Forests and Development in Peninsular Malaysia
Jeyamalar Kathirithamby-Wells
This ground-breaking, in-depth history of forestry and forest politics in Peninsular Malaysia will be an essential reference for anyone working on the subject.
Malaysia has long been singled out for emulation by developing nations, an accolade contradicted in recent years by concerns over its capital- rather than poverty-driven forest depletion. The Malaysian case supports the call for re-appraisal of entrenched prescriptions for development that go beyond material needs.
Nature and Nation explores the relations between people and forests in Peninsular Malaysia where the planet’s richest terrestrial ecosystem has collided with the fastest pace of economic transforma-tion experienced in the tropical world. It engages the interplay of history, culture, science, economics and politics to provide an holistic interpretation of the continuing relevance of forests to state and society in the moist tropics.
“The author’s work makes a major contribution to the forest history of Peninsular Malaysia … [I]t will long be regarded as a ground-breaking and seminal study that no one with an interest in the environmental history of the region can afford not to read. Nothing remotely like it exists for the Peninsula and I know of no other comparable work on any other part of the Tropics. It is sui
generis.” Robert Aiken, Concordia University
athir
ithamb
y-W
ells
NATURE
AND
NATION
Forests and Development
in Peninsular Malaysia
www.niaspress.dkN
at
ur
e and
N
at
ion
Jeyamalar Kathirithamby-Wells
www.nus.edu.sg/npu ,-789971-693022-ISBN 9971-69-302-X KWells_nias-sup_pbk.indd 1 2/8/05 13:50:01NA T U RE A N D NA T I O N
KWells_nias-hbk_prelims.fm Page i Friday, March 10, 2006 3:27 PMN O R D I C I N S T I T U T E O F A S I A N S T U D I E S Man & Nature in Asia
Series Editor: Arne Kalland
Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo
The implication that environmental degradation in Asia has occurred only as a product of Westernization ignores Asia’s long history of environmental degradation and disaster. The principle aim of this series, then, is to encourage critical research into the human–nature relationship in Asia. The series’ multidisciplinary approach invites studies in a number of topics: how people make a living from nature; their knowledge and perception of their
natural environment and how this is reflected in their praxis; indigenous systems of resource management; environmental problems, movements and campaigns; and many more. The series will be of particular interest to anthropologists, geographers, historians, political scientists and sociologists as well as to policy makers and those interested in
development and environmental issues in Asia. RE CE N T T I T L E S
Japanese Images of Nature. Cultural Perspectives Pamela J. Asquith and Arne Kalland (eds) Environmental Challenges in South-East Asia
Victor T. King (ed.)
State, Society and the Environment in South Asia Stig Toft Madsen (ed.)
Environmental Movements in Asia Arne Kalland and Gerard Persoon (eds)
Wildlife in Asia John Knight (ed.)
The Social Dynamics of Deforestation in the Philippines Gerhard van den Top
Co-management of Natural Resources in Asia Gerard Persoon, Diny van Est and Percy Sajise (eds)
Fengshui in China Ole Bruun
Nature and Nation. Forests and Development in Peninsular Malaysia Jeyamalar Kathirithamby-Wells
NATURE
AND
NATION
F
orests and
D
evelopment
in
P
eninsular
M
alaysia
Jeyamalar Kathirithamby-Wells
KWells_nias-hbk_prelims.fm Page iii Friday, March 10, 2006 3:27 PMFirst published in 2005 by NIAS Press Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Leifsgade 33, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark tel: (+45) 3532 9501 • fax: (+45) 3532 9549 e–mail: books@nias.ku.dk • website: www.niaspress.dk
Man & Nature in Asia series, no. 9 Simultaneously published in North America
by the University of Hawai‘i Press and
in the ASEAN countries, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand by Singapore University Press
© Jeyamalar Kathirithamby-Wells 2005
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Kathirithamby-Wells, J.
Nature and nation : Forests and development in peninsular Malaysia. - (Man & nature in Asia ; 9)
1.Forests and forestry - Malaysia - History 2.Forest management - Malaysia 3.Forest policy - Malaysia 4.Malaysia - Economic policy 5.Malaysia - Politics and government
I.Title II.Hall, Clare III.Nordic Institute of Asian Studies 333.7’5’095951
ISBN 87-91114-22-5 (NIAS hardback) ISBN 87-91114-49-7 (NIAS paperback)
Typesetting by NIAS Press Produced by Bookchase and printed in the European Union KWells_nias-hbk_prelims.fm Page iv Friday, March 10, 2006 3:27 PM
For
David, Chris and Adrian KWells_nias-hbk_prelims.fm Page v Friday, March 10, 2006 3:27 PM
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements … xii Glossary … xv
Abbreviations … xxi
Note on Spelling, Terminology, Measurements and Currencies … xxvii Preamble: Forests and Development … xxix
Development and Environmental Change • Attitudes to Nature and Forest Use • State, Forestry and Civil Society • Structure and Content
Introduction: Nature, Culture and State … 1
The Rain Forest Environment • Co-opting Nature • Nature and Culture • Forests and Livelihoods • New Market Forces • Culture and Knowledge
Part I: Colonial Adventure and Tropical Resource, 1786–1900
1. Tropical Nature and the Imperial Design, 1786–1874 … 27
Pioneer Botanical Exploration • Paradise Regained • Taming the Wilderness • The Turning Tide • The Beginnings of Colonial Conservation • New
Opportunities, New Values • Towards Forestry
2. Forests in the Pioneer Era, 1874– c.1900: Boon or Bane? … 58
The Commodification of Forests • Pioneer Conservation • El Niño and Shifting Cultivation • Taming the Landscape • Forest Administration and the Gutta-Percha Crisis • Towards Professional Forestry
Part II: Forestry and State Formation, 1901–41
3. Appropriating the Forest, 1901–41 … 87
Tools of Appropriation • The Malayan Forester • Control over Economic Species • Towards Sustainability • Co-opting the Chinese Timber Industry • The Enigma of Planned Production • The Implications of Decentralization 4. Segmented Space and Livelihoods … 125
Forest Law and the Rural Invasion • Forestry and the Forest People • Failing Strategies of Survival • Extending the Colonial Domain
5. Reconciling Conflicting Claims … 149
The Implications of Plantation Agriculture • Mining and the Scramble for the Lowlands • Invading the Hills
Nature and Nation • viii
Part III: The Emergence of a Conservation Ethic, Pre-World War II
6. Nature, Ecology and Conservation … 165
Nature and Imperial Science • Ecology and Conservation • Ecology and Economy • Defining New Ecological and Social Perimeters
7. Linking Nature and Nation … 189
Hunting • Man or Beast? • Wildlife Protection and the National Park • Nature and Nation
Part IV: Forest Use and Abuse, 1942–69
8. The Seminal Years of Forest Politics, 1942–56 … 229
Forests for the War • The Japanese Industrial Thrust • Forest Refuge • Forests and Radicalism • Issues of Land Use • Social Engineering • Technical Revolution • Malay Aspirations
9. Development at a Price: 1957–69 … 265
An Aborted Policy • Crisis of the Rural Landless • Boom or Bust? • Science, Development and Forestry • Education and the Public Conscience • Towards Multi-Purpose Parks and Reserves • Reinventing Eden
Part V: Reconciling Nature and Nation, 1970–1980s
10. Development and Environmentalism … 307
The New Environmental Age • The Seminal Year, 1972 • Environmental Policy: Real or Notional? • Going Only Half Way • NGOs and Public Protest 11. Integrating Biodiversity with Development: Myth or Reality? … 337
Multi-Purpose Parks and Reserves • Biodiversity in Tension with Development • Malaysia and the Tropical Forest Action Plan • In the Grip of Green Gold • Managing Multi-Purpose Forests • State Intransigence
Part VI: National Resource, Global Heritage, 1984–2000
12. The Politics of Resource … 365
Malaysia and the Global Environmental Agenda • The North–South Divide • Federal–State Tensions • Trade Liberalization and Sustainable Production 13. Domestic Response to the New International Order: Rio and After … 392
Policy and Practice • The Conundrum of Sustainable Management • An Inte-grated Management Initiative • Over the Top • Law, Ethics and Accountability Conclusion: Nature for Nation … 415
Forestry and Development • Government and Environmentalism • New Uses, New Values • Poorer but Wiser?
