Again, in this section, we approach the topic of current human impacts on Southeast Asia as a whole first, and then detail the specific conditions in each of four countries that we chose to focus on.
In general, the rainforests of Southeast Asia are being destroyed in the following main ways: shifting agriculture, tropical timber extraction, government sponsored transmigration schemes, and large-scale dams and mining operations, though in certain countries there are additional human activities contributing to forest loss. The underlying cause is poverty, as destruction of forests is an almost intuitive path chosen mostly by poor nations as they try to improve the living standard of their population32. Below, we outline the specific human impacts inflicted upon the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.
Indonesia: It is believed that the timber industry, as well as shifting cultivation, are the main factors contributing to forest loss in Indonesia. Not surprisingly, Indonesia, a third world country, relies significantly on timber exportation as timber continues to be the country’s second most valuable export after oil. This fact alone points to our observation earlier, that poverty underlies forest destruction. The major timber product exported by Indonesia was plywood, and in 1987, it is estimated that $1.7 billion worth of plywood was exported to the US. In 1985, the Forest Department designated 53.4 million hectares of tropical forest as timber concessions area33 - this is nearly half of Indonesia’s entire forest size! (Recall that in the history of Indonesia section, we mentioned that there were only 120 million hectares of tropical forest left in Indonesia in 1980s). Worse still, the World Bank estimated that Indonesia’s forest would be entirely wiped out in 40 years at the current level of careless logging34.
The other main factor leading to forest loss in Indonesia is shifting cultivation, as we mentioned above. Also known as slash and burn cultivation, this practice is employed by tribal communities of tropical forest lands. The process starts with cutting an area of trees in the forest, and then burning them to clear some land. The land is then used for agriculture, and when its fertility is exhausted after 2-3 years, the land land is abandoned and people start over the process in new areas of forest region. The practice not only leads to severe soil erosion, it is also considered wasteful, as the relatively small production doesn’t justify the destruction of large area of forest land35. The government of Indonesia claims that shifting cultivators clear around 400-500000 hectares of forest each year36.. Recall earlier in the history of Indonesia section, we mentioned that 1 million hectare of tropical forest were lost per year between 1950 and 1981. This substantiates our claim that shifting cultivation is a major cause of forest loss in Indonesia, as up to 50% of annual forest loss could be attributed to this activity.
The net effect of such human impacts is startling, ranging from soil erosion, climate change, flash flooding, and drought. For example, the island of Java was losing 770 million tons of topsoil per year by 1970s. The Barito river has become increasingly prone to flooding. The temperature of the logged area rose around 15 degree celcius. In the 1980s, Kalimantan experienced the worst drought in a century37. Those devastating outcomes again emphasizes the scale and severeness of tropical forest loss, which is caused by humankind.
Gladly, Indonesia has an impressive number of forest reservations and national parks, and an estimated area of 18 million hectares are present back in 1985. However, the central government allows major land use in protected area, which has led to deforestation within national parks. The Sikundur Nature Reserve, for example, lost 10000 hectare to logging in 197738. It is fair to say that it’s up to the government to decide the usage of forest reserves, and with proper political actions, it would not be hard to halt logging in such forest reserves.
(Source: http://balita.ph/2009/08/19/september-october-peak-of-drought-in-s-kalimantan/) - Peak drought period in South Kalimantan, Indonesia
Malaysia: As with Indonesia, the situation of forest loss in Malaysia is much the same - the main cause being uncontrolled logging and shifting cultivation39. However, Malaysia’s tropical forest also suffers from other factors such as mining in the past and fire. We will take a look at each of the issues below.
Logging: In the 1970s West Malaysia had one of the most intensive timber industries in Asia. Approximately 373000 hectares of West Malaysia’s forests were logged each year. One big problem associated with logging is waste, as poor quality logs are simply discarded since they cannot meet foreign customers’ specific demands for quality40.
Shifting cultivation: the government of West Malaysia has coordinated the process of shifting cultivation since the 1950s, supposedly to improve the living standards of the landless. Rubber and oil palm were the main products in such programs41. However, due to the fast pace of cutting down forest for this program, it is claimed by the official that West Malaysia is running out of land suitable for plantation projects42.
Other causes of forest loss: though significant areas of forest were cleared for mining in the past, Malaysia has largely reduced mining activities, and hence the effect of mining is negligible now43. However, fire hazard caused by over-logging has been a major forest loss contributing factor, as the incidences of fire is increasing in the region44.
