KOTA BHARU – A total of 19,500ha of Permanent Forest Reserve land in Kelantan has been approved for forest exploration activities under the 12th Malaysia Plan, the state assembly was told today.
Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob said the felling of trees in the designated areas was based on the Annual Felling Ration (CTT) set by the National Land Council at its 77th meeting on September 8 last year.
He said the state government, together with the Forestry Department, controlled illegal forest clearing through satellite monitoring.
“Besides that, control is also done through Forest Monitoring Using Remote Sensing, including monitoring by use of drones and regular ground patrols in hot locations,” he said in response to a question from Saiful Adli Abu Bakar (Salor-Pas).
Meanwhile, State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Biotechnology, Green Technology and Environment Committee chairman Tuan Mohd Saripudin Tuan Ismail said only about 30% of the state permanent forest reserve area is allowed for agricultural use by the State Forestry Department and only 30% of CTT approvals were given specifically for use as durian orchards.
“This is also one of the measures taken by the government to prevent natural disasters or damage to flora and fauna,” he replied to a supplementary question from the Salor assemblyman. – Bernama, March 31, 2022
