Sabah Expands Totally Protected Areas To 2.227 Million Hectares - Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Sabah has expanded its Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) through the gazettement of almost 216,000 hectares of new areas, involving commercial forest reserves and State Land, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said this would increase the state's TPA to 2.227 million hectares, or about 30.06 per cent, of the state's total land area.

"This will not only allow the 30 per cent TPA target to be achieved, but also elevate Sabah's image as the state with the largest TPA in Malaysia,” he said.

His speech was read out by the Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, during the Forestry Department's Excellent Service Awards ceremony at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here last night.

Hajiji said that forests play a vital role as protectors of biodiversity, climate stabilisers and livelihood sources for the people, adding that, as such, efforts to expand totally protected areas needed to be consistently implemented.

The Chief Minister said the move reflected the effectiveness of strategies outlined in the Sabah Forest Policy 2018 to strengthen the state's conservation efforts.

Hajiji said the Sabah Forestry Department also recorded revenue collection of RM161 million last year, and RM92 million or 57 per cent was from timber royalties.

"This proves that the forestry sector remains relevant in Sabah, and as such, I want the department to be committed to ensuring revenue collection through the forestry sector is carried out transparently,” he said.

He also urged the Forestry Department to intensify the implementation of environment-related programmes and activities to increase awareness, knowledge and expertise among the people regarding the importance of forest conservation.

-- BERNAMA