KUALA LUMPUR: The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry will look into a RimbaWatch report which alleged that 3.2 million hectares of forest cover were under threat.
Its minister, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, said he took the matter seriously, especially with the country's commitment to maintain 50 per cent of its land under forest and tree cover, in line with the pledge made during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.
"Right now, (our forest cover) is at 54.58 per cent. We know that there are challenges in some spots, but I think we are working very hard to protect that and we will go through the report seriously.
"Let us go through the report to verify what they've highlighted in it and we will respond to it soon," he said after the International Humanitarian Conference organised by Mercy Malaysia here today.
The environmental watchdog, in its 'State of the Malaysian Rainforest 2024' report, claimed that some 3.2 million hectares of natural forest, nearly as large as the size of Pahang, were under threat from deforestation.
This, it said, represented 16 per cent of Malaysia's remaining forest cover, and would cause the country's forest cover to drop below 50 per cent in all three baselines, ranging from 49 per cent to 40 per cent.
This report uses the Vancutsem et al., 2021, Official Data, 2020 and Gaveau, 2022 forest cover statistics as the three baselines, compared with concession boundaries collated by RimbaWatch.
"In particular, the Gaveau dataset estimates that forest cover had already fallen below 50 per cent, and up to 2022, stands at 46.97 per cent.
"It further reinforces that timber plantations and oil palm are the primary threats to natural forests.
"Timber plantations represent more than 76 per cent of total threats to forests, and the majority of these concessions are located in intact forests. However, oil palm and timber plantation concessions overlap.
"Other threats include hydropower projects and degazettements of forest reserves," the report read.
Nik Nazmi said his ministry was conducting engagement sessions with other ministries and state governments on the Climate Change Bill, which he aimed to table next year.
"We've met with non-governmental organisations in the early stages. We will go through the process and consult the Attorney-General's Chambers for the drafting of the bill and others."
Earlier in his plenary session, Nik Nazmi said there was still a lot to be done as nations faced climate change, with potentially difficult times ahead.
"But if we can persevere and continue to work together globally, nationally and in our individual communities, there is a possibility that we can preserve our existence as a species on this planet and perhaps make it more sustainable and equitable.
"It must be so, because the future of our children and their children are at stake," he said.