What are the main environmental problems in Southeast Asia?

Agricultural development and environmental problems in Southeast Asia

Class words 2002; Asia; Agricultural economy; environment

main body

Agriculture has always played a very important role in the economic development of Southeast Asian countries. It is an important source of grain, industrial raw materials, employment opportunities and exports for Southeast Asian countries. However, the production methods adopted in agricultural development in Southeast Asian countries, such as expanding planting area, reclaiming wasteland, increasing the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, developing forests, slash and burn, have made great progress in agriculture, but they have brought about environmental problems such as forest area reduction, serious soil erosion, land degradation and biodiversity reduction.

I. Environmental problems caused by agricultural development in Southeast Asia

The reason why Southeast Asian countries attach importance to agricultural development is closely related to factors such as economic dependence and population pressure.

Economic dependence. Southeast Asian countries, except Thailand, were all colonies of western countries before World War II, and have long been imperialist raw material suppliers and commodity dumping markets. This not only leads to the continuous reduction of resources in Southeast Asia, but also leads to abnormal economic development, backward industry and single agricultural planting in this region. After the independence of Southeast Asian countries, this single deformed dependent economic structure still exists. First, the status of raw material exporters has not fundamentally changed. A large part of exported primary products are non-renewable resources, while some renewable resources, such as agricultural products and wood, are also at the expense of a large number of national land resources and forest resources. Second, the financial dependence of Southeast Asian countries on developed countries has not changed. In the early 1980s, developed countries implemented austerity policies and continuously raised interest rates, which led to the soaring debt of developing countries, including Southeast Asian countries. Due to the high debts, Southeast Asian countries have to sell valuable natural resources to pay their debts. Third, for a long time, some countries in Southeast Asia have not been self-sufficient in food, relying on exporting cash crops and resources in exchange for food.

Population pressure. Since World War II, the population of Southeast Asian countries has increased rapidly, from 1960 to1950,000 to 51/0,000,000 at present. From 1960 to 1998, the population of most countries in Southeast Asia increased by more than 1 times. The population of 1998 is 2.77 times that of 1960, 2.74 times that of the Philippines, 2.7 times that of Malaysia, 2.54 times that of Vietnam, 2.32 times that of Cambodia, 2.3 times that of Thailand, 2.7 times that of Indonesia and 7 times that of Singapore. Due to the rapid population growth, the demand for food, housing, education, medical care, transportation and natural resources occupation continues to rise.

In order to solve the problem of people's food and clothing, meet the growing population's constant demand for materials, develop national economy and enhance national strength, Southeast Asian countries have made great efforts to develop agriculture, develop land on a large scale, plant food crops and cash crops, develop forest resources, and expand exports to earn foreign exchange, and achieved remarkable results. However, the improper use of agricultural development measures has led to a series of environmental problems.

(a) serious deforestation

In order to expand the planting area of cash crops and food crops, Southeast Asian countries have taken measures to destroy forests and open up wasteland. Since World War II, the cultivated land area in Southeast Asian countries has increased to varying degrees. Although the population of every country is increasing, the per capita cultivated land area has not decreased much, but some countries have increased. During the period of 1980- 1996, the population of Cambodia increased from 6.4 million to 1027 million. At the same time, the per capita arable land increased from 0.30 hectares to 0.37 hectares. The population of Malaysia has increased from13.76 million to 211700,000, and the per capita cultivated land has increased from 0.07 hectares to 0.09 hectares. Other Southeast Asian countries have similar situations. However, the expansion of cultivated land in Southeast Asian countries is at the expense of the reduction of forests and wetlands.

Before 1970s, the Philippines mainly used the expansion of cultivated land to promote the development of agricultural economy. In the first half of 1950s, the cultivated land area increased by 3.45% annually, and in 1960s, it increased by 1.3% annually. Because the agricultural productivity in the Philippines was extremely low at that time, the effect of expanding cultivated land to increase agricultural output was not very significant. In 1960s and 1970s, the average annual growth rate of grain crops was only 0.7%, while that of export crops was only 2.5%. Therefore, before the 1970s, the Philippines failed to achieve food self-sufficiency.

