She said the federal government cannot afford to be passive in implementing meaningful reforms to stop rampant deforestation and save the forests.

She blamed unethical deforestation for the flood disaster that ravaged several parts of the country last month.

The president of the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia (Peka) said the National Forestry Act 1984 needed to be amended to bring all matters related to logging under the federal government’s purview.

Since any moratorium on logging will hurt the revenue of state governments, Shariffa Sabrina said Putrajaya will need to compensate them by paying them double the normal amount of revenue.

She also called for Banjaran Titiwangsa to be gazetted as the forested main range was not being spared deforestation, as was evident from the air.

“There needs to be political will to carry out these reforms. The people need to play their part by electing leaders who love the environment because currently, we have politicians who are obsessed with projects.

“The prime minister needs to be bold in implementing these reforms,” Shariffa Sabrina said in a Sinar Harian interview hosted by veteran journalist Johan Jaaffar.

Looming death of ecotourism industry

During the interview, Shariffa Sabrina said rampant deforestation in the country would soon lead to the death of the ecotourism industry in the country.

“As a player in the ecotourism industry, I know what kind of a harrowing experience it is to advocate for a river to stay pristine by calling for the prohibition of logging at the upstream.

“I have even gone to court over this matter,” she said.

She added that the country would be losing its precious fauna like elephants and the Malayan tiger if care is not taken to reduce the conflict between them and humans with the encroachment of land settlements and the clearing of forests.

“Previous governments had also launched campaigns to save the Malayan tiger, but they were all failures.”

Shariffa Sabrina also said wild herbs, which the Orang Asli  had been depending on as medicines for so long, were also being wiped out.

“Our forests are medical hubs. That makes them a precious treasure trove to be preserved.

“I am not saying that our country should be filled with forests, but we should be able to preserve at least 50% of them for future generations,” she said.

Environmental NGOs

Shariffa Sabrina also lamented the lack of courage among environmental NGOs to speak out against unethical deforestation practices in the country. She blamed this on the fear of repercussions.

“Many are afraid of speaking out due to fear of being sabotaged, being blackmailed or defunded.

“Many are also afraid of speaking out since a lot of the ’top people’ are involved in logging activities with the backing of the state governments,” she said.

She also acknowledged that there is a lack of coordination among NGOs despite championing similar causes and that this has led to the “absence of a united loud voice” against environmental destruction.