Forests
Forests are home to some of our planet’s most extraordinary plants and creatures. As natural carbon sinks, storing carbon in soil and trees as they grow, they are also essential in the fight against climate change.
But our forests are under threat from deforestation and increasingly frequent, destructive activities that threaten the capacity of forests to sustain us. When trees are cut down, burned, or both, any carbon stores is released into the atmosphere, worsening the climate emergency.
80%
of the world’s land biodiversity has made forests their home, including many varieties of trees, plants, animals, birds, insects and fungi working together in complex ecosystems.
2.9mil ha
of humid primary forest was lost in Malaysia between 2002 and 2023.
Source: Global Forest Watch
56%
of all tree cover loss between 2001 to 2023 in Malaysia was in Sarawak (3.27Mha) and Sabah (1.88Mha), followed by Pahang (1.27Mha).
Source: Global Forest Watch
The problem
In the Southeast Asian region, some of the biggest culprits of deforestation stems from unsustainable agricultural practices for palm oil, pulp and paper or monoculture farming. While logging, mining and infrastructure projects also play a part.
Unchecked deforestation and land clearing continues with the expansion of these industries, effecting us all – from the lives of orang asal & asli who are evicted from their ancestral land, to communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Understand the issues better
Deforestation
Our Work with Allies
What we do
Our work is to hold polluters, governments and groups responsible for devastating environmental acts, accountable.
And it all starts with investigations and documentation of evidence to pinpoint who could be the source of major forest fires and deforestation in the region. Alongside evidence gathered, we conduct research while working with allies and indigenous communities to call out for sustainable solutions in the protection of forests.
Because protecting forests is about defending human rights too.
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Together we are part of a growing, global movement determined to bring about the changes our planet desperately needs.