DQ Farm (est. 1991)

Today's Star:

 

One Citizen, One Tree:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/23/nati...

 

Council to plant a tree for every child born in Perak

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/23/nati...

 

And lovely Sabah, home to Maliau, and what's left of the Orang Utan race:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/23/nation/6113557&sec=nation

 

Today Near The Farm:

 

 

Malaysians, please take note we are paying for all these tree planting. They are not for free. 

 

Someone is cutting down 50 to 100 year old trees, clearing huge tracts of CO2 absorbing forests, destroying huge water catchment areas and laughing all the way to the bank.  You know who these people are!  (If you don't, FIND OUT!)

 

And we end up paying to plant trees, to pay for water pipelines from distant places, to pay for higher water rates, to pay for storms and flash floods, to pay for cooling as our cities become hotter.  It is just not right.

 

This is what you can do for Earth Day:

 

Start by knowing who these tree cutters are! Here's a partial list.

 

And when they donate money for schools, reject their donation. 

 

When they contribute to local houses of worship, return their money. 

 

When they come with an entourage to open some park or building, or to plant a tree (yes, they have!) show your back to them. 

 

When they give a lecture as a public figure or an opinion leader if you like, please throw your slippers at them! :) 

 

Malaysians get your values right! These are not people to be emulated or honoured or respected.

There's this report in the Star today, headlined:

Chopped down in the name of reforestation

by Geetha Krishnan

The report clearly illustrates that the people and the country do not benefit from logging. Instead it illustrates a cynical abuse of power and of our laws.

Read the full report here:

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/6/29/central/4206185&sec=central 

 Saw this on the way back from the farm today.  There were 6 of these trucks.  Some of the logs must be from trees that are 80 to 100 years old. 

Wish I were an economist; then it would be a simple matter of working out the numbers that nobody benefits from cutting down these trees.  Not the people, not the country. 

Not when you add up all the indirect, long term costs, including costs of ensuring steady supply of clean drinking water, costs of piping water from Pahang to KL, costs of mitigating landslides, loss of fisheries, cost of storm damage, etc.

Ironic isn't it, that one of the greatest loggers of all, a Malaysian, will soon be knighted by the Queen of England. 

And even more ironic; on the one hand we spend millions promoting the planting of trees while on the other, we continue to hand out logging concessions.