For a long time, the development of agricultural production in Thailand has also been achieved through a large number of land development, at the cost of a sharp reduction in forest area. Cultivated land increased year by year, from 4 1.40 million lai in 1.958+0.952 to 93.245 million lai in 1.982, and further expanded to1.47 in 1990. The proportion of cultivated land area in China has also increased from 1950- 1952 to 12.3%, 1982 to 29%, and 1990 to 47.4%, in which rice planting area accounts for about 60% of the total cultivated land area. Single-season rice accounts for more than 90% of all rice. Meanwhile, the forest area in Thailand is decreasing year by year, from 2180,000 hectares in 1975 to145.74 million hectares in 1992. The ratio of forest area to land area decreased from 60% of 195 1 to 40.7% of 197 1, 30% of 1986, and 22.8% of 1995. In addition to commercial deforestation, the reduction of forest area is closely related to the expansion of cultivated land area.

Improper resettlement of immigrants

After World War II, the contradiction between man and land in Southeast Asian countries was prominent. First, the land distribution is uneven. Big landlords and manor owners control the vast majority of land, while a large number of small farmers own only a small amount of land, and tenant farmers are widespread. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries have carried out land reforms, but the results have been minimal.

This kind of deforestation and land reclamation has alleviated the contradiction between man and land in Southeast Asian countries to a certain extent and played a certain role in resettling the surplus population. However, the expected effect has not been achieved, and most of the newly developed cultivated land is wasteland. For example, only 30% of the newly reclaimed wasteland in Vietnam can be put into production, and the output is quite low. In the long run, excessive reclamation of wasteland and forests will cause a series of environmental problems such as forest area reduction and serious soil erosion. In 1980s, in many areas of Vietnam, 1 1,000% of the land was lost to varying degrees, and 80%-90% of the land was seriously lost. For example, due to vegetation destruction in the mountainous areas of northern Vietnam, the fertile soil layer of 1 to 2 cm and the soil of 100 to 200 tons are lost every year. Immigrants from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and other countries have also caused serious soil erosion.

Primitive farming method

Southeast Asian countries were all agricultural countries when they became independent, and their technical level was low. At that time, some western developed countries' agriculture had entered the modern era, while Southeast Asian countries were still in the era of ploughing, with animal-drawn farming as the mainstay and manual farming as the supplement. Even some mountain farmers in some countries still use backward slash-and-burn and transplant farming methods. Transfer farming, also known as leisure farming, is a slash-and-burn mode of production, which refers to cutting down and burning a forest, planting grain or other cash crops, and moving the soil to other places after harvesting for two or three seasons or after soil fertility declines. Then cut down forests and plant crops. This logging and farming cycle usually occurs every 10 to 20 years.

On some islands off Java, Indonesia, most tribal farmers engage in agricultural production by shifting cultivation. In some mountainous areas, 90% of the land is cultivated by rotation, and most cash crops such as pepper, tobacco, coffee, rubber and coconut are produced by small farmers. Before the 1980s, agricultural transfer in Indonesia destroyed an average of 200,000 to 300,000 hectares of forests every year. According to the statistics of 1979, the forest area destroyed by shifting cultivation has reached 43 million hectares. In zhina countries such as Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, farmers and ethnic minorities in mountainous areas also mostly engage in agricultural production by slash-and-burn farming. About 35% to 40% of the population in Laos are ethnic minorities. They live in mountainous areas, and the traditional farming method is slash and burn. Before 1980s, Laos burned as many as 654.38 million hectares of forest every year due to the blind deforestation of mountain people. The Lao government once mobilized the mountain people to move to the plain area, but it did not get the response from the mountain people. Slash-and-burn farming by mountain people in Thailand has also caused a large number of forests and water sources to be destroyed. From 1950s to 1970s, the forests in northern Thailand were destroyed by mountaineers every year by 654.38 million to 200,000 lai. The survey conducted by the Forestry Department of Thailand in cooperation with FAO in 1956 to 1957 showed that 67% of the virgin forests and pine forests in Nanben and Chiang Mai were destroyed, and 65% of the virgin forests in Changlai were destroyed. From the satellite photos, it is found that from 1973 to 1977, the forest area in northern Thailand decreased from 95,842 square kilometers to 68,588 square kilometers, a decrease of 27,254 square kilometers, that is, a decrease of 5.69% every year. This is mainly the result of slash-and-burn cultivation by farmers in mountainous areas. Due to the increasing population, more and more farmers are going out to work, and the cycle of going out to work and farming is shortening day by day, which is increasingly serious to the forest and soil. During the period of 1987, there were nearly 2 million farmers in the outer islands of Indonesia, and the cultivated land area was about 28 million hectares. At present, slash-and-burn agriculture continues in some parts of Southeast Asia.

