Soaring Chinese demand for the durian fruit is turning into the big threat to Malaysia's rainforest
News24xx.com - Soaring Chinese demand for the stinky durian fruit is turning into the next big threat to Malaysia's depleted rainforest, a conservation expert said on Thursday, urging regulation.
Malaysia has already lost vast tracts of rainforest to a thriving trade in wood and palm oil; now China's appetite for the spiky durian risks clearing still more ground.
"There are emerging threats coming up, with big demand for fruits such as durian from China," Dzaeman Dzulkifli, executive director at the Tropical Rainforest Conservation & Research Centre (TRCRC), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"Durian seems to be becoming the next big threat," he said at the organisation's headquarters, a traditional, wooden Malay house nestled inside a lush forest garden outside Kuala Lumpur.
His group is one of the country's leading forest conservation organisations, a guardian of the world's best weapon against climate change.
He urged the government to stop demand for durian decimating Malaysia's forests, saying checks needed introducing - and fast.
"Probably, some sort of guidelines in terms of where it can happen would be quite good," said Dzulkifli, when asked whether there was a need for government legislation on the expansion of durian plantations.
Once planted in family orchards and small-scale farms, durian - which some say smells like an open sewer - is now grown by big farmers backed by big finance, as Malaysia cashes in.
The government is counting on a 50% jump in exports by 2030 as it chases Thailand for a bigger share of the export market.
NEWS24XX.COM/DEV/RED
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