Severe outcomes have been caused by forest loss in Malaysia. First of all, soil loss and erosion emerged as a primary issue. For instance, the silt load in the Klang river, which pass through the capital of Malaysia, doubled between 1975 and 1977. Secondly, sedimentation loads in the rivers increased as a result of logging. Sedimentation is known to increase the likelihood of flooding, which could cause huge economic losses. Drought and climate change also occurs just as in Indonesia. More importantly, there would be severe wildlife loss due to forest loss, as many species do not survive in forest that has been logged. The best-known species under severe threat of extinction include Sumatran rhino, and the tiger45.
The forest reserve area in Malaysia is scarce, as Taman Negara is the only national park in West Malaysia. However, this only national park is even disturbed by development projects such as the Tembeling dam and road construction46.
(Source: http://www.arkive.org/sumatran-rhinoceros/dicerorhinus-sumatrensis/) - The Sumatran Rhino, under severe threat of extinction in Malaysia
(Source: http://www.arkive.org/sumatran-rhinoceros/dicerorhinus-sumatrensis/) - The Sumatran Rhino, under severe threat of extinction in Malaysia
Philippines: once again, logging is one of the primary cause of forest loss in Philippines. However, Philippines’ forest loss is also caused by other factors, such as transmigration programmes and large-scale dam projects47.
Logging: Over-cutting, , illegal logging, and general corruption within the industry all contributed to the thousands of square km of forest loss in Philippines. Sadly, the Philippines is estimated to have at most ten years’ supply of timber before the country has to resort to imported timber to meet domestic demand. This is not surprising, as the FAO estimated that on average, 31% of the land surface is stripped of vegetation in Philippine logging operations48.
Transmigration programmes: The government sponsored migration in the Philippines in the past to dilute political unrest arising from landless farmers. Since settling those people needed land, the government cleared forests to free up space for farmers to engage in agriculture49. As a result, huge areas of timberland were cleared.
Large-scale dam projects: Since dams are based in valleys, where considerable population is located, the government needs to relocate those people to higher ground, where forest is located. Given the scale of the dam, thousands of families could be displaced into forest area, and deforestation problems could occur50.
The consequences of forest loss in Philippines are much the same as in Indonesia and Malaysia - soil erosion, drought, wildlife loss, etc. However, the negative effects are considered to be somewhat amplified by the regularity of typhoons in Philippines51. In addition, other negative effects specific to Philippines include watershed crisis and fisheries destruction. The watershed crisis is tightly related to deforestation, which leads to flash flooding, tremendously reducing the depth of water as well as its quality. Fisheries destruction is another huge issue, as around 700000 people in the country depend on fishing for a living. Due to the fact that river becomes more silted as a result of deforestation, and the cutting-down of mangroves further led to sharp reduction in fish stock52.
(Source: http://www.infiniteunknown.net/tag/manila/) - Flooding in Philippines is associated with silted river, and typhoons make flooding more severe.
Thailand: Thailand is an interesting case, as some of the causes of forest loss are not present in the other three countries we have covered so far. Other than logging, agricultural expansion, and dams, Thailand’s deforestation also stems from population growth, tribal problems, and rural development policy53.
Logging: though Thailand banned logging in the 1980s, the exploitation of timber prior to that has already caused destructive consequences. This is mostly caused by illegal loggers, who did not follow sustainable logging practices, as they clear-fell forests regularly. Though legitimate operations in Thailand are clearly sustainable, deforestation is likely to continue due to illegal logging54.
Population growth: It is estimated that of Thailand’s 52 million people, 43 million inhabit the rural areas, and as the rural population grows, demand for farm land could lead to exploitation of forest areas. Approximately 330000 hectares of forest were cleared each year for agriculture in 1980s as the rural population grew rapidly. The incentive for the landless to clear forest is high, as they did not have to pay rent in cleared forest land55.
The hill tribe problem: as North Thailand is largely populated by tribal population, which employs shifting cultivation techniques, the tribes are considered a major factor leading forest loss in Thailand. It is estimated that tribes clear between 300-400 square km of forest each year56.
Rural development policy: as new roads were built and transportation system becomes more accessible, it was inevitable that forest land had to be cleared . As a result, the development of transportation has led to a certain degree of deforestation in Thailand57.
In Thailand, deforestation has led to soil erosion just as in other Southeast Asian countries. Other effects include breaking down of the water cycle, as drought and flooding occurred. For instance, in 1984, a huge flooding affected 60 of Thailand’s 72 provinces, destroying 640000 hectares of commercial crops58. Wildlife losses also ensued - for instance, the Sarus crane, which is endemic to Thailand, has not been sighted for 20 years59. 
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