(d) Overexploitation of forests

Due to economic dependence, in order to raise foreign exchange, overcome the difficulties of domestic economic crisis and capital shortage, repay foreign debts and develop national industries faster, Southeast Asian countries have to export their rich resources in exchange for foreign exchange and import grain, industrial products and advanced technology and equipment. However, due to the backward processing technology in Southeast Asian countries at that time, resources were exported as raw materials and primary products with low added value, which led to a large number of raw materials exported in Southeast Asia. 25% of the world's tropical rain forests are distributed in Southeast Asia. Since the 1960s, with the increasing international demand for wood and the rising price, Southeast Asian countries have developed forest resources on a large scale and exported timber products such as logs and rare timber in exchange for a large amount of foreign exchange. From 1967, Indonesia began to lease a large area of forest to logging companies for mining. For decades, it has issued too many forest management licenses. In Malaysia, state governments have land use rights and timber cutting concessions, and local governments issue timber cutting licenses and timber processing licenses to increase fiscal revenue. Since 1968, Thailand has divided nearly half of the country's forests into more than 500 concessions for people to cut down. The proportion of deforestation in Southeast Asian countries is very high every year, and the annual reduction of forest area is also increasing year by year. Indonesia has increased from 600,000 hectares before 1990s to 1990- 1995. At the same time, Thailand increased from 244,000 hectares to 329,000 hectares, Malaysia from 255,000 hectares to 400,000 hectares, the Philippines from 9 1.000 hectares to 262,000 hectares, and Myanmar from 654,380+0.002 hectares to 387,000 hectares. It can be seen that, compared with before the 1990s, in the first half of the 1990s, the average annual logging in these countries increased by 1 times, and some countries even increased by 2 times. In recent years, four of the six countries with the largest forest loss in the world are Southeast Asian countries, and their average annual deforestation rates are: Thailand 515,300 mu, Myanmar 400,500 mu, Malaysia 396,000 mu, and Philippines 3 16 100 mu. (See Table 2)

Although forest is a renewable resource, its growth cycle takes decades or even hundreds of years. For a long time, in Southeast Asian countries, multinational timber merchants and paper companies, governments eager to pay off their foreign debts and farmers who want to get rid of poverty as soon as possible have been cutting down forests in large numbers, but forest restoration and afforestation have not received due attention, and the speed of forest restoration is far behind that of deforestation. Due to the poor management of forest resources by various governments, the forest area is decreasing year by year due to excessive logging. Amir Sarin, Indonesia's Minister of State for Population Affairs and Living Environment, said at a meeting with reporters on 1979, "Frankly speaking, we were just trying to raise foreign exchange and didn't care about afforestation. The mistakes in Indonesia's development have existed since the Basic Forest Law promulgated by the government in 1967. "

Resettlement, deforestation, expansion of cultivated land, backward farming methods and large-scale commercial forest development have gradually reduced the forest area and forest coverage in Southeast Asia, and the proportion of forestry in the national economy has also decreased year by year. Before 1970s, the forest coverage rate in Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei was as high as 70%, that in Myanmar and Malaysia was 66%, and that in Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand was less than 50%. By 1995, the forest coverage in these countries had dropped significantly, with Cambodia dropping to 55.7%, Myanmar to 4 1.3%, Malaysia to 47. 1%, Indonesia to 60.6%, Thailand to 22.8% and the Philippines to 22.7%. Due to the decrease of wood resources, the status of forestry in these countries' economies is also declining. Thailand changed from a timber exporting country to a timber importing country in 1990s, and the proportion of forestry output value in GDP dropped from 5. 195 1% to 0.3% of 1985 1.3%, even to 0. 5% of 1990. The proportion of forest products in the gross domestic product in the Philippines has also been declining since the 1970s, from 65,438 to 0,993, a decrease of 0.3%.

The impact of forest reduction is far-reaching, including ecological, economic and social impacts.

