IPOH: Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah officiated the national-level International Day of Forests 2024 celebration at Sultan Azlan Shah Roundabout, Meru Raya here today.
Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim, Raja Muda of Perak Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, Raja Puan Besar of Perak Raja Nazhatul Shima Sultan Idris Shah and Raja Di Hilir of Perak Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain Sultan Idris Shah were in attendance.
Sultan Nazrin was welcomed upon arrival at 11.10am by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad and Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
His Royal Highness then watered the Cerupu plant (Garcinia Prainiana) as a symbolic gesture to officiate the celebration.
The Perak ruler also presented the the Malaysian Criteria and Indicator for Sustainable Forest Management (MC&I SFM) Forest Management Certification to the state Forestry Department director Datuk Mohd Basri Abdul Manaf.
Earlier in his address, Saarani reported that as of March 31, the permanent forest reserve area in Perak had increased to 988,826.98 hectares, covering 96.4 per cent of the state's forested area.
He also noted the successful gazetting of 4,655.55 hectares of new permanent forest reserve last year, which comprised 4,520.75 hectares of land forests and 134.80 hectares of mangrove forests.
"This additional area also maintains Perak's status as the state with the largest permanent forest reserve area in Peninsular Malaysia, with 47 per cent," he said.
Meanwhile, Saarani said that the provision of the MC&I SFM Forest Management Certification proved that forest resource management in Perak was based on best forest practices that are in line with international standards.
He also highlighted that as of March 31, a total of 7.88 million trees had been planted throughout the state, exceeding the six million target set by the federal government.
The International Day of Forests is celebrated on March 21 every year to raise awareness of the importance of forests and their conservation and restoration. This year's theme is Forests and Innovation.– BERNAMA