Because or rampant unlicensed harvesting of Tongkat Ali in the jungles of Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak state), the plant has now been placed on the list of protected plants in Malaysia. Forest rangers guard areas where the plant still can be found. Details were reported in the Malaysian newspaper The Star of January 30, 2001. We have a copy of the paper with the article, but for copyright reasons cannot reproduce it here. The article was written by V. Chandrasekaran and stated among other interesting points that: "The demand for tongkat ali, the plant reputed to have aphrodisiac properties, is causing rampant encroachments into forest reserves. The raids have become so frequent that the Forestry Department is worried that the plant species may become extinct if immediate steps are not taken to stop the wanton uprooting."

The following site confirms that tongkat ali is on the protected plants list in Malaysia:

http://www.ids.org.my/idsgroup/vaic/R&D/article29.htm