Overview

2.4.2 Deforestation

Overview

  1. Malaysia has a size of about 19.4 million hectares with 60% of it forested
  2. In the past, most of the country was covered by primary (virgin) rainforest but now less than 20% remain
  3. It supports over 5500 species of flowering plants and 2500 of trees; of the 200 species of mammals, 80% can only live in forests
  4. The rate of deforestation here is increasing faster than anywhere else, with a mean of 140 thousand hectares being lost every year