SHAH ALAM: The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has declared the Selangor Royal Heritage Forest open.
Spanning approximately 108,000ha and comprising around 26 permanent reserve forests along the Central Forest Spine (IC-CFS) from Hulu Langat to Hulu Selangor, the declaration took place at a hotel in Shah Alam.
The event was also attended by the Selangor Crown Prince, Tengku Amir Shah and the Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
Also present were the state's legal advisor Datuk Salim Soib, financial officer Dr Ahmad Fadzli Ahmad Tajuddin, public health and environment exco Jamaliah Jamaluddin and the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia director general, Datuk Mohd Ridza Awang.
At the same event, the Sultan witnessed a montage of the Scientific Expedition of the Chiling River Ulu Selangor Forest Reserve and launched the book "Master Plan for the Development of the Selangor Royal Heritage Forest".
In his speech, Amirudin said that the Selangor Royal Heritage Forest, covering 108,000ha, was a state park under one of the classifications of protection forests under Section 10, Enactment (Application) of the Selangor State Forestry Act 1985.
He emphasised the collective commitment needed to realise the Sultan of Selangor's decree to create a forest area covering conservation, research, education, recreation, eco-tourism and more.
"In this context, the state government is consistently committed to preserving and protecting the state's forest treasures to function as water catchment areas, flora and fauna habitats, erosion control and flood prevention, in addition to contributing to carbon reduction and addressing climate change issues.
"To date, the entire permanent reserve forest area in Selangor is 250,739.33ha, or 31.7 per cent of the state's land area, with the permanent reserve forest area increasing compared to only 30.55 per cent in 2008," he said.
He added that the Selangor government was actively strengthening efforts to conserve and sustain forests and the environment, aligning with the First Selangor Plan (RS-1) to ensure the state remained resilient, its people were protected and the environment preserved.
He highlighted the state's strong commitment to supporting national and international agendas and policies on biodiversity conservation and climate change issues, including the acceptance of the Malaysian Forestry Policy in 2021 and the policy amendment of the National Forestry Act in 2022 as well as the National Policy on Biological Diversity 2022 - 2030, which was launched by the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister on Oct 24.