Contents • ix Appendices
1. Forest Area, Peninsular Malaysia, 1946–2000 … 429
2. Forest Area, Timber and Revenue Extracted, 1946–2000 … 430 3. Population Compared to Forest Area, 1891–2006 … 431
4. Forest and Forest-Related Domestic Policies, Legislation and International Agreements … 432
5. Annual Average Southern [ENSO] Oscillation Index, 1880–1990 … 433 Bibliography … 435
Index … 475
M A P S 1. Peninsular Malaysia … xxxvii
2. British rule in the Malay Peninsula … 124 3. Distribution of Orang Asli … 132
4. Forest cover, 2000 … 364
I L LU S T R AT I O N S 1. Plants in traditional use … 4
i. Pandanus halicorpus(pandan) • ii. Nypa fruticans(nipah) • iii. Eleiodoxa conferta (kelubi/asam paya)
2. Trees traditionally protected … 5
i. Koompassia excelsa (tualang) • ii. Antiaris toxicaria (ipuh) • iii. Dryobalanops aromatica (kapur)
3. Purveyors of indigenous botanical knowledge … 16
i. Medicine man (bomoh), Straits Settlements, c. 1891 • ii. Plant collector: Mohamed Haniff (1872–1930)
4. ‘Glugor House’ and spice plantations, Penang, c. 1820 … 35. 5. Dwellings fashioned out of forest products … 56–57
i. Orang Asli dwelling in deep jungle, West Peninsula, c. 1950 • ii. Malay nobleman’s house, Kuala Kangsar, Perak, 1878 • iii. ‘Smoke House Inn’: Bungalow at Kukup, Johor, c. 1900
6. Rhizophora (bakau) … 59
7. Tapping Dyera costulata (jelutong) … 99 8. Rattan drying … 100
9. Forest life … 134
i. Orang Asli family, Perak, c.1950 • ii. Orang Asli with blowpipe, c.1950 • iii. Parkia spp.(petai) among varieties of wild fruit
Nature and Nation • x 10. Life on the Sungai Tahan, c.1950 … 136
11. Orang Asli settlement near Boh Tea Estate, Cameron Highlands, c. 1970 … 138
12. Tin-mining landscape … 152 13. Hill development … 158
i. Fraser’s Hill development, c.1930 • ii. Tea plantation, Cameron Highlands, c.1950
14. Threatened animals … 191
i. Gaur: Bos gaurus (seladang) • ii. Barking deer: Muntiacus muntjak(kijang) • iii. Tapir: Tapirus indicus (badak cipan), Taman Negara
15. Snipe shoot, Jin Heng Estate, Kuala Kurau, Perak, c. 1930 … 195 16. Theodore Hubback … 199
17. Gunung Tahan from 1,500 m. … 217
18. The twentieth-century revolution in logging … 250
i. Elephant haulage, Hulu Jeli, Kelantan • ii. Manual haulage in swamp forest iii. ‘San-tai-wong’ • iv. Tractor haulage
19. Lesser mouse deer: Tragulus javanicus (pelanduk, kancil) … 282 20. Logging and land development … 323
i. i. Forest, cleared and burned for oil palm, north of Kuala Terengganu • ii. Timber lorries, Labis, Johor
21. Medicinal herbs … 341
i. Cibotium barometz(penawar jambi; bulu pusi) • ii. Eurycoma longifolia (tongkat ali)
22. Surviving Batek life … 400
i. Foraging • ii. Fishing • iii. ‘Burial’ among the trees
Natural history drawings
Prelims: Cibotium barometz by Barbara Everard
Sectional starts: William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, courtesy of Singapore History Museum, National Heritage Board
i areca-nut palm (Areca catechu) … 25 • ii black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis) … 85 • iii rambutan tree (Nephelium lappaceum) … 163 • iv agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis) with mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) … 227 • v wood-oil tree (Dipterocarpus sp.) … 307 • vi monitor lizard (Varanus sp.) … 365 Chapter starts: by Mariam Jutta
Hoya lacunosa… xxix • Piper nigrum … 1 • Calophyllum inophyllum … 27 • Arisaema roxburghii … 58 • Rhizophora apiculata … 87 • Agathis borneensis KWells_nias-hbk_prelims.fm Page x Friday, March 10, 2006 3:27 PM
Contents • xi
… 125 • Medinilla crassifolia … 149 • Pachycentria constricta … 165 • Arenga obtusifolia … 189 • Zingiber sp. … 229 • Maingaya malayana … 265 • Etlingera venusta …307 • Ophioglossum pendulum … 337 • Nephelium maingayi … 365 • Tacca integrifolia … 392 • Mesua ferrea … 415
Cover illustrations
Front: Wood-oil tree (Dipterocarpus sp.) by an early-19th-century Chinese artist, from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, courtesy of Royal Asiatic Society
Back: People and the National Park, courtesy of Ken Rubeli TA B L E S
1. Reserved Forest relative to State and Alienated Land, FMS 1913–38 … 90 2. Revenues from forest produce, the Malay States, 1911, 1927, 1929 and
1932 … 101
3. Rate of reservation in the FMS, 1922–38 … 111
4. Erosion levels in catchments of the Bertam, Kial and Telum Rivers, Cameron Highlands … 244
5. Projected log production and domestic consumption in Peninsular Malaysia, 1976–2010 … 314
F I G U R E S
1. Comparison of wood extracted from State and Reserved Forests in the FMS, 1904–37 … 109
2. Amount of timber and fuel consumed, FMS, 1909–35 … 110
3. Number of cases of illegal logging and fines collected, Peninsular Malaysia, 1990–92 … 374
Preface and Acknowledgements
he most immediate obstacle to the growth of a pan-Malayan way of thinking on the part of the inhabitants was, perhaps, geo-graphical limitation,’ suggested B. Simandjuntak writing on Malayan federalism in 1969. ‘Mountain ranges clad with dense tropical jungle, and swampy plains, tended to inhibit popular movements’.1 Development, accelerated in the last half century, has almost entirely eliminated this supposed physical barrier that stood in the way of social integration. Yet the political and cultural plurality that dominated the Malayan mentality before Independence lives on intact. Perceptions of tropical forests, in the meantime, have changed profoundly. The emergence of environmental discourse during the last quarter of the twentieth century has generated a new social ethos. Indeed, far from standing in the way of integration, nature as common heritage offers a unique focus for national interaction, transcending ethnic divisions.
The elusive pan-Malaysian identity as this study suggests, might be sought not in commonplace notions of material development but precisely in society’s changing but abiding interactions with the natural environment. The evidence rests on two critical themes, first, the enduring importance of the forest to Malaysian development and, second, the articulation of this reality through the rise and co-evolution of tropical ecology and the global conservation move-ment. The composite nature of a ‘total’ history of human-forest relations in the moist tropics has proved both daunting and challenging to represent. The wide chronological and thematic spectrum that the project spans has involved the study not only of historical sources but extensive literature on biology, ecology, forestry and conservation. Much of this, in the form of original manuscripts and rare scientific reports, remains scattered among institutional and depart-mental libraries in Malaysia. A treasure trove at risk of further dispersal and loss, it adds hugely to Malaysian historiography. The exploration of human– environmental relations through these sources, apart from contextualizing Malaysia within the development of global science and environmentalism, lends insights into social processes significant to nation building, conventionally over-looked.
