On the way back to Penang from Kuala Besut (the gateway to the Perhentian Islands), I noticed these logging trucks when we stopped for gas.  I was a little bit nervous about taking these pics because there were a bunch of dudes standing near the first truck watching me suspiciously, and I had a feeling that this logging activity wasn’t entirely legal.

According to BFGoodrich, a typical tractor-trailer tire is about 42 inches (1.1 meters) in diameter.  Eyeballing the huge log on the back section of the first yellow truck, I conservatively estimate it to be two times the diameter of the tires under it.  That would make the log about 84 inches (7 feet or 2.1 meters).  Gigantic.

It’s impossible to accurately estimate a tree’s age without knowing its species, but according to this article, tree age can be estimated by multiplying its diameter in inches by its growth factor.  Let’s assume that this tree’s growth factor is on the low end of the range of listed growth factors and give it a value of 2.0.  This assumption would give the tree a low-ball age of about 168 years.  Yah, I’d call that a primary growth tree.

I don’t know anything about the forestry laws in Malaysia; logging of some primary forests may be legal.  At the very least, it should be closely regulated.  Either way, it’s a shame to see these ancient forests unnecessarily destroyed.  Modern forestry techniques allow us to sustainably harvest wood in a way that meets healthy demand while avoiding the need to destroy the few remaining primary forests.

Deforestation is a huge problem in Malaysia.  From 2000-2005, the average annual loss of forest cover was 140,200 hectares (541 square miles), nearly the size of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Here’s a view of the trucks and logs from another angle.

Note: for information about deforestation in Malaysian Borneo, please read this previous post.  Now that peninsular Malaysia’s primary forests have been largely destroyed, the focus of logging companies has shifted to Borneo.