Natural forests are most common. This donut shows a quick breakdown of Malaysia’s total land today.
Natural forest – native forests and other natural lands.
Non-natural tree cover – planted trees (e.g., oil palm, rubber, timber).
Other land – farms, towns, water, and everything else.
This donut looks inside the forest area and shows its mix.
Primary forest – old-growth, largely undisturbed.
Regenerated forest – regrown after past clearing or logging.
Planted forest – forest plantations and managed stands.
Non-forest – appears only when totals include all land.
Choropleth shows forest area as % of land for ASEAN countries.
\( \% \text{ of land } = \frac{\text{Forest area (ha)}}{\text{Total country land area (ha)}} \)
This normalisation allows fair comparison across countries of very different sizes.
Forest cover shifts because of policy, markets, and climate shocks, not just “natural change.”
In 1992, most ASEAN countries still had a high share of forest. The pressure was building but the big drops had not yet started.
After the 1997–1998 El Niño fires, forest percentages fell across the region. The smoke years hit Indonesia and parts of Borneo hardest.
In the early 2000s, losses continued as plantations grew—oil palm, rubber, and pulpwood—and land concessions in Cambodia and Laos expanded.
After 2010, stricter rules slowed the decline. Indonesia’s 2011 moratorium on primary and peat forests helped, though the 2015 fires caused another dip.
By 2018, Malaysia held steady, while Cambodia, and Indonesia kept losing forest.
Shows how Malaysia performs compared with other ASEAN countries.
The term (ha) stands for hectare, a unit used to measure land area. \( 1\, \text{ha} \; = \; 10{,}000 \, \text{m}^2 \)
This streamgraph shows Malaysia’s annual tree-cover loss (2001–2024), grouped by its main drivers.
Agriculture (commodity) is the largest cause, tied to oil palm and rubber expansion.
Losses surged in 2008–2016 due to high commodity prices, estate expansion, and new road access, which accelerated clearing.
After 2017, losses eased with stricter state controls, certification and zero-deforestation pledges, improved monitoring, and weaker expansion incentives.
Each green spike shows tree-cover gain by state.
Sarawak records the highest gain, followed by Sabah.
Kuala Lumpur shows smaller spikes due to limited forest area.
Much of the recorded gain comes from regeneration in logged or plantation areas rather than untouched primary forest.
Author: Ang Qiao Xin
Date Published: 21/10/2025
Data Sources:
Our World in Data
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World Bank Group
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Global Forest Watch
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ASEAN stats