Natural Heritage of Malaysia (PEKA), the pro-Anwar Otai Reformis and Gerak said the Selangor forestry department had received 45,000 letters and more than 129,034 online petitions objecting to the degazettement.
In a memorandum to the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) and menteri besar Amirudin Shari, they urged the state government to reverse the degazettement instead of reviewing the decision.
They said Selangor was developed enough and the state should focus on the preservation and conservation of nature.
PEKA president Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil said the state had more than enough built infrastructure and did not need to cut down forests for further development.
“All over the world, countries are trying to take care of the environment and protect nature, but it’s the other way round here. I don’t understand this attitude,” she said.
Otai Reformis youth chief Fadzlie Hassan said the degazettement would risk the livelihood of those in nine Orang Asli villages, involving more than 1,000 families, around the forest reserve.
He said the diversity of the forest reserve was important to protect the ecosystem.
Any action to change this would result in the release of more than 3.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air, which would result in climate change in Selangor, he said.
In their joint statement, the groups said the explanation given by Amirudin to review the state’s decision appeared to be an “insult” to the people, who were against clearing permanent forests for development.
They also rejected a proposal by the state government to replace the degazetted area with a peat forest area at Sungai Panjang, Sabak Bernam.
They said this proposal was not acceptable as 971ha there were also being explored for an oil palm project under SMART Agro by the Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation.
Selangor PH leaders had earlier said the state executive council would review the degazettement of the KLNFR on Wednesday “with the aim of determining the way forward”.
They said Amirudin will table the issue at the meeting.
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