KUCHING: Sarawak is committed to forest conservation efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change, says a state deputy minister.
Deputy Natural Resources and Urban Development Minister Datuk Len Talif Salleh said forests were an important resource that could reduce the effects of climate change, such as floods.
He said the recent widespread floods in Sarawak were a manifestation of climate change, with abnormal rainfall recorded in many affected areas.
Bintulu, for instance, received over 900mm of rain in one day last month, triggering severe flooding in the town.
"Our development must take the environment into account. Although Sarawak is a small dot on the world map, we have a part to play in conservation efforts," Len Talif said at a media appreciation dinner on Wednesday (Feb 19) night.
In line with this, he said Sarawak had taken steps to reduce logging while expanding tree-planting initiatives.
"If we talk about climate change, we must relate it to forest cover. So we are playing our part to conserve our forests.
"We have reduced logging in the last six to seven years and timber production has come down.
"This is our conscious effort to reduce the cutting of timber and at the same time we want to increase the planting of trees," he said.
Len Talif also said Sarawak was venturing into green economy initiatives like carbon trading to preserve its forests.
"We want to monetise the asset without destroying it. We will not cut down trees, we will do carbon trading or carbon offsets instead," he said.
