Perak govt urged to enforce forest plantation moratorium

Green groups say two proposed projects in the Kledang Saiong forest reserve should be cancelled in line with a 2022 National Land Council decision imposing a moratorium.

The groups said the state should cancel two proposed projects in the Kledang Saiong forest reserve in Kuala Kangsar, covering about 4,280ha and 2,020ha, respectively.

They said the projects should not proceed as the National Land Council had imposed a moratorium on new approvals for forest plantations in permanent forest reserves in the peninsula in 2022.

“To comply with the (council’s) decision, we urge the Perak government to cancel the two proposed forest plantation projects in the Kledang Saiong forest reserve,” they said in a joint statement.

Besides Greenpeace, the group also comprises Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Pertubuhan Alam Sekitar Sejahtera, Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam, Persatuan Penggerak Bumi Hijau Malaysia, Persatuan Aktivis Sahabat Alam, Sahabat Ekologi Perak, and the Kampung Rambai Tujuh Residents’ Action Committee.

The groups were responding to Perak menteri besar Saarani Mohamad, who recently told the state assembly that only about 3%, or 32,375ha, of the state’s permanent forest reserves had been designated as forest plantation development zones.

Forest plantation zones are meant for fast-growing commercial timber species such as eucalyptus, batai, and timber latex clones, usually to supply wood for industry and reduce pressure on natural forests.

Such projects have drawn criticism because they allow natural forests to be cleared and replanted with a single commercial tree species, even though the areas may still be officially counted as forest cover.

The groups also said the justification put forward by technical agencies and project proponents for the two projects was that the identified areas are allegedly degraded forests.

“However, environmental impact assessment reports indicate that both proposed project sites are rich in biodiversity,” they said.

They also said the forest should not be deemed degraded simply because it lacks commercially valuable timber trees, adding that damaged forests should be restored, not cleared for plantations.

“In reality, forest degradation is largely driven by human factors, particularly weak forest management,” they said.

The groups also rejected Saarani’s claim that forest plantations in permanent forest reserves could help environmental conservation.

They cited the 2022 Auditor-General’s Report, which found that forest plantation development in permanent forest reserves was unsatisfactory, especially regarding the environmental impact.

Last year, RimbaWatch called for a moratorium on such projects, saying a review it conducted had found that 62% of industrial timber plantations were in intact forests and 38% in degraded forests.