First of all, the reduction of forests has caused serious water loss in Southeast Asia, increased river sediment deposition and decreased rainfall, which in turn affected the yield and quality of crops and caused economic losses. Take Sabah, Malaysia as an example. There used to be 60% forest coverage in this area. However, due to massive logging, soil erosion is serious, and the amount of sediment in the lower reaches of the river is large. Sediments from five major rivers in Sabah exceed 200 tons per square kilometer every year. -In the Kinababatangan Basin, the largest water conservation area in Sabah, 8 million tons of sediment flows downstream every year, which is equivalent to 700 tons of land loss per square kilometer every year, which is six times higher than that of the Kelantan River in the Malay Peninsula. A large amount of sediment deposition in Sabah has adversely affected the hydropower, transportation and economic development of Sabah. In the Philippines, the service life of reservoirs used for hydropower generation has been shortened by half or more, which is due to the sediment deposition of giant reservoirs caused by soil erosion after deforestation in highlands. The lack of power supply and frequent power outages in the Philippines are all related to these situations.

Second, the reduction of forests reduces the water storage capacity, and natural disasters such as floods, droughts and forest fires occur frequently, causing incalculable losses to the economic development and residents' lives in Southeast Asian countries. In recent years, floods and mudslides in deforestation areas in Southeast Asia have claimed thousands of lives and left tens of thousands homeless. Due to the continuous reclamation and destruction of forests and mountains in Gong Xun River Basin, soil erosion often leads to floods and mudslides along the river. Cambodia, located in the lower Mekong Delta, is prone to burst its banks and cause large-scale floods when the climate in the middle and upper reaches is abnormal and the rainfall increases. Known as the "Nine Floods in Ten Years", floods cause great losses to the lives and property of Cambodian people every year. For example, at the end of 2000, the country suffered the worst flood in 40 years, resulting in 400 deaths and economic losses of more than US$ 6,543.8 billion. 200 1 floods in the arid east of Cambodia, 14 provinces, municipalities directly under the central government and 84 counties and districts were affected, resulting in 572,000 hectares of crops affected, 62 people died, 212190,000 people were affected, and 325,000 people were waiting for relief. Forest destruction and soil erosion have also led to frequent floods and droughts in Vietnam. 1996 flood caused losses of about 655 million US dollars to Vietnam, of which 1000 people died and 840,000 hectares of land were flooded. During August and September of 20001year, floods in the Red River Delta in southern Vietnam caused at least 108 deaths, more than 60,000 people were homeless, more than 240,000 people were facing food shortages due to floods, and 443,000 people needed different levels of material assistance.

In the countries located in the southern islands, after the tropical rain forest was seriously damaged, the soil erosion was also quite serious, such as floods, droughts and mudslides in Indochina Peninsula. The Philippines is a typical example. Due to large-scale deforestation and continuous reclamation of highlands, the hydrological system of the country has been seriously damaged, and floods and river silt deposits have affected most areas of the lowland plains. 1983, the Philippines suffered the most extensive and longest-lasting drought in 30 years, with 5,600 square miles of farmland short of water, and the grain harvest decreased compared with normal years110. 199 1 year floods killed 2,000 people in the Philippines (some observers said the actual death toll was three times this figure), and 500,000 people were homeless. The main reason is that deforestation in the highlands has led to huge mudslides.

If land reclamation and slash-and-burn management are not good, it is easy to cause forest fires. Severe forest fires in East Kalimantan 1997 and 1998 in Indonesia destroyed more than 5 million hectares of forests. The fire also caused cross-border smog pollution, which objectively affected the air quality in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and other countries, and brought environmental and health problems to these countries. According to the statistics of the United Nations Development Planning Commission,197, the smoke from the forest fire in Indonesia caused the Southeast Asian countries to lose1400 million dollars, most of which were used for short-term treatment. More than 40,000 people are hospitalized for respiratory diseases and smoking-related diseases, but the long-term harm to children and the elderly is still difficult to determine. This fire has also caused great damage to global biodiversity and climate change.