The nature of the project attracted the interest of foresters and forest eco-logists, who readily offered their knowledge and experience. Throughout the research phase, I was particularly fortunate to have had the help and advice of
‘T
John Wyatt-Smith and Tim Whitmore, who contributed extensively to the development of forest ecology and conservation in Peninsular Malaysia. Both read and criticized drafts of the manuscript but, sadly, neither lived to see the book completed. Peter Burgess has been equally generous in sharing his great store of forestry knowledge and recollection of important times in the Peninsula. He, too, gave of his time generously, read draft chapters with patience and commented meticulously. This notwithstanding, differences in interpretation of particular issues and policies are strictly my own responsibility. Precarious as it was for a non-specialist to tread the path of forest science, exploring the ground where the interests of the natural and the human sciences converge was a necessary risk for better understanding human-forest relations.
At various times the project had the generous support of the British Council (Kuala Lumpur), the British Academy and the Chevening Scholarships Pro-gramme under the British High Commissioner’s Research Award scheme (Kuala Lumpur). The Geography Department and the South Asian Studies Centre, Cambridge University, generously extended their facilities to me. Ideas took shape at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Wassenaar, where a Fellowship provided material support and as warm and congenial an environment as any researcher might wish.
In the course of my research I have accumulated debts of gratitude to various institutions and individuals for help with research materials: at Cambridge University, Terry Barringer and Rachel Rowe (Smuts Librarian), successively in charge of the University Library Royal Commonwealth Society Collection; Lionel Carter and Kevin Greenbank, South Asian Studies Centre Library; Jane Robinson, Geography Department Library; and Richard Savage, Plant Science Library. Mary Cordiner at the IUCN Library, Cambridge answered varies queries. At the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kate Pickard and Mandy Ingram lightened the task of locating relevant material. At Oxford, I am indebted to staff of the Plant Science Library and especially Roger Mills who stepped out of his way to respond to urgent inquiries. In Malaysia I am indebted to the staff of the Arkib Negara; the University of Malaya Library, especially R. Selvarajah of the Law Faculty; the Forest Department Headquarters, Kuala Lumpur; and the Forest Research Institute (FRIM), Kepong. Noor Liza Ahmad Zahari of WWF Malaysia, well versed in Malaysian conservation literature, was enormously helpful. In the Netherlands, Dinny Young at NIAS, Wassenaar; and in Washington D.C., the staff of the World Bank Secretariat Library brought relevant material to my attention.
A conference hosted by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, on Asian perceptions of nature encouraged me to broaden the scope of my study. Aspects of my research benefited from presentations at seminars and conferences, in Leiden, Wassenaar, Bangkok, Cambridge, Kuala Lumpur, New Haven and London. The many contacts that resulted provided insight and facilitated my research in various ways. I thank especially: Chris Bayly, Richard
Grove and Keith Richards at Cambridge; Henk Wesseling (former Director), Woulter Hogenholtz and Willem van der Wal at NIAS, Wassenaar; Leonard Blussé of Leiden University; Junko Tomuru of Kobe University and Yoshikazu Sato of Tokyo University who provided Japanese translations; Jim Scott of Yale University; Vinita Dhamodaran of Sussex University; Jeff Burley at the former Oxford Forestry Institute; and Syed Farid Alatas of the National University, Singapore. John Gullick, Nigel Philips, John Bastin and Ivan Enoch in the UK brought salient literature to my attention and readily shared their special interests. In Kuala Lumpur, I had the valuable cooperation of S. Appanah, Francis Ng, Cheong Phang Fee, N. Manokaran, Lim Hin Fui and Chamon Suresh Gopal of FRIM, Kepong ; Shaharuddin Mohamad Ismail, Nazir Khan Nazim Khan, Tuan Marina Tuan Ibrahim, Alias Mohd Saad of the Forestry Depart-ment; Nadzri Yahaya of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environ-ment (MOSTE); Ramdasan Krishnan and Joan Thang of WWF Malaysia; Faezaah Ismail and Shamsul Akmar of the New Straits Times newspaper and Tong Pei Sin and Sonny Wong of the Malayan Nature Society.
The Library of Cambridge University permitted the use of illustrations from the Royal Commonwealth Society Collection. The Royal Asiatic Society and the Singapore History Museum, National Heritage Board, provided images from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings. Wendy Whitmore generously allowed me access to Tim Whitmore’s extensive photographic collec-tion. For other illustrations I thank Wetland International Asia Pacific, Kuala Lumpur; the Library of the Botanic Gardens, Aberdeen; and Gordon Smith, Ken Rubeli, the Earl of Cranbrook and Henry Barlow. Scott Maloney and Ian Agnew of Cambridge University assisted with graphics. I am especially grateful to Mariam Jutta for her diligence and cooperation in producing the botanical drawings at short notice. At NIAS Press, Gerald Jackson, Editor in Chief, de-voted much time to the publication of this monograph, including the prepara-tion of maps, graphs and tables, all with patience and good humour.
Among the many friends who offered their support and hospitality during research trips, I owe a special debt to Arthur and Romila Samuel, Linda and Phan Kok Chai, Wendy Whitmore and Peter and Mary Ashton.
The enthusiasm of my husband, David Wells, for the project and his critical comments and insights added much to my endeavour. For errors of fact or interpretation I alone remain responsible.
Jeyamalar Kathirithamby-Wells Clare Hall, Cambridge
NO TE
1 B. Simandjuntak, Malayan Federalism: A Study of Federal Problems in a Plural Society, Oxford University Press: Kuala Lumpur, 1969, p. 2.
Glossary
M A L AY TE R M Salam world, universe
alam semula jadi literally ‘the world in its original state’ or nature
asli original, aboriginal, genuine
bakau mangrove
balai meeting place, audience hall
belukar secondary forest, scrub
bendahara prime minister; finance minister
bendang see sawah
bomoh/ dukun medicine-man, magician
buah fruit
bumiputera literally ‘son of the soil’, a term officially used for Malays and all indigenous people
damar resin
dato, datuk title traditionally borne by non-royal chief; title conferred in modern times in recognition of services to the nation
dukun see bomoh
dusun orchard
gembala mahout
getah latex, rubber
gunung mountain
hantu evil spirit, ghost
harimau akuan/jadi-jadian were-tiger (cf. werewolf)
hilir downriver
hulu/ulu upriver
hutan forest
hutan rimba primary forest, primeval forest
jenang assistant or representative of a chief or ruler
jerat noose, snare
kampung village
kayu wood, timber
kerabat di-raja royalty
keramat objects and people worshipped for their perceived magical powers
kongsi a partnership or Chinese business group
ladang swidden
lalang the grass Imperata cylindrica
maju progress
mandur overseer
menebang to cut down
minyak oil
mukim district
negeri state
orang kaya literally ‘rich man’; title borne by nobility and chiefs
palung Wooden structure with sluice boxes for collecting tin ore
panglung Chinese log-extraction system
pantang taboo
pantun improvised quatrain with inner assonance
pawang shaman, magician
penghulu village head
pengkalan river jetty
pikul weight equivalent to 60 kg
pokok tree, plant
raja muda heir to the throne
relau furnace for smelting tin
rimba primary forest, jungle
Rukunegara articles of faith of the nation
sakai term originally used for aborigines in general, now considered
pejorative and replaced by the term Orang Asli.
