Experts laud green funds, but urge decisive action and stronger accountability
PETALING JAYA: Stronger accountability, sustained funding and more decisive action are needed to protect the country’s forests and endangered wildlife, environmental experts say, while welcoming Budget 2027 allocations for biodiversity conservation.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman said the RM15mil collected through a palm oil industry cess for nature conservation was a small but significant step towards protecting endangered species such as the Malayan tiger, Bornean elephant and orang utan.
She also welcomed the increase in the Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) to RM270mil, but said the allocation could have been higher to encourage states to conserve their forests and biodiversity.
“However, EFT should only be given to states that comply with all the 2022 amendments to the National Forestry Act 1984,” she said, adding that states that had yet to comply with the amendments should not receive EFT allocations, while those that had should be rewarded with larger allocations.
She also welcomed the RM65mil allocated to support about 2,500 community rangers recruited from among the Orang Asli, military veterans and retired policemen, saying their involvement was vital to protecting biodiversity.
On marine conservation, she welcomed plans to buy back old fishing nets to reduce threats to marine life, upgrade public sewerage systems on Tuba, Langkawi, Redang and Tioman islands, and support efforts following the return of leatherback turtles to nest on Terengganu’s shores.
However, Meenakshi expressed disappointment over the absence of a carbon tax on high-emitting industries.
Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia president Andrew Sebastian said the allocations were encouraging, but stressed that the government should disclose how the funds were spent and assess their impact.
He said the increased EFT allocation should be accompanied by proper reporting and opportunities for civil society to participate in monitoring how the funds were used.
“On the community ranger programme, the government should provide more details on training plans and how the rangers would contribute to protecting forests and wildlife,” he said.
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu adjunct professor Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma described Budget 2027 as promising for biodiversity conservation, particularly efforts to protect threatened large mammals.
He said involving local communities and Orang Asli as rangers would encourage greater participation in environmental protection.
Dionysius said the increased EFT allocation was welcome, but its implementation at state level required careful management to ensure conservation spending delivered measurable benefits.
He cautioned, however, that the recent return of a leatherback turtle to nest on Terengganu’s shores did not indicate a healthy nesting population, given the species’ prolonged absence from the state’s nesting beaches.
“But there is still an opportunity to do all it takes to protect our green and hawksbill turtles,” he said.
Besides buying back old fishing nets, he said stronger enforcement against the sale of turtle eggs and financial support for NGOs and community groups operating turtle hatcheries were also needed.
