SOOK: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said the State Government, through the Sabah Forestry Department, is drafting a Statewide Forest Master Plan as a guideline to manage Sabah’s forest resource for the next 25 years.
He said this was in line with the State Government’s aspiration to rationalise land use to achieve a balance between socio-economic development and environmental conservation.
“With the Forest Master Plan in hand, the Sabah Government will ensure that all Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) remain protected while at the same time not neglecting sustainable socio-economic development for the well-being of the people of Sabah.
“This is also in line with the implementation of the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya through the SMJ 2.0 Development Plan, which, among others, sets out the need for infrastructure
network development and green development,” he said at the opening ceremony of the National-Level International Forest Day 2026 at Dataran Sook here on Saturday.
Hajiji also stressed that the Sabah Government remains committed to maintaining 50 per cent of the state’s forest cover, in line with the 2018 Sabah Forest Policy.
According to him, Sabah currently still maintains 63 per cent forest cover, encompassing 3.85 million hectares gazetted as forest reserves and other protected areas.
“To strengthen the state’s forest management and protect biodiversity treasures, Sabah is also committed to maintaining 2.2 million hectares or 30 per cent of the state’s total land area as Totally Protected Areas (TPA),” he said.
Hajiji said Sabah has also identified a small portion of degraded forest reserve areas covering approximately 400,000 hectares for Forest Plantation Development purposes, as stipulated in the Forest Plantation Development Action Plan (2022–2036).
“This Forest Plantation Development is seen as one of the strategies to restore the productivity of degraded forests, while also reducing the local timber industry’s dependence on log supplies from natural forests and ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials,” he said.
The Chief Minister said as a manifestation of balancing socio-economic development and natural resource protection, the Sabah Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), will spearhead the implementation of the Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Programme (FOLUR IP).
“This programme will involve Integrated Landscape Management covering approximately 2.1 million hectares. It will coordinate land-use planning and management in Sabah to curb the impacts of palm oil production while maintaining High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF) for environmental and development benefits.
“This programme will be implemented in 12 districts in Sabah and is expected to benefit approximately 56,000 rural residents,” he said.
At the same event, the Chief Minister, accompanied by Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability of Malaysia Dato Sri Arthur Kurup presented 1,136 Native Title (NT) land grants for the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency, covering a total area of 2,303.84 hectares (5,692.9 acres).
Of the total, 295.51 hectares (730.22 acres) were for the Nabawan state constituency, 948.82 hectares (2,344.59 acres) for the Tulid state constituency, and 1,059.51 hectares (2,618.08 acres) for the Sook state constituency.-pr/BNN
