Sabah removes forest reserve status on land occupied by 90 villages

Sabah’s chief conservator of forests, Mashor Mohd Jaini. (Facebook pic)

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government has removes the forest reserve status on 1,637 hectares occupied by 90 villages. To maintain the total size of forest reserves some 2,154 hectares of government land is to be gazetted as forest reserves.

Sabah Chief Conservator of Forests, Mashor Mohd Jaini, said the move was a historic moment in forest management.

He said removal of forest reserve status would bring relief to about 20,000 people who have long resided in the forest area and also reduce the burden of conflict between the villagers and the government.

Mashor also advised the villagers to adhere to the given area and not to expand the border of the village in order to avoid new conflicts as well as appreciate the government for the concern given in ensuring their well-being.

“The people are also reminded to not misuse the opportunity by building new villages in the forest reserve area. The state government through the Sabah Forestry Department will not compromise with them,” he said in a statement today.

The Sabah state assembly recently approved a government proposal to remove forest reserve status on approximately 1,637 hectares of land that had long been inhabited by locals which altogether includes 3,800 houses and about 20,000 residents.

While doing so, the state assembly also approved 2,154 hectares of government land to be gazetted as forest reserves. Both moves have resulted in an increase of total Sabah forest reserve by 0.015 percent, from 3,540,748.874 hectares to 3,541,265.683 hectares.

Mashor explained that both moves need to be carried out concurrently as the Sabah Forest Policy 2018 has stipulated that every dissolution of the forest reserve area must be replaced with an area of a same or bigger size.

The government was under an obligation to ensure that about 50% of Sabah’s land area was under forest cover and sufficient to provide ecosystem services like watershed area and habitat for flora and fauna.

Mashor acknowledged that there were still several villages in the forest reserves that were not included in the dissolution process, but the Sabah Forestry Department will conduct a detailed study of the villages and the study will also consider the importance of the area for conservation purposes.

The findings of the study will be forwarded to a special task force chaired by Sabah state secretary Safar Untong for further action, he said. - FMT