Malaysia will use satellite technology to fight illegal logging and forest fires nationwide in a bid to protect the country's dwindling timber resources, a report said Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the satellite-based data gathering and monitoring system — previously used in northeastern Kelantan state — would provide authorities with a real-time picture of the country's forests.
"The technology will enable the gathering of data on species of flora and fauna as well as the volume of trees in our forests," he said.
Najib said the government hoped the new plan would help it preserve the country's timber resources, the New Straits Times newspaper reported.
In the 1990s alone, Malaysia lost more than 13 percent of its forests, with much of the deforestation on the island of Borneo, which it shares with Indonesia and Brunei.
The World Wildlife Fund at the time estimated that illegally logged trees made up about one third of Malaysia's timber exports.
Source: Agence France-Presse
