High deforestation rates in Malaysian states hit by flooding
▻http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0119-flooding-malaysia-deforestation.html
That data lends support to claims by local environmental groups that deforestation may have exacerbated flooding by accelerating runoff during heavy rainstorms. But the impacts may be even more widespread than indicated by deforestation data alone, since it doesn’t fully capture the extent of selective logging, which can degrade a forest’s ability to retain water, nor the reduced absorptive capacity of timber and oil palm plantations, which have less ground cover and root development than natural forests.
“Logging would usually result in erosion, causing mud to flow down from the highlands during rain, eroding hills and destroying water catchments and causing lowlands to become flooded,” Datuk Abdul Malek Yusof the president of Sahabat Alam Sekitar Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia), was quoted as saying by Malaysian state media.
#déforestation #inondations #cartographie #malaisie
