SIBU: The Sarawak government is committed to eradicating illegal logging to conserve forest areas including its wildlife aggressively.

This has started since the administration of the previous chief minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, and is continued under present Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

For this purpose, an action committee has been formed which involved the Forest Department, Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC), Harwood Timber Sdn Bhd, Royal Malaysia Police, Armed Forces, Marine Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said.

He said the establishment of the committee is aimed at elimination of illegal logging because it has destroyed the biodiversity and forest resources as well as caused destruction to the flora and fauna of the state.

“Sometimes there is an area (jungle) so bald so as to cause erosion, flash floods and so on,” he said when addressing at the appointment of honorary wild life rangers (HWLR) ceremony for forest management and the closing of HWLR training at the Promenade Hotel in Bintulu yesterday.

On SFC, Awang Tengah, also the second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, said it had been entrusted with the responsibility of managing national parks, wildlife, protected areas and nature reserves in the state.

“We do not want encroachment in areas gazetted as totally protected areas. I hope the cooperation given by each agency in our efforts to eradicate illegal logging activities can be continuously enhanced from time to time,” Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development, said.

He added that from the total 12.4 million hectares of land in Sarawak, the state government is committed to making six million hectares of land as permanent forest reserves.

He said a total of one million hectares of land had been classified as totally protected areas (TPAs) including national parks, wildlife reserves and nature reserves and 65 TPAs had been gazetted in Sarawak.

“The honorary rangers, who are from the local community, have a responsibility to preserve and conserve the flora and fauna of the state,” he said.

He also said the community and the private sector could play a role in preserving the forest and wildlife and the local community could help by giving information on forest encroachment and their identity would be kept confidential.

Those who received their HWLR appointments were from Syarikat Samling Sdn Bhd (19 persons), Shin Yang Sdn Bhd (10), Jaya Tiasa Sdn Bhd (4) Subur Tiasa Sdn Bhd (2) Grand Perfect (GP) Inheritance Sdn Bhd (3) Solid Hartabina Sdn BHD (3), Wilmar International (8) and Ta Ann Holdings Berhad (11).

Present were Samalaju assemblyman Majang Renggi, SFC chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton, SFC general manager Oswald Braken Tisen and Harwood Timber Sdn Bhd general manager Zainal Abdullah.