The government has not given the full picture concerning a 15-year moratorium on plantations in permanent forest reserves, said Kota Bharu Amanah chief Husam Musa.
Husam pointed out that prior to the moratorium, 127,050 hectares of permanent forest reserve were approved to be turned into plantations but have yet to be licensed.
He questioned if the licensing would proceed despite the moratorium.
"The remaining 127,050.25 hectares are waiting to be cleared in the name of forest plantation as they have been approved as plantation zone in permanent forest reserves," he said in a statement.
He added that the moratorium has only been in place for five months. Therefore the government's assertion that states have not exceeded their felling quota is still untested.
Yesterday, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Takiyuddin Hassan said no state has exceeded their annual felling ration.
He added that no new licences for forest plantation projects were approved.
The implementation of "forest plantation", often involving the felling of forest to be replaced with rubber or durian trees, has been criticised as going against the purpose of a permanent forest reserve.
Husam questioned if the areas can still be considered permanent forest reserves when the original forests are replaced with plantations.
He urged Putrajaya to provide detailed data on the felling on trees in permanent forest reserves in favour of plantations.
He echoed the call by Sahabat Alam Malaysia to completely abolish plantations without permanent forest reserves. - Mkini
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