Myth of plantations being forests

IT was with bewilderment that I read the letter, “Oil palm plantations are jungles too” (The Star, Aug 26). My bewilderment grew when I realised that the writer, a purportedly educated man, was not being sarcastic but very earnest in his remarks.

Plantations cannot fall into the category of “jungles” or, more accurately, forests because they consist of monoculture crops, that is, only one type of crop in a given area at the same time. A diverse forest ecosystem provides natural checks and balances to keep soil and plants healthy. In contrast, a monoculture plantation has to use large quantities of synthetic herbicides, insecticides, bactericides and fertilisers to replicate some of the ways nature uses to protect crops. Over time, pests, weeds and fungus evolve to be resistant to chemicals, and farmers end up applying more and more chemicals to monoculture crops. This in turn adversely affects natural ecosystems and human health.