States Should Include Public Inquiry In Forestry Enactments

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Natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said when a state government decides to degazette a forest area, they must replace it with a new one. (Bernama pic)PORT KLANG: All state governments have been urged to amend their respective forestry enactments by incorporating public inquiry procedures before degazetting any forest area as this falls under their jurisdiction.
Natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said only Selangor and Perlis have incorporated public inquiry procedures into their forestry laws.
“We have reminded other state governments to make the same amendment to the relevant enactments because we understand that forests are a state matter.
“If they degazette a forest area, the state government must replace it with a new one. We hope they can comply with the rule,” he told reporters after the Rakan Bumi initiative for mangrove planting programme 2024 in Mangrove Point, here, today.
He said, until 2020, the country had about 18.05 million hectares of forest area, adding that his ministry was actively planting more trees under its 100 million tree planting campaign with support from various parties.
According to Nik Nazmi, as of this month, 86.5 million trees of 1,823 species have been planted across the country, and the ministry is targeting to hit the 100 million mark by the end of next year.
He said they have planted nearly 8,000 mangrove trees covering 3,500ha in coastal areas nationwide.
When asked if climate change was linked to recent incidents of uprooted large trees in George Town, Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Nik Nazmi said it was a serious issue and the root cause must be examined “holistically”.
“I understand the debate. There are a lot of trees under the jurisdiction of local governments and they (local authorities) have their guidelines. They usually cooperate with the arborist or the tree expert.
“But we have to look at it as a whole, get the forestry department involved and provide the relevant feedback,” he said.
On the alleged illegal extraction of rare earth oxide in the forest reserve in Lipis, Pahang, Nik Nazmi said the ministry is constantly communicating with the state government regarding the issue.
“We are communicating not only with the Pahang government but with all state governments on the guidelines for proper rare earth elements mining.
“This will be followed by discussions involving the economy ministry, the investment, trade and industry ministry, and the science, technology and innovation ministry,” he said.
Pahang menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail had previously denied the accusation, saying that the statement by Nik Nazmi in response to a question raised by Ipoh Timor MP Lee Chuan How in the Dewan Rakyat on March 12 was inaccurate because there has been no rare earth oxide extraction activities in Lipis. - FMT

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