Land pollution : Agriculture still plays a very important role in the development of Malaysia and a lot of emphasis has

been laid on it. Too much perhaps, the wildlife that thrives so abundantly among us has been placed in danger. In Cameron Highlands, in the state of Pahang, one of the many places where vegetables as well as tea which it is famous for, is planted, human activity has ta en it!s toll on the fragile environment. "arge scale farming has caused thousands of acres of forest land to be ploughed up and the habitat of thousands, maybe even millions of wildlife has been destroyed. Many wildlife flee or migrate to escape the dangers and activities of man. #n nown to them, they cause an imbalance in their ecosystem, ma ing some areas too densely populated with predators and not enough food to go around. Pesticides used in agriculture also plays a main role in the degradation of the environment. Many of these pesticides contain non biological ingredients and can cause abnormal changes in any wildlife that comes across it. In other words, these chemicals can cause wildlife to mutate. $ot only insects to which the pesticides are aimed towards are affected, but also the animals which feed on them and they can eventually end up in human bodies. Pesticides pollute the earth, ma ing it useless as well as poisonous after all the nutrients have been sapped out from it. Thus the land may lay barren and empty for years before it is able to recover its normal pH level and nutrients. Pesticides also flow into the rivers and streams and eventually seas, causing pollution as it continues its seaward %ourney. Pesticides, if used at a minimal amount, is harmless and even helps in the production of agriculture by eliminating unwanted pests. &ut pests soon build up a defense system and are eventually immune to the effects of the pesticides and become very hard to get rid off. 'o, farmers have no choice but to increase in the amount of pesticides. The effects are unimaginable. "ogging too has made its mar in the degradation of nature. ( I bet you already now the effects, guys. 'o needless for me to say anymore)* Malaysia is forced to become a dumping site to the millions of tons of rubbish thrown every wee due to her sharp increase in the population. This has become a ma%or headache to everyone in the country. Air pollution: Malaysia has risen to the industrial age, not wanting to be left behind in the dar ages anymore, but at the cost of the environment. Many industrial +ones have been approved by the government to be set up in mostly forestland and uninhabited areas. ,ne very good e-ample of the industrial +one is of 'hah Alam in the state of 'elangor. As a result, trees has been cut down to accommodate towards the building of large industrial factories.

$ot only has the o-ygen supply been decreased, these factories are spewing out poisonous gases in the course of its production. $aturally, people would floc to industrial +ones such as 'hah Alam because of the high pay and high opportunity of %obs involved. 'hah Alam is now one of the most densely populated areas as well as one of the most highly polluted areas in the country, and yet it is not the only one. ,ne can imagine the amount of people who will be affected by the long side effects of the pollution from the gases. The increasing amount of cars in Malaysia also has lent a hand in the pollution. .-cess poisonous gases and heat are emitted daily (you should now the rest*. ,pen air burning, despite it being banned by law, has not been heeded by the people of Malaysia. &urning is also the only way right now to get rid of the e-cess rubbish. 'mo e and heat is released. Water pollution: As Malaysia is fast becoming an industrial country, many of her rivers have become polluted due to the many wastes that have been poured out into her rivers. 'uch as the paper ma ing industry, it re/uires chemicals, often poisonous in its production. The rivers are used as an outlet for the chemicals to drain away, in turn harming the waters and the lives that revolve around them. There are many ethnic aboriginal groups that still e-ist in Malaysia and the people depend on the rivers and streams to survive. They depend on the river for food, water supply for drin ing, bathing and for their crops. the river happens to be the main centre of their livelihood and without the rivers the whole tribes cannot survive as their ancestors had done generations before them, all of them depending on the rivers. The rivers have become a tourist attraction and this has prompted the construction of hotels and resorts around the area. As a result, many of the forests surrounding the river areas have been chopped down. The surrounding soil have no roots to hold on to and soon erode when the rains come. The soil runs into the rivers and soon the rivers become mur y and shut out all the sunlight from reaching the a/uatic life in the rivers and streams. This causes them to die. A good e-ample is the construction of a new golf course near the waterfall at tourist attraction 0raser!s Hill in the state of Pahang, causing it to become e-tremely mur y and dirty due to the silt and sand that comes from the construction. The waterfall which has been the centrepoint of the hill has now lost all its attraction %ust because of the overwhelming need to attract more tourists to the place by building more facilities. Main Pain: Another e-ample of the tourist industry in being the cause of pollution is the water area. At Chini "a e (Tasi Chini*, %ust so that 1eco2tourists1 don1t have to get their feet wet, the

3overnment built a dam at the river draining Pahang1s Tasi Chini. &ut now the dam has drowned thousands of trees surrounding the la e, threatening fisheries as well. In a cautionary tale of the times, Andrew 'ia who won the ICI2CCM .nvironmental 4ournalism Award (Honourable Mention* for his 5667 story, 8amming the "otus "a e, revisits Tasi Chini to see out the real picture behind the ostensible 1tourist pampering1 rationale of the dam.

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