THE state government has never issued any Provisional Lease (PL) for the purpose of reforestation, Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh told the august House yesterday.
According to him, the government only issued forest plantation licence to plant fast-growing and high-value trees at the moment.
“The establishment of a forest plantation requires licence holders to fell trees systematically to minimise the impact on the environment and achieve optimum results.
“All activities involved in deforestation and forest plantation are subject to the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB),” he said in response to questions posed by Datuk Tiong Thai King (UPP-Dudong) and Dennis Ngau (PBB-Telang Usan) at the State Legislative Assembly Sitting yesterday.
He noted that areas under the reforestation programme include forest concessions, fully protected areas and degenerated land.
In addition, he said the State Forest Department had collaborative programmes with agencies and organisations within and outside the country to implement reforestation activities.
This include public awareness programmes involving schools, higher learning institutions, non-governmental organisations as well as public and corporate sectors.
“Since the implementation of the programme until 2017, an area of approximately 1,508 hectares comprising cultivation programmes in land and coastal forest areas have been successfully implemented,” he said.
Meanwhile, Len said a selective felling system has been implemented in timber concession areas especially in permanent forest reserves in the state.
He explained that the system emphasises mature trees with a diameter of 60cm and above for Dipterocarp species and 45cm and above for non-Dipterocarp species that can be felled.