BY SARAH HAFIZAH CHANDRA & NOOR SYAHHIRA HADY
SARAWAK aspires to be globally recognised in sustainable management of tropical forests and biodiversity while promoting its timber industry, says Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He disclosed that a sum of RM6.5mil under the 2023 State Budget would be assigned for conservation and protection of wildlife and Totally Protected Areas (TPAs).
He said Sarawak had targeted designating one million hectares of the state’s landmass as TPS 2025 and as of the second quarter of this year, the total gazetted TPAs is at 872,386 hectares.
“To enhance the management of TPAs and wildlife, the following projects have been approved for implementation under Projek Rakyat, namely development of One-Stop Centre at Bukit Lima Nature Reserve with a total cost of RM5mil; establishment of Nature Discovery Centre at Piasau Nature Reserve at a total cost of RM30mil and Publicity Programmes for Niah National Park as Unesco World Heritage Site with a total cost of RM1.4mil.”
He said this when tabling the Supply (2023) Bill, 2022 at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on Monday (Nov 21).
At the same time, he said the state government had also implemented Forest Management Certification (FMC).
The policy provides mandatory requirements for all long-term licenses in Sarawak, which cover an area of approximately 3.9 million hectares, to obtain FMC – to date, areas covering about 1.35 million hectares have successfully obtained certification.
“The certificate aims to ensure that sustainable forest management standards in Sarawak are in line with international standards while enhancing the state’s reputation in the global market.
“Moreover, the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) programme plays a major role in Sarawak environmental sustainability goal. It aims to restore ecological integrity and improve the productivity as well as economic value of degraded forest landscapes through programmes such as replanting of trees.
“A sum of RM19mil was approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan to implement this project with 35 million trees targeted to be planted within the next three years.
“In 2023, RM2.3mil will be budgeted for the continuation of this initiative and as of August this year, more than 14.45 million trees have been planted.”
