SHAH ALAM, June 29 — 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.
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii said that to date, only the Federal Territory and Perlis have fully implemented the amendments in the law.
“The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (NRES) 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 per cent 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.
Huang was speaking at the opening of the 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign in conjunction with the 2025 International Forest Day celebration at the National Botanical Gardens today.
Among other things being done to fulfil the commitment include gazetting 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 RM250 million this year compared to RM200 million in 2024,” he said.
The incentive can help state governments identify and implement high-impact projects for conservation purposes, in line with the six scopes outlined for EFT project implementation, in collaboration with their respective State Forestry Departments.
Commenting on today’s programme, Huang said that as of June 15, 115.7 million trees, covering 1,972 species, have been planted nationwide, with 43.9 million trees in Peninsular Malaysia, 48.3 million trees in Sarawak, and 23.5 million trees in Sabah.
The target of 100 million trees was achieved a year earlier, on December 10, 2024, through the symbolic planting of the 100 millionth tree, which is of the Merbau species, by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Taman Herba, Parliament in Kuala Lumpur.
“Although the target number of plantings has been successfully achieved, this campaign will continue until the end of this year to realise the important objective of this campaign, which is to increase public awareness of the importance of trees and forested areas and to foster a love of nature,” he said.
— Bernama
