I live my life alternating in between a paddy village and in an urban setting, which has largely diminished the time I have to experience the true wilderness of nature and life. In recent years I have become more environmentally aware, and wanted to learn more about the nature we live in. To understand more about the tropical beauty in Southeast Asia, I recently flew over from Peninsular Malaysia to visit the Niah Cave National Park in Sarawak, East Malaysia.

At the entrance of the national park, to reach the cave, we first took a boat across a muddy river, before descending deeper into the forest. This forest is like no other – it is a primitive rainforest, dense and lush, with a canopy so thick that it obstructs the penetration of sunlight reaching its bottom. I cannot help but to notice how the air feels so much more refreshing compared to the cities, and I love the newfound sense of peace and attachment to the greens. There were many trees and leaves which shapes were foreign to a city girl like me. As we descent deeper into the jungle, things became stranger. Despite an extensive network of modern plank walks which made access to the forest much easier, wilderness truly takes over. There were many centipedes (dinosaur version) crawling on the handrail, all of which ranging in the size and length of 15cm, resembling like nothing that I see back in the cities. The monkeys were screaming and proclaiming territories loudly, butterflies flapping their vibrantly colourful wings, birds swinging between trees and mosses on ground thick and slippery. A squirrel walked near me for a treat, and left when it realised that I was tricking it. This combination of occurrence in this jungle certainly was a shocking revelation for me, that it felt hilariously like I was experiencing a cultural shock in my own country!

The cave served as a stronger reminder for me that human, regardless of how brilliant we think we are, certainly rely tremendously on our mother nature more than we would like to admit. Inhabited by prehistoric human some 40,000 years ago, this great cave houses not only Paleolithic cave paintings, but also shows our relationship as human with our environment. The forest serves as a habitat for the humans where we could hunt and collect food, while providing us with a good source of water. As sunset draws closer, the sky suddenly turned dark as thousands of swiftlets flew home in flocks from the forests to return to the cave. The cave itself was by no means quiet, with bats bearing their offspring in every corner of the cave roof. By this time, many men have arrived, to collect guano and bird nest, selling them for a living.

The cave was stunning, the animals noisy and the forest refreshing. Just when I thought to call it a day, on my way back into the city, we drove past many trucks that carry big timber balks?

It felt like a miracle, that in the past, our ancestors could survive in this cave with the abundance of the forest and what they could forage for food in there. All these animals were lives that I have never seen in a city. The well-preserved forest was an epitome of how biodiversity in rainforest can flourish. It was a truly beautiful sight. Yet, we are cutting our trees, and most of us are still blind to the effects of deforestation.

Deforestation leads to the loss of precious trees that are vital in replenishing our planet with the oxygen we need while utilizing the carbon dioxide. With the increase of this greenhouse gas, global warming ensues. Without trees and their roots, the soil integrity and cohesion decrease, leading to frequent erosion, landslides and subsequent safety issues. Although Malaysia ranks 21^st in biodiversity globally, deforestation has threatened biodiversity. Orangutans and proboscis monkey, better known as long-nosed monkey, are both unique to Borneo and are famously facing great risk of extinction. Same goes to tigers, elephants, and many more. More importantly, due to deforestation, many indigenous communities that depend on forests for livelihoods and shelter have lost their homes and cultures. Tribes in East Malaysia are particularly affected.

Illegal loggings have been rampant particularly in Sarawak. The Sarawak region Marine Police expressed their concern that there was a leap of illegal logging cases from 292 between January to July 2016 to 492 in 2017 for the same period. The value of seized timbers was worth more than RM 10 million ($2.5 million) each batch. This does not include the ones that are discrete and not arrested. Furthermore, World Bank has estimated that in Malaysia, trees are cut down 4 times more than the recommended sustainable rate.

