, and an under-resourced governance.
The Borneo peat swamp forests ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, are on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The 2006 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution event caused by continuous, uncontrolled burning from "slash and burn" cultivation in Indonesia, which affected several countries in the Southeast Asian region and beyond, including Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, and as far away as Saipan; the effects of the haze may have even spread to South Korea. Local sources of industrial pollution also, inadvertently, contributed to increases in air toxicity ; notably at-risk areas included communities close to textile factories, fertilizer plants, meat-packing plants, industrialised dairy farms, shipping ports, and oil refineries. Air quality was lower, overall, for residents of more densely-populated cities. In the highly urban and industrialised Klang Valley of Malaysia, in particular, the surrounding elevated terrain acted as a natural retainer of polluted air, aggravating the situation as the haze set in.
The wildlife of Malaysia is diverse, with Malaysia being a megadiverse country. Most of the country is covered in rainforest, which hosts a huge diversity of plant and animal species. There are approximately 361 mammal species, 694 bird species, 250 reptile species, and 150 frog species found in Malaysia. Its large marine territory also holds a great diversity of life, with the country's coastal waters comprising part of the Coral Triangle.
The Southeast Asian haze is a fire-related recurrent transboundary air pollution issue. Haze events, where air quality reaches hazardous levels due to high concentrations of airborne particulate matter from burning biomass, have caused adverse health, environmental and economic impacts in several countries in Southeast Asia. Caused primarily by slash-and-burn land clearing, the problem flares up every dry season to varying degrees and generally is worst between July and October and during El Niño events. Transboundary haze in Southeast Asia has been recorded since 1972 with the 1997 and 2015 events being particularly severe.
Koompassia excelsa is an emergent tropical rainforest tree species in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. It is one of the tallest tropical tree species: the tallest measured specimen is 85.8 m or 88 m(281 or 289 ft) tall.
The Borneo lowland rain forests is an ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, of the large island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It supports approximately 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and several mammal species. The Borneo lowland rain forests is diminishing due to logging, hunting and conversion to commercial land use.
Deforestation in Malaysia is a major environmental issue in the country. Between 1990 and 2010, Malaysia lost an estimated 8.6% of its forest cover, or around 1,920,000 hectares. Logging and land clearing, particularly for the palm oil sector, have been significant contributors to Malaysia's economy. However, as a megadiverse country, efforts have been made to conserve Malaysia's forests and reduce the rate of deforestation.
Malaysia faces several environmental issues. Malaysia's environment possesses megadiverse biological diversity, with globally significant endemism and biodiversity, but is threatened by several issues. Deforestation is a major issue in the country that has led to many species becoming threatened with extinction. As a major economic sector, palm oil production has had a substantial environmental impact. Air pollution is also a major issue, with the country one of the most affected countries by seasonal Southeast Asian haze. The country is also affected by climate change.
Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. It is locally used as cooking oil, exported for use in much commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel. It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area than soybeans, rapeseed or sunflowers.
Deforestation in Borneo has taken place on an industrial scale since the 1960s. Borneo, the third largest island in the world, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, was once covered by dense tropical and subtropical rainforests.
Air pollution has been an ongoing problem in many countries in the Southeast Asia region, and Malaysia is one of the worst affected. Haze has been a major issue for the country, driven by slash and burn practices by farmers and peat fires blown by the wind from Indonesia.
The 2005 Malaysian haze was an air pollution crisis caused primarily by fires in neighbouring Indonesia. In August 2005, haze spread across Malaysia from forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, leading to air quality reaching hazardous levels in certain states and the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian government declared states of emergency in affected regions, closed schools and held crisis talks with Indonesian officials. Farmers regularly burn scrub and forest to clear land during the dry season for agricultural purposes. The 2005 haze was at the time the worst to hit Malaysia since 1997.
The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was a haze crisis that affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand, mainly during June and July 2013. The haze period was caused by large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that the haze was mainly due to smoke from fires burning in Riau province, Indonesia.
The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis affecting several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
A trans-national air pollution crisis affected several countries in Southeast Asia from February to September 2019, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Niger Delta swamp forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in southern Nigeria. It consists of freshwater swamp forests in the Niger Delta of the Niger River. This swamp forest is the second largest in Africa after the Congolian swamp forests. Although there are large cities just outside the ecoregion, the area has been relatively isolated by the difficulty of building roads across the swamps, although this is changing with development of oil and logging industries. Scientific surveys have only begun in recent years, and new species were being identified into the 1990s. Crude oil exploration and pollution has been a threat to forests in the Niger Delta region.
The damming of a river creates a reservoir upstream where waters spill out into the surrounding environments, flooding the natural habitats that existed before the dam's construction – completely destroying and eliminating all lifeforms within the perimeter of the dam. These lifeforms include carbon-rich plants and trees that upon death releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
The east coast of peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are most susceptible to sea level rise.
Utilization rates of public transport system in Malaysia are low.