sawah paddy field: wet-rice cultivation
semangat vital force, energy, spirit of life
sungai river
temenggung minister traditionally in charge of defence, internal security and affairs of the palace
tengku/tungku title for Malay princes tengku mahkota crown prince
tongkang barge, vessel for transporting cargo between ship and shore
tungku see tengku
ubi edible root or underground stem
ulu see hulu
Yang Dipertuan Agung title borne by the constitutional head of state in Malaya/ Malaysia
M A L AY NA M E S F O R F LO R A A N D P L A N T P RO D U C TS
akar laka (Dalbergia parviflora)
asam gelugur (from Garcinia atroviridis)
bakau (Rhizophora spp.)
bakau kurap, belukap (Rhizophora mucronata) bakau minyak (Rhizophora apiculata)
balau (Shorea spp.)
berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris)
bertam (Eugeissona tristis)
bintangur batu, penaga laut red poon (Calophyllum inophyllum and C. lanigerum) bulu pusi, penawar jambi (Cibotium barometz)
cengal, penak (Neobalanocarpus heimii) damar laut merah (Shorea kunstleri) damar minyak (Agathis borneensis)
durian (Durio spp.)
gaharu/ karas eaglewood (from Aquilaria malaccensis)
gambir gambier (from Uncaria gambir)
gelam paperbark (Melaleuca cajuputi)
getah perca gutta-percha (from Palaquium gutta)
getah rambung (from Ficus elastica)
getah sondek (from Palaquium maingayi)
getah taban putih (from Palaquium obovatum)
giam (Hopea nutans)
jelutung jelutong (from Dyera costulata)
jernang rattan (from Daemonorops didymophylla)
kapur camphor (from Dryobalanops aromatica)
kayu arang ebony (Diospyros maingayi)
kedondong (Canarium spp.)
kelat (Eugenia spp.)
kelubi/asam paya (Eleiodoxa conferta)
kempas (Koompassia malaccensis)
kemuning (Murraya paniculata)
kepung (Shorea macroptera and S. ovalis)
keranji (Dialium spp.)
keruing (Dipterocarpus spp.)
kesumba keling annatto (from Bixa orellana)
kesumba safflower, false saffron (from Carthamus tinctorius)
kubin, telinga gajah (Macaranga gigantea)
kulim (Scorodocarpus borneensis)
kumus (Shorea spp.)
lalang (Imperata cylindrica)
leban (Vitex spp. )
mata kucing (Hopea spp.)
mengkuang screw-palm (Pandanus spp.)
meranti (Shorea spp.)
merbau (Intsia palembanica)
neram (Dipterocarpus oblongifolius)
nibung (Oncosperma tigillarium)
nipah nipa (Nypa fruticans)
palas (Licuala spp.)
pandan see mengkuang
penak see cengal
penawar jambi see bulu pusi
pendarahan (Myristica spp.)
perah (Elateriospermum tapos)
piai (Acrostichum aureum)
rami (Boehmeria nivea)
rambung (Ficus elastica)
resak (Vatica and Cotylelobium spp.)
resam (Gleichenia linearis)
rotan manau rattan (Calamus ornatus, Calamus manan)
rumbia sago palm (Metroxylon sagu)
sagu (from Metroxylon sagu)
sepang sappan (Caesalpinia sappan)
seraya (Shorea curtisii)
sondek see getah sondek
taban (Palaquium spp.)
taban merah (Palaquium gutta)
tembusu (Fagraea spp.)
tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia)
tualang (Koompassia excelsa)
tuba (Derris spp.)
tumu (Bruguiera gymnorhiza)
M A L AY NA M E S F O R FAU NA A N D A N I M A L P RO D U C TS
ayam hutan junglefowl (Gallus gallus)
babi hutan wild pig (Sus scrofa)
badak berendam Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) badak cipan Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus)
badak raya Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus)
banting banteng (Bos javanicus)
barau-barau straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus)
belibis lesser whistling duck (Dendrocygna javanica)
benturung bearcat (Arctictis binturong)
beruang sun bear (Helarctos malayanus)
berkuk large green pigeon (Treron capellei)
cecadu gua cave fruit bat (Eonycteris spelaea)
gajah elephant (Elephas maximus)
guliga bezoar
harimau tiger (Panthera tigris)
kambing gurun serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) kelip-kelip firefly (Pteroptyx spp.)
keluang Malayan flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus)
kijang barking deer, Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak)
kuang argus pheasant (Argusianus argus)
merak green peafowl (Pavo muticus)
merbuk balam zebra dove(Geopelia striata) murai kampung magpie robin (Copsychus saularis)
musang civet (Viverridae)
musang pulut toddy cat (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) pelanduk, kancil lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus)
pipit padi munia (Lonchura spp.)
punai green pigeon (Treron spp.)
punai tanah emerald dove (Chalcophaps indica)
rusa sambar, sambhur (Cervus unicolor)
seladang gaur (Bos gaurus)
Abbreviations
ACA Anti-Corruption Agency
Ad. F Adviser on Forestry
ADO Assistant District Officer
AN Arkib Nasional /National Archives, Malaysia
APPEN Asia-Pacific People’s Environmental Network
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASPA Amanah Saham Pahang
BKI Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde
CAP Consumers’ Association, Penang
CBD Convention on Biodiversity
Cd. Command
CF Conservator of Forests
CFC Chlorofluorocarbon
CFDT Committee on Forest Development in the Tropics
CFJ Conservator of Forests, Johor
CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
CIDA Canadian International Development Agency
CIFOR Centre for International Forest Research
CITES Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species
(of Wild Fauna and Flora)
CO Colonial Office
CSBD Country Study on Biological Diversity
CSD Commission on Sustainable Development
CUP Cambridge University Press
DANCED Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development
DF Director of Forestry
DFO District Forest Officer
DO District Officer
DOE Department of Environment
DTAM Dutch Technical Aid Mission
DWNP/JPHL Department of Wildlife and National Parks/Jabatan Perlin-dungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara/PERHILITAN
ECE European Commission for Environment
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
ENSO El Niño Southern Oscillation
EPSM Environmental Protection Society
EPU Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department,
Malaysia.
ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Region
FELCRA Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority
FELDA Federal Land Development Authority
FMS Federated Malay States
FoE Friends of the Earth
FRI(M) Forest Research Institute (Malaysia)
FRRS Forest Resource Reconnaissance Survey
FS Federal Secretariat
FSC Forestry Stewardship Council
Ft. Perak S. Forestry, Perak South
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GG Government Gazette
GIS Geographical Information System
GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
ha hectare
HC High Commissioner
HCOF High Commissioner’s Office File
HMSO Her/His Majesty’s Stationery Office
IADP Integrated Agricultural Development Programme
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ICBP International Council for Bird Preservation/BirdLife
International
ICPN International Congress for the Protection of Nature
IFP Interim Forest Policy
IIED International Institute for Environment and Development,
London
ISIS Institute for Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia
ITTA International Timber Trade Agreement, 1983
ITTO International Timber Trade Organization
IUCN The International Union for Conservation (of Nature and
Natural Resources)
IUPN International Union for the Protection of Nature
JFMSM Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums
JHEOA Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli /Department of Orang Asli Affairs
JIA Journal of the Indian Archipelago
JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency
JMBRAS Journal of the Malayan/Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society
JSBRAS Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
JSEAH Journal of Southeast Asian History
JSEAS Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
JSFPE Journal of the Society for Fauna Protection in the Empire
KADA Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority, Kedah/Perlis
KESEDAR Kelantan Selatan Development Authority /South Kelantan
Development Authority/
KETENGAH Lembaga Kemajuan Terengganu Tengah/Central Terengganu
Development Authority
KITLV Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
KPK Kompleks Perkayuan Kelantan
KPKKT Kumpulan Pengurusan Kayu-Kayan Terengganu
LCC Land Classification Council
MAB Man and Biosphere (Programme) Malaysia
MARA Majlis Amanah Rakyat /Council for Rural Welfare
MARDI Malayan Agricultural Research and Development Institute
MBRAS Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
MC & I Malaysian Criteria & Indicators
MCP Malayan Communist Party
MIDA Malaysian Industry Development Authority
MNS Malayan/Malaysian Nature Society
MOSTE Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment
MPAJA Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army
MTC Malaysian Timber Council
MTIB Malaysian Timber Industry Board
MUS Malayan Uniform System
n. note
n.p. not published
n.s. new series
NCS National Conservation Strategy
NDC National Development Council
NDP New Development Policy
NEP New Economic Policy
NFA National Forestry Act
NFC National Forestry Council
NFP National Forestry Policy
NGO non-governmental organization
NLC National Land Council
NPAC National Parks Advisory Council
NSCB National Steering Committee on Biodiversity
NST New Straits Times
NTCC National Timber Certification Council
NTFP Non-Timber Forest Produce
ODA Overseas Development Authority
OFI Oxford Forestry Institute
OUP Oxford University Press
PAS Parti Islam seMalaysia/Pan-Malayan Islamic Party
PERHILITAN see DWNP
PFE Permanent Forest Estate; by definition Permanent Reserved
Forest (PRF)
PHDK Pejabat Hutan Daerah, Kedah Utara - Perlis /District Forest
Office, North Kedah - Perlis
Phg Pahang
PRF Permanent Reserved Forest
PTP Penyata Tahunan Perhutanan Malaysia Barat/ Annual Report,
RCS Royal Commonwealth Society
RFA Report on Forest Administration
RFFA Report on Federal Forest Administration
RGA Rubber Growers’ Association
RHO Rhodes House, Oxford
RIDA Rural Industrial Development Authority
RIF Regeneration Improvement Felling
RRI Rubber Research Institute
SAM Sahabat Alam Malaysia/Friends of the Earth, Malaysia
SCOPE Scientific Commission for Problems of the Environment
SCS State Conservation Strategy
SEPU/UPEN State Economic Planning Unit/Unit Perancangan Ekonomi
Negara
SFO State Forest Officer
SGS Société Générale de Surveillance Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
SJSB Syarikat Jengka Sdn Bhd
SMS Selective Management System
SPFE Society for the Protection of Fauna in the Empire
SS Straits Settlements
TEAM Timber Exporters Association of Malaysia
TFAP (International) Tropical Forest Action Plan
TFTAAP Tropical Forest Timber Agreement and Action Plan
TMP Third Malaysia Plan
TOL Temporary Occupation Licence
TPA Totally Protected Area
TRAFFIC Trade Records Analysis of Fauna and Flora in Commerce
TVA Tennessee Valley Authority
UFMS Unfederated Malay States
UKM Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia/National University, Malaysia
UMNO United Malays National Organization
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNCTAD United Nations Commission on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UPEN see SEPU
VJR Virgin Jungle Reserve
WCED World Commission on Environment and Development
(Brundtland Commission)
WCFSD World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development
WCS World Conservation Strategy
WIAP Wetlands International Asia Pacific
WRFM World Rain Forest Movement
WRI World Resources Institute
WRN World Rainforest Network
WTO World Trade Organization
WWF World Wildlife Fund/World Wide Fund for Nature
WWFM World Wildlife Fund, Malaysia/World Wide Fund for Nature,
Malaysia
YAKIN Yayasan Kelantan Darulnaim/Kelantan Development
Note on Spelling, Terminology,
Measurements and Currencies
S P E L L I N G A N D G E N E R A L TE R M I N O L O G YMalay spelling is based on the Ejaan Baru or ‘New Spelling’, introduced in 1981
for the national language (bahasa Malaysia). Though some States within the Federation have retained the old spelling, the new spelling rule for place-names has been applied throughout, except for popular place-names such as Ipoh, Kepong and Penang. For flora and fauna, both the Malay and the scientific nomenclature are provided. For the plural of Malay nouns, such as ‘Orang Asli’ or ‘penghulu’, no English ‘s’ is added.
NGO refers throughout the text to ‘Environmental Non-Governmental
Organ-ization’ (ENGO).
Peninsular Malaysia or West Malaysia, located within the geographical area of
the Malay Peninsula, is part of the Malaysian Federation formed in 1963. It previously constituted British Malaya (together with Singapore, which became an independent entity in 1965).
‘State’ with a capital ‘S’ refers to the political units within the
Malayan/Malay-sian federation; ‘state’ with a small ‘s’ refers to the national entity as a whole.
‘Forest Reserve’ and ‘Reserved Forest’ are synonymous and were classified,
post-1984, as Permanent Reserved Forest (PRF).
Honorifics have been excluded with the exception of hereditary titles, and ‘Sir’,
‘Tun’ and ‘Tan Sri’.
FO RE S T R Y TE R M I N O L O G Y
afforestation The artificial planting of forests on previously unforested areas.
cess Timber export tax, imposed on volume-basis, collected for the
development of the industry.
dbh Tree bole diameter at breast height.
premium Tax imposed on timber extracted from production forest
ear-marked for silvicultural regeneration, computed on the basis of the volume extracted.
reforestation The artificial establishment of new forest on previously forested ground.
regeneration The restoration of existing forest.
royalty Tax imposed on logs according to species, classified as light- heavy- and medium hardwood.
stumpage price The value of timber before felling. WE I G H T S A N D M E A S U RE S converted from the imperial and local to the metric system
1 foot = 0.3 m 1 mile = 1.609 km 1 acre = 0.4 ha 1 sq. mile = 2.6 sq. km 1 pound = 0.45 kg 1 ton = 1016 kg
1 ton of wood arbitrarily fixed at 50 cu feet =1.4 cu m 1 cwt. = 50.8 kg
1 kati = 0.59 kg 1 pikul = 59 kg
CU R RE N C I E S
Currencies quoted for the period before World War II are in Straits dollars ($), pegged in 1904 to sterling at the rate of $1 to 2s. 4d. The Straits dollar was superseded by the Malayan dollar ($) in 1939 and the Malaysian ringgit (M$) in 1967. The latter was equivalent to about US$0.30 until 1973, when Malaysia opted out of the sterling area. The rate appreciated, in 1985 reaching about US$0.41. In 1997 the rate was pegged at US$0.26.
Preamble:
Forests and Development
National identity … would lose much of its ferocious enchantment without the mystique of a particular landscape tradition: its topography mapped, elaborated, and enriched as a homeland. – Simon Schama1
D E VE L O P M E N T A N D E NV I RO N M E N T A L C H A N G E
n twentieth-century Peninsular Malaysia, one of the planet’s richest yet most vulnerable terrestrial ecosystems collided with unsustainable growth.2 The retreat of the forest cover by over 60 per cent3 during the course of the same century manifested the profound change that development brought to society, driving a wedge between nature and culture. This study traces the transformation. It also examines the countervailing influences that have sought new ways of re-engaging with the environment.
