Sabah committed to have 30pct protected forests by 2025

The Sabah state government is committed to continuing its policy to gazette high biodiversity forests as Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) which make up at least 30 percent of the state by 2025, said Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Juhar Mahiruddin.

He said so far, the total forest land which has been gazetted as TPAs was 1.9 million hectares or 25 percent of the state.

“This achievement has made Sabah the state with the largest TPAs in Malaysia. The state government will also intensify forest restoration programmes and protection of iconic and unique species such as the orangutan, pygmy elephants and others.

“To protect the TPA, the state government through the Sabah Forestry Department has set up an enforcement, tactical, operational and protection squad to combat poaching and other forest crimes,” he explained.

Juhar said this in his state government policy speech at the first meeting of the third term of the Sabah state assembly sitting today.

He said the state government will also strengthen the implementation of Sustainable Forest Management by assessing the achievements and progress of all Sustainable Forest Management License Agreement (SFMLA) holders to make sure the license is only granted to developers who are fully committed to the concept of long-term sustainable forests management and not those who are focused on exploitation.

Meanwhile, Juhar said, the state government will continue to tackle poverty by implementing local economic enhancement programmes, housing for the hardcore poor, providing basic facilities and improving the capacity of human capital in target groups under the Mini Estet Sejahtera and Kampung Sejahtera programmes.

“The Kampung Sejahtera programme is aimed at holistically transforming villages that are left behind through three key areas, namely human capital development, economic development and improving quality of life.

“We will also implement a rural-tourism programme through community-based tourism, Rumah Sejahtera Rakyat Sabah (RSRS) programme and alternative electricity and water supply in the rural area,” he added.

- Bernama