SHAH ALAM: State governments have been urged to expedite the adoption of the National Forestry (Amendment) Act 2022 by amending their respective Forestry Enactments to support efforts in strengthening the preservation and conservation of the country’s forested areas.
Deputy Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii said to date, only the Federal Territory and Perlis have fully implemented the amendments in the law.
“The Ministry remains committed to enhancing efforts to preserve and conserve the country’s forested areas.
“The government is steadfast in its pledge to maintain at least 50% of the country’s land area under tree and forest cover, in line with the country’s commitment made at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992,” he said.
He said this when opening the 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign in conjunction with the 2025 International Forest Day celebration at the National Botanical Gardens here yesterday.
According to Huang, among other things being done to fulfil the commitment, include the gazetting of forest areas according to the importance of the role of the forests involved and increasing the allocation of financial incentives for Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation (EFT).
“The ministry has intensified efforts to gazette other forested areas as Permanent Forest Reserves (HSK), watershed and fully protected areas, as well as to gazette proposed HSK areas, particularly those located within the Central Forest Spine and Environmentally Sensitive Areas.
“The EFT allocation has been increased to RM250mil this year compared to RM200mil in 2024,” he said, Bernama reported.
The incentive, he said, can help the state governments to identify and implement high-impact projects for conservation purposes in line with the six scopes outlined for EFT project implementation in collaboration with the respective State Forestry Department.