From the early centuries of the first millennium, the Peninsula’s forests furnished markets from China to Arabia with aromatic gums and resins col-lected by a small and dispersed population of forest dwellers and exported by merchants and rulers at the riverine commercial nodes.4 Forest-fed rivers that served as arteries of commercial exchange underpinned the political economy of the pre-colonial Malay state. The nature of the forested terrain constrained territorial control and shaped the nature of political authority, upheld by socio-economic influence rather than military power.
Nineteenth-century British colonial enterprise was a major catalyst for change in the relations between forests and people. It fractured the forest-dominated riverine infrastructure that influenced the relations between humans and nature.5 Forest laws and reserves established immutable boundaries, denying access to products vital for everyday needs. Fruits, herbs and essential plants, no longer sought in the wild, were planted within the newly refashioned kampung (village) landscape.6 The relocation of hamlets from riverbanks to sites along new dirt tracks, roads and railways, and the corrugated iron roofs that replaced thatch, symbolized the gradual alienation of the rural economy from the forest. The process was completed after Independence by the inroads of mechanized
farming and mega-plantation agriculture under the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in 1971. As reliance on forest for wood fuel and other neces-sities diminished, only marketable timber and land stripped bare for plantation agriculture gained value.
The complex relations between nature, culture and material growth, emphasize the importance of incorporating the social values of ethics, public accountability and collective responsibility into scientific and technological initiatives.7 In his 1959 Rede lecture, revisited in 1963, C.P. Snow powerfully argued that only the cross-fertilization of the physical with the human sciences, the two main streams of knowledge, can help bring progress to the developing world.8 Escalating environmental degradation at the heart of development in the tropics deserves such an approach.9
Studies of Malaysian development suggest shortfalls in environmental safe-guards relating to forests. Aiken and Leigh traced the links between twentieth-century development and environmental degradation;10 Vincent and Rozali Mohamed Ali reviewed the emphasis on land development at the expense of the value of forests;11 Fadzilah Majid Cooke questioned the viability of sustainable forest management12; and Kathirithamby-Wells highlighted the toll taken on the forests by plantation agriculture.13
Modern Malaysian history has been studied largely in terms of politics, trade and economic growth, independent of the environmental context within which these processes evolved. Rectifying the imbalance demands a shift of focus to the centrality of forests to Malaysian development and the evolution of nationhood.
AT T I T U D E S TO NA T U RE A N D FO RE S T US E
The traditional exploitation of forest resources as market commodities by the Peninsula’s indigenous communities reinforces scepticism over Oriental percep-tions of nature as environmentally sensitive.14 Nature was revered as protector; but its very abundance in terms of the modest demands of subsistence and the pre-capitalist market precluded notions of sustainability.15 This is attested by the effects of early capitalist growth in the nineteenth-century on indigenous gutta-percha extraction, for example (see pp. 46–47, 69–70). The spiritual personification of nature and its propitiation through indigenous ritual and ceremony related predominantly to its role as provider and facilitator.16
Comparable utilitarian perceptions of nature in the West, enhanced by Judeo-Christian philosophy, emphasized the subordination of nature to human ends.17 Thus, the famous Carl Linné (Linnaeus), who linked nature and nation, helped establish the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1739, ‘to cultivate and improve all gifts Nature has given us in abundance’ for national welfare.18 It implied a dual commitment to exploit as well as to steward God’s creation,19 a concept incorporated within nineteenth-century imperial philosophy. Natural science, especially after Darwin’s publication of the Origin of Species
(1859),20 became ‘thoroughly historicized’ and developed as a powerful force for mediating society’s engagement with the natural world. As a result, in the colonial context, natural science established an affinity with anthropology.21
Within the realm of plant science, forestry played a pre-eminent role in colonial enterprise. Modern forestry, which originated in Germany,22 had early antecedents in state forest management in Asia. In China, deforestation as a consequence of urbanization and agricultural expansion inspired conservation initiatives in the Eastern Zhou period (eighth to the third century BC), involving the creation of inspectors of forests, laws for preservation of certain tree species and restriction of harvesting to prescribed localities and seasons.23 A more elaborate system was instituted in seventeenth-century Japan under the Tokugawa regime to offset depletion from agricultural expansion and the construction boom.24
Premised on state management of forests for sustained wood production and hydrological protection, forestry provided an indispensable tool for the fiction of British ‘advisory’ rule in the Peninsula. Introduced in 1901 after the Indo-Burmese model, forestry in British Malaya was closely related to the ordering of nature within political space. Malays were contained within designated areas of a perceived Arcadian order, under a policy of paternalistic ‘peasantization’. Forest laws that assisted spatial segregation and privileged one community at the expense of another were effective tools of state power. Carried over into the post-colonial period, control over forests has remained a fundamental source of political power.
Colonial forestry was less successful in its objective of promoting environ-mentally sustainable development, nowhere more difficult to achieve than within the ecological constraints of the tropics.25 Ultimately, the experiment with forest management for sustainability in the Peninsula was overtaken by a combination of the post-World War II boom in the tropical timber trade and the drive for plantation agriculture.
Improved forest stewardship as a rational response to the pressure of post-colonial development was prejudiced by the resurgence of values and institutions entrenched in indigenous concepts of rulership. Malay nationalism reinforced the status of the hereditary rulers within the Federation.26 Patron–client relations that underpin traditional concepts of rulership and government were massively boosted under state-sponsored land development and the expansion of the timber industry. 27 The climate of favour and corruption was conducive to widespread challenge to forest laws. Indeed, this entrenched psyche of evasion may be explained in part by the culture of distrust and non-cooperation eman-ating from the loss of customary claims to forest use which modern forest management represented. Colonial forestry imposed restraints on the Peninsula’s expanding population.28 In so doing, like counterpart regimes elsewhere in Southeast Asia, it provoked strategies of avoidance and non-compliance.29 Later, these same methods were co-opted by big business for illegal and ‘extra legal’ timber extraction.30
S T A TE , FO RE S T R Y A N D CIV I L S O C I E T Y
The accelerated depletion of Southeast Asian forests, manifesting weaknesses in their management, has engendered wide debate over centrally managed scientific forestry as against the devolution of control to local authorities and com-munities.31 Between the two extreme positions, a third, oriented to ‘balanced development’, favours blending centrally-managed professional forestry with local and provincial participation.32 Within the Malaysian context such an approach implies achieving a rational balance of Federal with State interests.
Since the 1970s, public stewardship through urban-based environmental NGOs has emerged as a force of moderation. In Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, NGOs have played a crucial role in representing the interests of forest-dependent communities.33 In Peninsular Malaysia, by virtue of its rapid economic progress and a sharp decline in the number of forest-dependent people within its population, environmental concerns have been less oriented to poverty eradication than is the norm in the region. With improved incomes and expanding urbanization34 have come higher expectations of a better quality of life, inspiring new values of environmental stewardship. These processes of change and the countermanding politics of forest exploitation are germane to this study.
Preceding World War II, the Peninsula was a place where fortunes were made at the expense of forests, for repatriation to distant homelands. Within this society of disparate identities and loyalties, forestry endeavoured to pro-mote through conservation propaganda a sense of heritage, common destiny and public good. State-sponsored forestry, unlike the rubber and mining enterprises, emphasized regeneration, avoidance of waste, protection of landscape and rationalized land use.
