Addressing forestry governance in Malaysia

2022 has been a momentous year in many ways. Little known to many, an important milestone was reached in the middle of the year – Malaysia fulfilled its voluntary pledge of maintaining “at least 50% of its landmass as forest and tree cover” for a good 30 years.

Actually, the pledge, which was made at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, was nothing more than convenient bywords in official speeches and statements, so much so that it was merely mentioned in the Prime Minister’s foreword to the review of the National Forestry Policy 2021 instead of being incorporated in it.