Third, the reduction of forest resources will also reduce land fertility and make soil salinization or desertification. Under natural conditions, plants and decaying plants form a protective layer, which can fix the soil and slow down soil erosion and degradation. However, when the forest is cut down, the land is reclaimed and the protective layer is destroyed, the mineral cycle will be reduced. Especially after the tropical rain forest is destroyed, because there are no trees to cover and fix it, the heavy rain will quickly wash away the nutrients in the soil, making the cycle of agricultural production and forest restoration long and difficult. Mangroves, like thousands of forests and corals, have the functions of protecting seawalls, preventing floods, slowing down land salinization, slowing down coastal erosion and preventing storm damage. Between 1950 and 1983, mangroves in Vietnam disappeared by about 37%. In the southern province of Minghai, 1983, about half of the mangrove area was destroyed. Wetlands in Vietnam are mostly distributed in the Mekong Delta, with sulfate soil or "potentially acidic soil" rich in chalcopyrite as the main. Due to the destruction of mangroves, the soil acidification caused by chalcopyrite oxidation is intensified, which not only affects the agricultural production in this area, but also erodes the soil and water sources in the downstream area with rainwater. After the shrimp farm was eroded by acidic substances for 3 to 4 years, the acidity of the shrimp farm and deep soil was too heavy, resulting in neither shrimp nor mangrove on the land. Although building dikes to raise shrimp has brought benefits to Vietnamese coastal residents in a short time, the destruction of mangroves has led to greater economic losses. 1984- 1993, the economic loss caused by the reduction of mangroves in Vietnam reached $279 million. Thailand, in the early 1990s, due to the large-scale reduction of forests and soil erosion, 6,543.8+0.8 million Lai land in the northeast has been salinized, accounting for 654.38+0.7% of the northeast area. In the southern region, 2.6 million lai land was salinized or acidified, and 500,000 lai land was eroded. Other Southeast Asian countries have similar situations.

The fourth is the destruction of biodiversity. Southeast Asia is one of the regions with the richest biodiversity in Asia and even in the world. Indonesia and Malaysia are countries with millions of species in the world. Indonesia has more plants and birds than the whole African continent. The area of tropical rain forests, mangroves and wetlands in Southeast Asia has been sharply reduced, and the loss of animal habitats has caused serious damage to biodiversity, and many species are facing extinction or have already become extinct. According to the statistics of the World Bank, in 1997, there were 1955 species of mammals and birds in Indonesia, and 232 species were endangered, accounting for 1 1%. Endangered species of birds and mammals in the Philippines account for 24% of the country, with the ratio of 10% in Vietnam, 9% in Malaysia and about 9% in Thailand. Among higher plant species, the proportion of endangered species in the Philippines is 4%, that in Thailand is 3.3%, that in Malaysia is 3. 16%, that in Vietnam is 3.2% and that in Indonesia is 0.8%. It can be seen that in recent years, the proportion of endangered species in several countries with rich animal and plant species in Southeast Asia is still quite high. (See Table 3)

Abuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Due to backward technology, in order to meet the material needs of the growing population, Southeast Asian countries not only expand cultivated land, but also use a large number of fertilizers and pesticides to increase unit output. The "Green Revolution" initiated by the former ASEAN countries in the late 1960s not only increased the investment in agricultural infrastructure and irrigation facilities, but also increased the application of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. As an important measure to increase production, it greatly improved the agricultural output and productivity of ASEAN countries, but also brought environmental problems. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Philippines strongly encouraged agriculture to increase the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 1972, the Philippine government formulated a national plan. The state supplied farmers with chemical fertilizers at subsidized prices, and the pricing standard of chemical fertilizers for food crops was 45% lower than that for export crops. In the mid-1980s, the Indonesian government's pesticide subsidies accounted for more than 50% of the total cost of agricultural chemicals, and the largest agricultural subsidies were spent on chemical fertilizers. From 1978 to 1987, the application area of chemical fertilizer increased by 12% and the application area of heavy calcium increased by 17.7% every year. Since 1985, the actual fertilizer subsidy has been more than the expenditure on agriculture and irrigation development. In 1980, the total government subsidy budget for chemical fertilizers exceeded 125 billion guilders (US$ 68 million), but in 1988, the actual financial subsidy exceeded 1 trillion guilders (US$ 550 million). Indonesia can change from a big rice importer to a self-sufficient rice country to 1984, mainly due to the agricultural green revolution implemented by the government to increase the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The rapid development of agriculture in Thailand not only benefits from the expansion of cultivated land area, the improvement of technical level and mechanization, but also benefits from the improvement of the utilization rate of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The application amount of chemical fertilizer per hectare of cultivated land increased from 18kg in 1980 to 42kg in 1990. The application amount of chemical fertilizer increased by 15% every year throughout the 1980s, and the annual import was 2.2 million tons, 1990-65438+. Vietnam also uses a large number of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase agricultural output, and the annual demand for pesticides has increased from 100 tons in 1959 to 22,000 tons in 1978. Since 1980s, Vietnam has increased the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, from 27.9 kilograms of urea per hectare before 1986 to 84.4 kilograms per year199/kloc-0. Cooperatives keep and use pesticides casually, and the pesticide concentration often exceeds the standard by two, three or even ten times.

