Evaluating Malaysia’s environmental efforts with myGAP

[David White]

As being one of the richly bio diversified nations, Malaysia is home to around 9% of the world's plant species, with an estimated 15,000 types of a great variety of flora and fauna, while those of Sabah and Sarawak is reported at 12,000 species. In national parks, plant natural diseases are conserved. Such protected areas have acted as shelters for vulnerable species. While at the same time, Malaysia has witnessed robust and remarkable economic development in the last two decades.

Effects of industrial developments on Malaysia’s environment

Malaysia has a good environmental performance relative to several nations, but it also faces formidable obstacles and risks to its wealthy assets and natural resources. Malaysia's global principles for ecosystems are under continuous attack.

Research findings have also shown that land-use shift and deforestation are correlated with tremendous disruptions in the quality of habitats, environmental destruction, and highly vulnerable areas in Malaysia. The main factors of biodiversity loss have been described as having the biggest impact on both terrestrial and marine environments in Malaysia, including habitat erosion, urban growth, water contamination, global warming, and species extinction.

What to do to protect the biodiversity and environment of Malaysia?

Agricultural activities in Malaysia are getting more and more intensive and economically and environmentally more important. A much better strategic solution must be introduced by conservation planning. This is important to ensure that its resources can continue to be delivered by all environmental service providers that are essential for the maintenance of the development system. By launching the latest National Biological Diversity Strategy 2016-2025, Malaysia has already kicked off this with one of the five central targets of safeguarding all our main habitats, organisms, and biological variation.

Farming activities that foster eco-friendly methods, which in turn increase production, food security and nutrition, wellbeing, environmental services, biodiversity, stability, and environmental alleviation, should be promoted. But apart from that government, the incorporate ecosystem services should provide goals and prioritize those activities.

Increasing agricultural activities to preserve biodiversity

To promote environmentally friendly agricultural and aquacultural activities several state-backed incentive programs and quality-boosting certification attempts have started to take place. One of these plans is myGAP certification that promotes healthy and safe agricultural production including fishery farms while at the same time protecting the environment and the ecosystem where the farmland is located

Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices (MyGAP)

In 2013, the system was introduced. MyGAP is a comprehensive agricultural certification scheme founded on the Malaysian Standard (MS) for the agriculture, aquaculture, and farmland sectors and is derived and integrated from three former schemes, namely the Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices Farm Certification Scheme, the Livestock Farm Activities System as well as the Malaysian Aquaculture Farm Certification.

Ecosystem protection has been integrated into numerous Malaysian plans, as well as many central and provincial strategies. In addition, its strategy of maintaining at least 50% of its land within sustainable perpetual agricultural production and protected sites has led to the conservation and restoration of biological diversity standards, the mitigation of GHG emissions, and the absorption of GHGs.

To know more details about myGap certification in Malaysia, visit this website.