Putrajaya urged to block 'forest plantation' in Chini reserve

Environmental watchdog Rimbawatch has urged Putrajaya to block attempts to convert six parcels of land in the Chini Forest Reserve into "forest plantations".

In a statement today, Rimbawatch said it has sighted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) consultant's letter on the proposed project to Kampung Orang Asli Melai, urging the resident to attend a dialogue this Friday.

Rimbawatch said the proposed plantations shared borders with the Unesco Biosphere Reserve and are within an area proposed by the government as a "Biosphere Peripheral Zone", as part of the Tasik Chini Special Area Plan.

"The timber plantation programme has previously been touted as a way to rehabilitate degraded forests, encroached forests, unproductive state lands, and poorly stocked forests.

"However, satellite imagery of the affected compartments of Chini Forest Reserve between 1984 and 2022 show minimal disturbances to those forests, which remain mostly as intact primary forests.

"There is, therefore, no justification to replace those forests with plantations," said Rimbawatch.

In view of this, Rimbawatch proposed that the authorities reject any proposals for timber plantations in the Chini Forest Reserve and also reject any EIA report on such projects.

According to Rimbawatch, the total area of the proposed plantation is 1,625ha, roughly the size of 657 football fields, or 10 times the size of Bukit Kiara in KL.

Under the Pahang government's Tasik Chini Special Area Plan (RKK) (Amendment) draft, the state wanted to increase the size of the Chini Biosphere Reserve from 6,951.44ha to 9,142.62ha.

An expanded border, known as the Biosphere Peripheral Zone, was also introduced at the time.

Meanwhile, Rimbawatch warned that monoculture timber plantations were the biggest driver of deforestation in Malaysia currently as it entailed the destruction of natural forests with industrial plantations.

"We would like to remind the public that this programme, referred to as 'forest plantations' by state and federal authorities, is merely a method to greenwash deforestation and it has not been justified economically or ecologically," he said.

Rimbawatch also urged the government to block all future "forest plantation" projects and shut down remaining concessions.

They also urged the government to admit that "forest plantations" involve deforestation and take responsibility for the damage to biodiversity, communities, and the climate.