KUALA LUMPUR: A new 23.83-hectare area in Mukim Petaling, Kuala Lumpur has been gazetted as a permanent forest reserve (PFR).
The new Sungai Besi (Additional) Forest Reserve is a replacement for the 7.48-hectare Bukit Sungei Puteh Forest Reserve in Mukim Cheras, Kuala Lumpur which was degazetted for the development of the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE).
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the new PFR was gazetted as a protected forest.
He said that the new PFR has also been classified as a research, amenity and education forest under subsection 10(1) of the National Forestry Act 1984, apart from being declared as a closed forest under Section 45 of the same act.
He informed that this new gazettement will create the Sungai Besi Forest Reserve – an additional Sungai Besi Forest Reserve complex sized at 66.12ha.
"The process of degazetting and replacing the PFR simultaneously was in line with the intention and proposed amendments to Act 313 (National Forestry Act 1984) which the government is working on," he said after participating in the Greening Malaysia Cycling Programme in conjunction with the National Sports Day here today.
Takiyuddin said the Sungai Besi (Additional) Forest Reserve is larger than the Bukit Sungei Puteh Forest Reserve, which is a lowland dipterocarp forest.
There is 68.27 hectares of PFR in Kuala Lumpur, which covers about 0.28 per cent of the federal capital's land area, he said.
This includes the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve (9.37ha), Bukit Sungei Puteh Forest Reserve (14.51ha), Sungai Besi Forest Reserve (42.29ha) and Bukit Lagong Tambahan Forest Reserve (2.10ha).
"The process of gazetting out and replacing the PFR was done simultaneously, in line with the intention and proposed amendments to the Act, which are being worked on by the federal government.
"This will represent around 78.13 per cent of the total permanent forest reserve in Kuala Lumpur, and it will serve as the city's green lungs."
Takiyuddin said this process is part of the ministry's commitment to keeping at least 50 per cent of the country's land area as areas that are wooded and covered with trees.