By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, May 15: The Sarawak government has gazetted a new permanent forest reserve, namely the Bajoh-Ujong Murod Protected Forest covering an area of 13,125 hectares in Miri this year.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development II (MUDeNR) Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said this when presenting his ministerial winding-up speech in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) sitting here today.
“This brings the total area of the Permanent Forest Reserve in Sarawak so far to 3,960,471 hectares,” he said.
He further said that based on a scientific expedition programme organised at Taman Rimba Sebangkoi, Sarikei from Feb 19 to March 2, the findings will be used to prepare a proposal on the gazettement of Taman Rimba Sebangkoi as Amenity Forest for research, education and recreational purposes.
As Malaysia aims to plant 100 million trees starting from 2021 to 2025 under the Greening Malaysia Programme, Sarawak has expressed its commitment to contribute by planting up to 35 million trees through Greening Sarawak Campaign.
“Sarawak is the largest contributor to tree planting in Malaysia as of April 2024 by recording the planting of more than 34 million trees.
“We expect to be able to reach the target of planting 35 million trees in the near future, which is earlier than the target year of 2025,” he told the august House.
At the same time, Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) through Project Rewilding has planted 98,000 trees in most Totally Protected Areas (TPA) throughout Sarawak.
This year, another 20,000 trees are targeted to be planted in TPA areas such as Rajang Mangrove, Bukit Lima Sibu, Samunsam, Similajau and Piasau. — DayakDaily
