THE Sabah Forestry Department is working to identify an additional 220,000 hectares to achieve the state’s goal of dedicating 30% of its land as Totally Protected Areas (TPAs).
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the state aims to reach approximately 2.2 million hectares of conservation land by 2025.
The Sabah Forestry Department has steadily expanded TPAs, now covering about 2.0 million hectares, or 27.3% of the state’s total land area since its establishment 110 years ago.
This additional land is seen as the final push toward Sabah’s conservation target, with the department also in the final stages of amending the Forest Enactment 1968.
According to Hajiji, these amendments will modernise Sabah's forestry governance and legislation, aligning them with current environmental needs.
“This legacy of the Sabah Forestry Department provides a strong foundation for us to adapt to today’s challenges,” Hajiji said at the 20th Malaysian Forestry Conference at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) in Kota Kinabalu.
The Chief Minister also praised the department’s recent milestones, such as completing the Sabah State Forest Master Plan, launching the second Sabah Strategic Action Plan, and implementing the 15-year Forest Plantation Development Action Plan running until 2036.
The Sabah Wildlife Department has also launched the Sabah Mangrove Action Plan (SMAP), developed in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Sabah, to guide mangrove forest planning and management.
The department has also been appointed to lead the state’s climate action agenda as the Secretariat of the Sabah Climate Action Council (SCAC).
The council will integrate forestry into broader climate strategies, including carbon credit sales from the Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project (KRCP) via Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX).
This initiative marks Malaysia’s first carbon credit sale through BCX, with KRCP having generated around 4.2 million Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) to date. - October 31, 2024
