Dept aims to expand forest reserves

KEPONG: The Forestry Department wants to use drones and satellite images to map new areas which can be identified as potential additions to the country’s permanent forest reserve in 2018, said the department’s (Peninsular Malaysia) director-general Datuk Nor Akhirrudin Mahmud.

“Ground personnel will also be deployed for the mapping prog­ramme to identify forest areas outside of permanent forest reserve areas,” he said after attending a get-together with the department staff at the Forestry Training Centre here yesterday.

He said the department would submit the proposal for the mapping programme to the Government by March.

“The mapping and replanting of trees are being carried out towards increasing the permanent forest reserve area,” Nor Akhirrudin said.

He added that preliminary work for the mapping programme had already begun.

Malaysia currently has 4.9 million hectares of permanent forest reserves, which the department aims to increase to five million hectares by 2020.