Strengthening legislation to enhance forest conservation

PUTRAJAYA - The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry (NRECC) will continue to implement various initiatives, including stricter enforcement of relevant laws, such as the National Forestry Act 1984, to enhance the conservation of forests in the country.

Its minister, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said efforts would also be made to gazette forest areas, including the Central Forest Spine and Environmentally Sensitive Areas.

The allocation for Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) in 2023 will also be increased to RM150 million, which is an increase of 150 per cent since its implementation in 2019, towards enhancing the conservation of the country's forests, he said in a statement here today.

Nik Nazmi said Malaysia could not be complacent and more efforts needed to be done to put an end to the loss of primary forests in the country.

Regarding Malaysia's success in keeping the rate of primary forest loss at a low level as stated in an international report, he said, it was due to a number of initiatives, including stricter enforcement and wider usage of the Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification.

The achievements by Malaysia were reported by the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch and the University of Maryland on global deforestation.

Overall, Malaysia reduced its primary forest loss by 57 per cent as of 2022, placing the country fourth among the top 10 countries, he added.

Nik Nazmi said the Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT) for Biodiversity Conservation initiative; which is being institutionalised by the current government, and the proactive action of the various state governments in protecting their forests also contributed to Malaysia’s success in keeping the rate of primary forest loss at a low level.

He said that at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, Malaysia pledged to maintain at least 50 per cent of its forest cover and had held to the pledge, with the country’s forest cover now at 54.58 per cent or 18.05 million hectares.

Malaysia, he said, welcomed all stakeholders, including the various state governments, the private sector and civil society, to work together with the NRECC to strengthen the management of the country’s forests.

He also called on all Malaysians to continue to support efforts by the government to protect forests as one of the nation’s most crucial resources to ensure that they could be passed on to the future generation. - BERNAMA