Between 1998 to 2010, Malaysia had lost 8.6% of our forest cover. More actions are required. To restore our forests, a combination of solutions must be acted upon: to reduce the number of tree loss and to actively increase the number of trees planted. With the vast size of Borneo and its scarce population, logging can easily go unnoticed. Tighter scrutinization are important. More police should be put on patrol to monitor the illegal activities around the forests particularly during night time. Cutting-edge technologies like drones can be used to check for suspicious activities among trees. On another hand, legal logging companies should be regulated, taxed and their license be required for monitoring annually. Notably, the effort of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (more commonly known as Friends of the Earth Malaysia), which is an independent organization founded in 1977 and aims to give social justice to people whose lives have been affected by environmental changes. They have collaborated with Indigenous people to blockade at several areas in Kelantan to stop forest exploitation, since 15^th February 2018.

Meanwhile, existing trees must be well taken care of. We must list more primitive rainforest as critically endangered and add a conservation status. Moreover, the location of hydroelectric dam should be examined and approved by different bodies to make sure that their constructions do not require the damage to these endangered rainforests. The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) was founded in 1929 and has been wining many awards as a statutory body in studying about tropical forests, their properties and taking the necessary steps in ensuring that our forests can continue flourishing.

We also need to rethink they way we farm. According to a report by United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change, 48% of deforestation are for subsistence farming and 32% for commercial farming. As the world?s largest palm oil exporter, we must transform our commercial agricultural sector by learning from other countries. Among which, Netherlands, despite being among the smallest countries by size in Europe, has produced the most tomatoes per square mile globally, with techniques like vertical farming and innovative horticulture.

Diversifying our economy would also be essential in balancing the equilibrium of forest conservation. Since Malaysia?s independence, the Sarawak economy was largely and almost solely dependent on logging, rubber export, palm oil production and petroleum output, all of which concern the exploitation of natural resources and agricultural change. If we diversify this region?s economy, we can train more workers to be equipped with vocational skills and expertise that allow them to cope and get involved with a digitalized environment in this global era. As time passes, this can create more job positions, leading to permanent jobs, a stabilized economy that would help Sarawak?s transition from exploiting natural resources for short term gains to a long-term vision of creating high-value industry.

Organizations can be set up to encourage the replenishing of forest among communities. The Global Environment Centre is a non-profit organization based in Malaysia that was established in 1998 and works on protecting our environment and forests. Another organization called Free Tree Society is giving out 2,200 free plants on 14^th April 2018 in conjunction with Earth Day to promote a greener earth. Moreover, educating our children in schools about the role that rainforests play in sustaining our planet are a critical step in ensuring that our future generation can continue the work on conservation.

In India, a couple bought a 55-acre land to plant trees in 1991. Today, it has become the only private forest, and they have tigers and elephants living in their forest. This is a beautiful vision, and a genius long-term plan that is turned into an inspiring action and is sustainable for us and our planet. We are cutting our forests down for short-term economic gains, without consideration that with such short sightedness, human civilization will endure only as long as these financial gains. More awareness should be instilled and more discussions should be raised. Talks are easy, but without action, we will keep losing our trees. Meanwhile, the earth continues heating up.

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/05/12/sarawak-timber-companies-take-a-hit/

http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htmlpdf/application/pdf/pub_07_financial_flows.pdf

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2017/08/08/492-cases-illegal-logging-sarawak

https://web.archive.org/web/20091212232122/http://www.perc.org/articles/article1103.php

http://life.nthu.edu.tw/~d868210/jpg/hwk2/content.html

https://www.foe-malaysia.org/about_us

http://radiomundoreal.fm/10287-dignified-resistance-in-malaysia?lang=en

http://www.climatechangenews.com/2013/07/18/80-of-malaysian-borneos-rainforests-destroyed-by-logging/

http://www.climatechangenews.com/2013/07/18/80-of-malaysian-borneos-rainforests-destroyed-by-logging/

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/2000/Malaysia.htm

http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/11/22/sustainable-logging-benefits-environment-and-economy/

https://rightsanddeforestation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Malaysia-deforestation-drivers-and-human-rights.pdf

https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2017/11/22/keeping-pace-with-changes-abang-johari-sarawak-must-diversify-its-economy-and-keep-up-with-technolog/

https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/substantial-infrastructure-investments-diversify-sarawaks-economy

http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/11/22/sustainable-logging-benefits-environment-and-economy/

https://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/601.html

https://www.frim.gov.my/en/