Sabah maintaining 64% forest coverage area, says Hajiji

 

The Sabah government has identified 400,000ha of degraded jungles for a forest plantation to reduce dependence on logs from natural forests for its timber industry. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Sabah is maintaining 64% of its land mass under forest cover to protect its natural resources, says chief minister Hajiji Noor.

In his speech delivered by deputy chief minister Joachim Gunsalam in Sandakan today, Hajiji said 3.84 million hectares, or 52% of the state’s total area, had been gazetted as forest reserves and protected from encroachment.

Bernama reported that this move was in line with the administration’s commitment to maintain at least 50% of the state’s land area under forest cover, as enshrined in the Sabah Forest Policy 2018.

Hajiji said Sabah had gazetted up to 1.9 million hectares (26.4% of the land mass) as “totally protected areas”. Its target is to increase this to 2.2 million hectares (30% of land area) by 2025.

Joachim was standing in for Hajiji at the launch of the International Forest Day 2023 at the Rainforest Discovery Centre.

Hajiji said the Sabah government was rationalising land use by balancing socio-economic development with environmental conservation. A forest master plan is now being drafted by the Sabah forestry department for this.

This master plan will provide guidelines to manage forest resources for the next 25 years.

“Through this forest master plan, Sabah can ensure all environmentally sensitive areas remain protected, without neglecting sustainable socio-economic development for the well-being of Sabahans,” Hajiji said.

Forest plantations would not be seen as a contributor to deforestation if carried out in accordance with approved forest development plans that give due attention to the protection of the environment, he added.

Hajiji said the Sabah government had identified 400,000ha of degraded forests under its 2022-2036 Forest Plantation Development Action Plan.

Hajiji said the development of forest plantations on such land was one of the strategies for sustainable forest management and would reduce the dependence on the supply of logs from natural forests for the timber industry. - FMT