Be open about removing forest reserve protection, says nature group

Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) president Rajesh Nagarajan has urged the Pahang government to hold a public inquiry into the removal of protected status for permanent forest reserves. The state government should also make the conditions for degazetting a permanent forest reserve transparent and subject to public scrutiny, according to Nagarajan.

He called for the disclosure of which forests are being degazetted, the reasons behind the decision, the extent of the land involved, the proposed development, and the anticipated environmental consequences.

Nagarajan's comments came in response to Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail's assertion that the state had its own conditions and procedures for degazetting permanent forest reserves, which he claimed were functioning effectively. Wan Rosdy emphasized that land and forests were state matters and should be managed by the state government.

While Peka does not dispute the state's authority over land and forests, Nagarajan questioned why the public should be excluded from decisions that could permanently strip forests of their protected status. He argued that a public inquiry is not an attack on the state government's powers but rather a fundamental mechanism of transparency and accountability.

Nagarajan highlighted the growing concerns over the Pahang River, the largest in the peninsula, which is becoming shallower as its riverbed becomes exposed in Maran. He suggested that this could be indicative of increasing pressure on the state's river system due to factors such as forest loss, land-use changes, erosion, sedimentation, and overall river health.