The extensive use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers can increase agricultural output in the short term, but in the long run, these chemicals are used in agricultural production, causing environmental pollution. One is to reduce the fertility of the land. There are also such problems in the world. In recent 45 years, 17% of the world's arable land has been degraded to varying degrees, among which 1 1% has been seriously degraded, which is equivalent to the sum of China and India. 28% of the land degradation area is due to harmful agricultural practices, such as excessive fertilization, insufficient irrigation and drainage, and neglect of fallow. The second is the increase in pests and diseases. Pesticides have been used for a period of time. Because of the rapid reproduction and great variation of insects, they soon developed drug resistance, so more different chemical pesticides are needed. These chemicals will also kill birds, thus increasing the number of pests. In the early 1980s, due to the extensive use of pesticides in Indonesia, the extinction of natural enemies led to a large increase in the number of brown locusts, which led to the outbreak of pests in Indonesia from 65438 to 0986 and a serious reduction in rice production. Former Indonesian President Suharto banned the use of 56 of 57 pesticides, 1985, in March, in order to help rice yield return to the level before the large-scale use of pesticides. 1June, 1988, the pesticide subsidy costing 200 billion rupiah (about 65438+ 1 billion dollars) was cancelled. The third is to cause damage to human health. Residues of pesticides and herbicides, high concentrations of nitrates and phosphates after using chemical fertilizers, and salts accumulated in soil due to irrigation not only penetrate into soil and water, but also remain on grains and vegetables, which is harmful to human health. The main health risk of toxic chemicals is cancer, and the formation of malignant lymphoma may take 20 years. If the main substance of chromosome-deoxyribonucleic acid is damaged, it will bring congenital damage to the next generation. According to the World Health Organization, 500,000 to 6,543,800 people are poisoned by pesticides every year, among which 50,000 to 26,000 people die. At least half of the poisoned people and 75% of the dead are engaged in agriculture, and most of them occur in underdeveloped countries. In 1993, the research of the Philippine International Rice Research Institute (IRI), an agricultural research organization that helped spread the Green Revolution in Southeast Asia, also found that the use of pesticides and herbicides no longer increased rice production and caused health problems among those farmers who operated.

Second, the response measures taken

The environmental problems caused by agricultural development in Southeast Asian countries have aroused widespread concern of the international community and the governments and societies of these countries. Southeast Asian countries have taken relevant measures to reduce environmental damage. Measures mainly include:

First, reduce and stop primitive farming and immigration without careful study. Governments in Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries attach importance to the economic transformation of mountain people, guide them to master agricultural knowledge, and establish permanent farmland to develop alternative planting, which has achieved remarkable results. The economic and social development goals of the Lao government in 20001-2005 and the goal for 2020 set in 20001-have clearly stipulated that slash-and-burn farming methods should be eliminated in the next few years. Stop immigration and reclamation without careful study. For example, in recent years, Vietnam has implemented the immigration policy of settling down and farming, and all resettlement sites should be carefully studied. Residents in areas where floods and mudslides often occur and poor mountainous areas should move to new economic zones.

