PORT KLANG, May 12 – All state governments have been urged to amend their respective forestry enactments by incorporating public inquiry procedures before degazetting any forest areas as this falls under their jurisdiction.
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, only Selangor and Perlis have incorporated public inquiry procedures into their forestry laws.
“We have reminded other state governments to make the same amendment to the relevant enactments because we understand that forests are a state matter.
“If they degazette a forest area, the state government must replace it with a new one…we hope they can comply with the rule,” he told reporters after the Rakan Bumi Initiative for Mangrove Planting Programme 2024 in Mangrove Point, on Sunday.
Nik Nazmi said until 2020, the country had about 18.05 million hectares of forest area, adding that the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry is actively planting more trees under its 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign with support from various parties.
According to him, as of this month, 86.5 million trees of 1,823 species have been planted across the country, and the ministry is targeting to hit the 100 million mark by the end of next year.
He said they have planted nearly 8,000 mangrove trees involving 3,500 hectares in coastal areas nationwide.