The early development of environmental stewardship within the Malayan forest service was in resonance with the evolution of Empire forestry in India, that also exerted a seminal influence on the conservation movement in the USA.35 By the beginning of the twentieth century, the flow and translation of ideas fostered a Euro-American lobby committed to the preservation of habitat and wildlife in the tropics. In the Peninsula during the 1930s, the move to protect wildlife from the pervasive plantation industry was rapidly transformed into a press-sponsored campaign linking ‘nature’ and ‘nation’.36
The separation of wildlife and forest administration in colonial Malaya, unlike the arrangement in India and Burma, distanced foresters from the early wildlife campaign. But forestry’s co-evolution with tropical ecology contri-buted to its alignment after World War II, with rising environmental concerns articulated by civil society through domestic and international NGOs.37
In sum, this study traces the historical links in Peninsular Malaysia between forests and the state at the crucial intersection of science and society. As well as examining the problems of sustainable forest management, it highlights the conservation discourse as providing political space and a claim to equal citizenship, based on nature as common heritage.
S T R U C T U RE A N D CO N TE N T
Introduction
Human-forest relations in the pre-colonial era were oriented to the sustainable extraction of small amounts of high-value products for subsistence and trade. Appropriation of the forest and the biotic knowledge that supported the indigenous economy was fundamental to British colonial enterprise.
Part I: Colonial Adventure and Tropical Resource, 1786–1900.
Chapter 1 describes the dramatic acceleration of market forces and the Penin-sula’s incorporation within the network of imperial botanical exploration, settlement and trade. Early nineteenth-century observations on the impact of pioneer forest clearance in the British settlements of Penang, Singapore and Melaka contributed to conservation initiatives in India. Chapter 2 discusses new demands on the forests, triggered by the extension of British protection over the Peninsular sultanates as of 1874. Imperial territorial control, under the cloak of ‘advisory’ rule, was assisted by the introduction in 1901 of profes-sional forestry.
Part II: Forestry and State Formation, 1901–41.
Chapters 3 and 4 describe the extension of forest management, which set aside the claims of the aboriginal and Malay communities, marginalizing their status within the forest economy. Contrastingly, as shown in Chapter 5, it proved more difficult for forestry to countenance the demands of the plantation and mining industries.
Part III: The Emergence of a Conservation Ethic, Pre-World War II.
Chapter 6 argues that forestry in the Peninsula, in tune with the evolution of tropical ecology, looked beyond the immediate concerns of wood production to custodial responsibility over environmental protection. Chapter 7 examines the conflict between the plantation sector and wildlife preservation lobby. The nascent public discourse it generated was skilfully contextualized in the multi-racial environment to promote the concept of nature as a basis for common identity.
Part IV: Forest Use and Abuse, 1942–69.
Chapter 8 (1942–56) covers the Japanese Occupation and the Communist in-surgency when the forests took on a new economic and political meaning for the populace as a whole. Post-war restoration of state control over forests pcipitated the problem of widespread landlessness. At the same time, the re-vamped timber industry attracted post-war Malay economic aspirations, with enormous implications for resource politics in the coming decades. Chapter 9 (1957–69) highlights the impact on forest cover of accelerated land develop-ment after Independence. To compensate in part for forest loss, environdevelop-mental advocacy focused on the need for more totally protected areas to be set aside as parks and reserves.
Part V: Reconciling Nature and Nation, 1970–1980s.
Chapter 10 describes the widening influence of environmental NGOs, which contributed to paving the way for the 1984 National Forestry Act. As shown in Chapter 11, enforcement of Malaysia’s National Forestry Policy, though bolstered by international initiatives for tropical forest conservation, was hampered by the politics surrounding the domestic timber industry.
Part VI: National Resource, Global Heritage, 1984–2000.
Chapter 12 discusses Malaysia’s active participation in the North-South environ-mental debate in an effort to vindicate its international image and protect its timber trade. Chapter 13 reviews the implications for Malaysia of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the nation’s response to the associated agreements and con-ventions.
Conclusion
The concluding chapter, ‘Nature for Nation’, proposes that the absence of con-stitutional provisions to guarantee compliance of individual States with the national conservation agenda is offset to some degree by the changing socio-economic climate and civil society’s increasing influence on environmental stewarding.
NO TE S
1 S. Schama, Landscape and Memory, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995, p. 15.
2 F.S.P. Ng, ‘Ecological principles of tropical lowland rain forest conservation’, in S.L. Sutton, T.C. Whitmore and A.C. Chadwick (eds), Tropical Rain Forest Ecology and Management, Special Publication No. 2, British Ecological Society Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publica-tions, 1983, p. 372; L. Adkin, ‘Democracy, ecology, political economy: Reflections on starting points’, in F.P. Gale and R.M. M’Gonigle (eds), Nature, Production, Power: Towards an
Ecological Political Economy, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers, 2000, pp. 59–81.
For an arresting account of human-induced environmental degradation in the past century, see especially J.R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the
Twentieth-Century World, New York: W.W. Norton, 2000.
3 See Appendix 1.
4 F.L Dunn, Rain-Forest Collectors and Traders: A Study of Resource Utilization in Modern and
Ancient Malaya, Monograph No. 5, Kuala Lumpur: MBRAS, 1979, pp. 1–2, 104–111.
5 See J. Kathirithamby-Wells, ‘Socio-political structures and the Southeast Asian ecosystem: An historical perspective up to the mid-nineteenth century’, in O. Bruun and Arne Kalland (eds), Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach, Curzon Press, London, 1995, pp. 25–47. 6 Dunn, Rain-Forest Collectors and Traders, p. 95.
7 R. Chasle, ‘The ethical approach to ecology and the environment’, Abstracts from some papers at the Edinburgh Conference, Commonwealth Human Ecology Council Journal, 10 (1991) p. 27; I. R. Swingland, ‘The ecology of stability in Southeast Asia’s forests: Biodiversity and common resource property’, in R.L. Bryant, J. Rigg and P. Stott (eds), Global Ecology and
Biogeography Letters, Special issue, III, iv-vi (1993) p. 291; Emil Salim and O. Ullsten, Our Forests, Our Future, Report of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable
Develop-ment, Cambridge: CUP, 1999.
8 C.P. Snow described the confluence of the two streams of knowledge producing ‘something like a third culture’. The Two Cultures (intro.), S. Collini, (Pt I, 1959, Pt II, 1964), Reprinted, Cambridge: CUP, 1993, pp. 41–51, pp. 70–71. For Donald Worster’s persuasive piece on environmental history’s role in bridging the gulf between the sciences and humanities which Snow set out to promote, see ‘The two cultures revised: Environmental history and the environmental sciences’, Environmental History, 2 (1996) pp. 3–14.
9 Anderson and Grove, for example, have argued for greater dialogue between scientists and social scientists for designing more effective conservation strategies for Africa. See D. Anderson and R. Grove, Conservation in Africa: People, Policies and Practice, Cambridge: CUP, 1989, p. 8. Similarly, the integration of science with indigenous knowledge accessed through the social sciences, has been suggested for addressing problems of land degradation in Thailand. See T. Forsyth, ‘Science, myth and knowledge. Testing Himalayan environ-mental degradation in Thailand’, Geoforum, 27, iii (1996) pp. 375–392. For comparable cross-disciplinary, cross-sector initiatives in the form of ‘social forestry’ in Southeast Asia, see M. Poffenberger, ‘Empowering communities through forestry’, in M. Poffenberger, Keepers
of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia, Manila: Ateneo de Manila
University Press, 1990, pp. 163–277.
10 S.R. Aiken and C.R. Leigh, Vanishing Rain Forests: The Ecological Transition in Malaysia, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.
11 J. Vincent, Rozali Mohamed Ali and Associates, Environment and Development in a Resource
Rich Economy: Malaysia under the New Economic Policy, Cambridge Mass.: Harvard Institute
for International Development, 1997, pp. 105–150.
12 F. Majid-Cooke, The Challenge of Sustainable Forests: Forest Resource Policy in Malaysia,
1970–1995, St. Leonards, NSW, Australia: Allen and Unwin, 1999.