Second, illegal logging is prohibited, afforestation is encouraged and forests are protected. Faced with the continuous reduction of forest area and serious environmental consequences, coupled with the pressure from the international community, Southeast Asian countries, especially the old ASEAN countries, began to gradually limit deforestation and timber export in the mid-1970s, implemented afforestation plans and established forest reserves. Since the mid-1970s, the Indonesian government has implemented the policy of restricting the export of logs and encouraging the development of wood processing industry and afforestation. The Indonesian government restricts the export of logs by means of taxation, stipulating that an export tax of US$ 25.5 is charged for each log exported 1 m3, an export license fee of US$ 13, and the greening fee set by various regions. The original fee paid for each log exported 1 m3 is about US$ 50. In 1974, the Philippines implemented the forest reform law, encouraged the development of domestic wood processing industry, stipulated selective logging and afforestation, 1986 prohibited the export of logs, and 1989 prohibited the export of sawn timber. From 65438 to 0978, the Malaysian government also formulated a forest protection policy to restrict the output and export of logs. At this time, the Thai government also began to implement the afforestation plan, and the government and companies jointly carried out logging and afforestation in a planned way, and 1990 prohibited forest logging. Vietnam banned the export of logs in 199 1, and announced in 1992 that all timber exports were prohibited, but this ban does not apply to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Forestry, and they can still export and transfer timber. In recent years, Vietnam has attached great importance to afforestation. Since 1999, the implementation of the "5 million hectares afforestation plan" has achieved results in afforestation and forest protection. By the end of 2000, the forest coverage rate reached 33.2%.

The third is to develop ecological agriculture and biotechnology research. Since 1970s, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries have started theoretical research and experiments on ecological agriculture. 1982 established a regional cooperative research institution-Agricultural Ecology Research Network of Southeast Asian University. Singapore is a typical suburban agriculture, which pays attention to the research and development of agricultural science and technology and develops agriculture by using biotechnology. In the 1970s, the Philippines began to implement the practice of ecological agriculture and established ecological farms, especially Maya farms. In the production process, the closed cycle of turning waste into treasure and the relationship between production, consumption and decomposition of living things are adopted to prohibit or reduce the input of external energy (fertilizers, pesticides and growth agents), and "healthy products" are produced through "clean production". The Philippine International Rice Research Institute cultivated a "magic rice" variety that ignited the fire of the green revolution 30 years ago. The Institute is currently considering the application of biotechnology and genetic engineering to food production, which can not only provide healthy food, but also save land and water resources and reduce the degradation of cultivated land. Malaysia has also begun to attach importance to the research and development of biotechnology agriculture, emphasizing the development of high value-added products, such as knowledge-intensive food processing products and safe and environmentally friendly health-related biotechnology products. Now, using biotechnology to develop agriculture has become a new industry in Malaysia. Hu Jihua and banana tissue culture biological industry and oil palm tissue culture industry were established in this country.

The fourth is to control population growth. In order to alleviate the pressure of rapid population growth on economy, employment, society and environment, Southeast Asian countries began to implement family planning in the 1960s, and controlled population growth in a planned way, and achieved certain results. The fertility rate in Southeast Asian countries has declined. By 1998, the average number of children per woman was 1.5 in Singapore, 3. 1 in Malaysia, 2.7 in Indonesia, 3.6 in the Philippines, 2.3 in Vietnam, 4.5 in Cambodia, 5.5 in Laos and 3.65438 in Myanmar. Although the birth rate has declined in some countries, economically backward countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar still maintain high birth rates. Carrying out family planning, controlling population growth and reducing economic and environmental pressures are still problems facing Southeast Asian countries.

Although Southeast Asian countries have taken relevant measures to slow down the environmental deterioration caused by agricultural development, the effect of environmental protection is not optimistic due to economic, social and government reasons. Although the export of logs and illegal logging are prohibited, the law enforcement is not strict and the results are not great. In order to increase foreign exchange income, some governments first banned and then liberalized. For example, the Lao government banned all logging activities in August of 199 1, but in August of 1992, it lifted the ban and granted logging rights to several foreign companies. Myanmar announced the ban on logging in 1988, but the government later signed logging contracts with several Thai companies. Although Indonesia restricts the export of logs, for decades, Indonesia has been taking expanding the export of wood products as its economic growth point. First, it exports logs and prohibits the export of logs before exporting wood products. At present, Indonesia is the largest plywood producer in the world, and plywood products have become the second largest export product of the country's non-oil and natural gas products, second only to textiles. According to official statistics, in 1999, Indonesia had 105 plywood factories,170/kloc-0 sawmills and 6 paper mills, and plywood exports earned a total of 8.5 billion US dollars. These plywood factories and paper mills all use wood as raw material. The more plywood and pulp you produce, the more foreign exchange you earn, the more wood you need and the more forests you cut down. . The development of agricultural products processing industry has also brought new pollution to water quality and soil. It can be seen that how to reduce the environmental problems brought about by agricultural development is still an urgent problem for Southeast Asian governments. (njdk2 12)