The government should urgently review the issue of legal logging in the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve (HSUM), instead of denying the presence of illegal logging or forest exploration activities in the area.
Environmental NGO RimbaWatch said this in response to Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad's recent denial of illegal logging or encroachment in a forest reserve in Sik, Kedah.
Replying to the NGO's earlier statement that logging activities were causing Tasik Muda - the main source of water for users in Penang and Kedah - to suffer from sedimentation problems, the minister further pledged that they would continuously monitor the situation to ensure that such things do not occur.
In a statement today, RimbaWatch stressed that it had never implied there was illegal logging in the area.
"We had never explicitly nor implicitly stated that illegal logging was occurring within HSUM.
"The key purpose of our (initial) press statement was not to present conclusive findings on the contamination of the Muda reservoir, but rather to urge the Kedah state government to investigate the impact of these logging operations on the reservoir's environment.
"An action recognised as legal does not absolve the government of the need to review, especially where such legal action may have led to harmful effects," it added.
Legal logging is the problem
Elaborating, RimbaWatch said it has always recognised that illegal logging is not an issue of concern in the country.
"In fact, the majority of deforestation occurring across forest reserves in Malaysia is legal.
"If there is no illegal logging in HSUM, then it openly implies that there is legal logging occurring," said the NGO, appending satellite imagery of deforestation alerts occurring within the boundaries of the forest reserve between August 2021 and August 2023.
"This evidence proves the fact that logging, whether legal or not, has been taking place in HSUM since 2021, and unless the Forestry Department or a relevant ministry can show clear evidence that proves contrary, such presence of logging activities is a simple yet undisputable fact."
The NGO cited Sirim's 2023 audit report of the Kedah Forest Management Unit which stated that logging in HSUM is insufficiently monitored, but the matter has been left unaddressed by the federal government and its Kedah state counterpart.
RimbaWatch then expressed disappointment with the relevant authorities for allegedly trying to "sweep the issue under the carpet" instead of acting on or being transparent about the issue of legal logging in HSUM.
It then urged the Kedah state government to release the list of licences and concessions for logging within HSUM boundaries.
RimbaWatch also called upon the ministry to act on its past commitments to transparency and release the relevant environmental impact assessments for logging activities in the area. - Mkini
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