Friday, February 4, 2022

‘Royal Land’ Among Vast Tracts Of Forest For Sale

 


by FAYYADH JAAFAR / pic by BERNAMA

THE Rimba Disclosure Project (RDP) is concerned over the online advertising of vast tracts of allegedly deforested lands in various states in Peninsular Malaysia.

Some of the listings, it said, are being sold under the guise of being owned by royal families and warranting further investigation.

RDP has identified and verified 43,539ha of forested land purportedly for sale through 28 listings on websites including Mudah.my, iProperty, PropertyGuru and Facebook.

These listings contain land within forest reserves, central forest spine habitat linkages and indigenous customary land.

RDP has called on authorities to investigate these online advertisements of the vast tracts of forest in the peninsula, ostensibly for sale and conversion to agriculture with a 99-year lease.

RDP stated that the sale of forests is inconsistent with Malaysia’s pledge to maintain 50% of its total landmass as forest cover, as well as its commitment under the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, and its responsibility to prioritise climate action under the Paris Agreement.

They also stressed that the conversion of forests to agricultural use will result in further loss of biodiversity and the degradation of natural habitats, as well as exacerbate issues of flooding and the climate crisis, all of which will further affect the communities living in these areas.

“The sale of forests includes land in ecologically sensitive areas, such as the Ulu Tembeling region, which is highly prone to annual flooding; Gua Musang and Terengganu, which are becoming increasingly prone to human-wildlife conflict, including livestock and human predation by tigers; and Lojing, which is susceptible to landslides,” RDP said in a statement yesterday.

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Hence, RDP has called upon the relevant state governments to investigate and confirm the veracity of these listings.

“We demand that authorities investigate the online advertising of the vast tracts of forest in Peninsular Malaysia, purportedly for sale and land-use conversion, and publicly report the results of the investigation.

“If the law has been broken, legal action must be taken,” the statement reads.

It also demands that state governments ensure that relevant laws, policies and conservation practises are respected to halt deforestation and biodiversity loss as expressed in several national policies and commitments, to protect forests against climate change and to stop deforestation.

This includes the sale of state land forests, even if within legal means, to private companies and the de-gazetting of gazetted forests and their subsequent intended conversions into other land uses.

It also calls for the property sites to better scrutinise listings to ensure full compliance with national laws and that environmental priorities and indigenous rights are upheld. - MalaysianReserve

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