Forest carbon credit revenue will go straight to state, says Hajiji
He said that the recent amendment to the 1968 Forest Enactment was timely.
"It grants the state government full authority to regulate forest-based carbon credit trading activities.
"These activities will be regulated under terms and conditions that safeguard the state's interests," he said at the Forestry Appreciation event at the Sabah International Convention Centre last night.
His speech was delivered by state secretary Datuk Seri Safar Untong.
Hajiji also said the amendment empowered the forests chief conservator to close certain sensitive forest reserves, issue permits, impose fees for specific activities in forest reserves, and amend penalties for forest offences.
He added that since 2010, 34 arrests for encroachment into forest reserves could not be prosecuted because the affected reserves were not officially closed to public access.
"This amendment, in line with the National Forest Act (Amendment) 2022, will strengthen forest enforcement in combating the illegal extraction of forest resources and bolster forest conservation efforts. We hope its implementation can be realised soon," he said.
Hajiji also said that Sabah has collected a total of RM5.3 billion in timber royalties under the Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreement (SFMLA) between 1999 and 2023.
This figure represents an average annual revenue of RM213 million for the state, while the SFMLA initiative has also created approximately 40,000 jobs for Sabahans.
He also said that the Forestry Department is preparing a proposal to gazette additional critical protected areas under Section 5A of the 1968 Forest Enactment to achieve the 30 per cent Total Protected Area (TPA) target this year.
Currently, Sabah has already gazetted 2.012 million hectares of TPA, representing 27.15 per cent of the state's total land area.
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