13 J. Kathirithamby-Wells, ‘The implications of plantation agriculture for biodiversity in Peninsular Malaysia’, in M.R. Dove, P.E. Sajise and A. Doolittle (eds), Reinterpreting Nature
and Culture in Southeast Asia. In Press.
14 E. Hargrove, ‘Foreword’, pp. xiv-xiii; J.B. Callicott and R.T. Ames, ‘Introduction: The Asian traditions as a conceptual resource for environmental philosophy’, in Callicott and Ames,
Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, New York: State
University of New York, 1989, pp. 6–7.
15 J. Kathirithamby-Wells, ‘Attitudes to natural resources and environment among the upland forest and swidden communities of Southeast Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’, in R. Grove, V. Damodaran and S. Sangwan (eds), Nature and the Orient: Essays
on the Environmental History of South and Southeast Asia, Delhi: OUP, 1998, pp. 927–929.
16 See Introduction, p. 10.
17 L. White, ‘The historical roots of our ecological crisis’, Science, 115 (1964) p. 4.
18 L. Koerner, ‘Purposes of Linnaean travel: A preliminary research report’, in D.P. Miller and P.H. Reill (eds), Visions of Empire: Voyages, Botany and Representations of Nature, Cambridge: CUP, 1996, pp. 120, 125.
19 K. Thomas, Man and the Natural World, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983, p. 24. Linnaeus’s view of nature, for example, was influenced by a blend of natural theology with theories of environmental causation. C.J. Glacken, Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in
Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1967, pp. 510–511. 20 Worster, ‘Two cultures revised’, p. 10.
21 S. Kuper, ‘On human nature: Darwin and the anthropologists’, in M. Teich, R. Porter and B. Gustafsson (eds), Nature and Society in Historical Context, Cambridge: CUP, 1997, pp. 274–280. 22 For a history of German forestry, see F. Heske, German Forestry, New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1938.
23 Yi-Fu Tuan, ‘Discrepancies between environmental attitude and behaviour: Examples from Europe and China’, Canadian Geographer, 12, iii (1968) pp. 182–183.
24 M.M. Osako, ‘Forest preservation in Tokugawa Japan’, in R.P. Tucker and J.F. Richards (eds),
Global Deforestation and the Nineteenth-Century World Economy, Durham, N.C.: Duke
University Press, 1983, pp. 129–139.
25 J. Dargavel, ‘Tropical forest history in theory and practice’, in J. Dargavel, K. Dixon and N. Semple (eds), Changing Tropical Forests: Historical Perspectives on Today’s Challenges in Asia,
Australasia and Oceania, Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, 1988,
p. 5.
26 G.P. Means, Malaysian Politics, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976, pp. 99–100, 177–178; A.C. Milner, ‘Inventing politics: The case of Malaysia’, Past and Present, 132 (1991) p. 109. 27 For a summary of the geo-economic framework within which the institution of
patron-client relations evolved in Southeast Asia, see J. Kathirithamby-Wells, ‘Hulu-hilir unity and conflict’, Archipel, 45 (1993) pp. 81–82; J. Kathirithamby-Wells, The Politics of Commerce in
Southeast Asia: An Historical Perspective, Inaugural Lecture, Kuala Lumpur: University of
Malaya Press, 1992. State loyalties centred on the sovereignty of the Sultan remain important in Malay politics. Means, Malaysian Politics, pp. 20–21.
28 Over the first four decades of British control, the Peninsula experienced more than a four-fold population increase, from about 888,000 in 1891 to 3.8 million in 1931. N. Dodge, ‘Popula-tion estimates for the Malay Peninsula in the nineteenth century, with special reference to the east coast states’, Population Studies, 34, iii (1980) p. 453; J.K.Sundaram, A Question of
Class: Capital, the State, and Uneven Development in Malaya, Singapore: OUP, 1985, p. 326.
See also Appendix 3.
29 For the phenomenon in Java, see N. L. Peluso, Rich Forest, Poor People: Resource Control and
Resistance in Java, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. For peasant responses in
Burma and Thailand, see M. Adas, ‘From avoidance to confrontation: Peasant protest in pre-colonial and pre-colonial Southeast Asia’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 23, (1981) p.423; J. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985; ‘Everyday forms of resistance’, in F. D. Colburn (eds), Everyday Forms
of Peasant Resistance, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1967, pp. 6–7, 10; R.L. Bryant, ‘Fighting over
forests: Political reform, peasant resistance and the transformation of forest management in late colonial Burma’, Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 32, ii (1994) pp. 245–249; R.L. Bryant, The Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma, 1824–1994, London: Hurst, 1997, pp. 69–71. For peasant resistance in the Peninsula, see for example, Shaharil Talib, ‘Voices from the Kelantan desa, 1900–1940’, Modern Asian Studies, 17, ii (1983) p. 183. 30 The problem of illegal logging in Indonesia, in particular, has been well researched. See J.F.
McCarthy, ‘Power and interest on Sumatra’s rainforest frontier: Clientelist coalitions, illegal logging and conservation in the Alas Valley’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 33, i (2002) pp. 92–93; A. Casson and K. Obidzinski, ‘From New Order to regional autonomy: Shifting dynamics of “illegal logging”, in Kalimantan, Indonesia’. Paper presented at the’ Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Conference’, 9–11 April 2001, ANU, Canberra. n.p.
31 Barton makes a strong case for management on the utilitarian, imperial model. This, how-ever, cannot meet problems of forest management in the developing world, rooted in escalat-ing population, land shortage and corruption, as evident in Thailand for example. See G. Barton, ‘Empire forestry and the origins of environmentalism’, Journal of Historical Geography, 27, iv (2001), p. 543; J. Sato, ‘Public lands for the people: The institutional basis of com-munity forestry in Thailand’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 34, ii (2003) pp. 329–346. 32 See D. Edmunds and E. Wollenberg, ‘Historical perspectives on forest policy change in Asia:
An introduction’, Environmental History, 6, ii (2001) pp. 203–204; R.T. Bryant, J. Rigg and P. Stott, Introduction, in ‘The political ecology of Southeast Asian forests: Transdisciplinary discourses’, in Bryant, Rigg and Stott (eds), Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters, p. 110. 33 For a brief discussion of NGO cooperation with local communities in Indonesia and
Thai-land, see J. Kathirithamby-Wells, ‘Forestry and stewardship in Southeast Asia, with special reference to Peninsular Malaysia’, Proceedings of the XXI IUFRO (International Union for Forest Research Organisation) World Congress, 7–12 Aug. 2000, Kuala Lumpur, in News of
Forest History, No. 30 (2001) pp. 39–40; E.F. Collins, ‘Multinational capital, new order
“development”, and democratization in South Sumatra’, Indonesia, 71 (2001) pp. 111–133. 34 In 1990 urban areas accounted for 44.7 per cent of the population in the Peninsula. Sham
Sani, Environment and Development in Malaysia: Changing Concerns and Approaches, Kuala Lumpur: Institute of Strategic and International Studies, 1993, p. 26.
35 R. Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of
Environ-mentalism, 1600–1860, Cambridge: CUP, 1995, pp. 470–472; Barton, ‘Empire forestry and
the origins of environmentalism’, pp. 533, 539–542.
36 The term ‘nation’ is used here in the broad sense of a people belonging to a particular political and territorial entity.
37 ‘Civil society’, as separate from the domains of state and market, may be broadly defined as serving the cause of humanity by creating a public sphere and promoting civility, public good and care of the environment. See Habibul Haque Khondker, ‘Environment and the global civil society’, in Politics and the Environment, Special Issue, Asian Journal of Social
