Sabah Degazettes Over 16,000 Ha Of Forest Reserve For Socioeconomic Development

KOTA KINABALU, July 8 (Bernama) -- The Sabah state assembly passed the Forest Enactment (Amendment) Bill 2025 tabled by Assistant Minister to Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan, which will degazette 16,728.9 hectares (ha) of forest reserve in the state for socioeconomic development.

The bill which affects the following forests - 15,978 Class II ha of Sipitang Forest Reserve, Safoda Kinarut (320.9 ha, Class IV), Sungai Tiagau (162 ha, Class I), Bengkoka Peninsula (158 ha, Class V), Trus Madi (55 ha, Class II), Umas-Umas (28 ha, Class VI), Sungai Serudong (23 ha, Class I), Kudat (3 ha, Class V), and Tawau (1 ha, Class I) - was passed by majority voice after being debated by seven assemblymen.

Nizam said when tabling the Bill that it was also aimed for the settlement of 12,012 residents from 40 existing villages in the Sipitang, Tenom, Kemabong, Tawau, Kalabakan, Ranau and Pitas districts, as well as for the construction of the Serudong-Simanggaris Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex.

“The state government, through the Land Revenue Office, Sabah Forestry Department, and Land and Survey Department, has taken proactive measures to identify suitable government land to turn into forest reserves of the same size to replace the degazetted forest reserve.

“The degazettement does not create significant change to the total area of forest reserves… a drop of 0.47 per cent from the total forest reseves in Sabah,” he said, adding that the state still had 3.55 ha of forest reserves.

Nizam said the degazettement was not done lightly but for the welfare of the people of Sabah, especially rural residents that required land for settlements and to support their livelihoods.

“This step has gone through detailed selection process and checks, and is supported by firm justification such as the settlement of existing residents to support the state’s socioeconomic development,” he said.

The state government is currently in the process of gazetting several existing forest areas as forest reserve and several areas of government land as protected areas under Section 5A of the Forest Enactment 1968.

-- BERNAMA