KUALA LUMPUR – The Tasik Muda reservoir has been muddied by deposits from the Ulu Muda river, which flows through logging operations upriver, satellite imagery revealed.
Environmental watchdog RimbaWatch said the imagery shows that logging operations re-commenced in Ulu Muda beginning in 2021, with activities accelerating in 2022 and 2023.
“Imagery also shows that the lake began to be potentially tainted through mud and other sediments deposited from the Ulu Muda river in early 2023.
“The satellite image of Tasik Muda in March 2023 shows a relatively undisturbed river and reservoir, but in October and December 2023 the river was visibly muddied and was depositing this mud into the reservoir,” it said in a statement.
Are logging activities in MTCS/PEFC-certified Ulu Muda Forest Reserve potentially contaminating a reservoir supplying water to Kedah and Penang? pic.twitter.com/qDPsxK7mV8
— RimbaWatch (@RimbaWatch) January 19, 2024
To this, RimbaWatch has called on the Kedah authorities to explain the logging activities that are taking place close to the Muda reservoir and to set up the forest complex as a protected area.
The watchdog also wants Sirim to revoke the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) certification for the Kedah Forest Management Unit, where the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve sits.
“We question the ability of the entire Sirim/MTCS/PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) system to guarantee the provision of ‘sustainably’ logged timber.
“In particular, we are concerned over how the PEFC has remained silent on the repeated complaints made by RimbaWatch and other organisations, including Save Rivers, to the PEFC on the inadequacy of the SIRIM/MTCS certification system.”
The Muda reservoir supplies water to Kedah and regulates water flows to the lower Muda river, where the Sg Dua intake supplies up to 80% of Penang’s water.
Impacts on the reservoir have heavily disrupted Penang’s water supply, affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
RimbaWatch also noted the contentious Kedah-Penang dispute over the reservoir area.
“Where Penang has in the past called for a halt to logging in the Ulu Muda area, Kedah has argued that it would lose state revenue if it stopped logging, and has continued to allow timber activities in the state.
“This is despite the fact that the Kedah government had previously, in 2018, cancelled logging permits in Ulu Muda,” said RimbaWatch. – January 19, 2024