Foreigners illegally harvesting tress from SABAH FOREST RESERVES

I read the report on the encroachment of our Forest Reserves by illegals Foreigners illegally harvesting trees from SABAH FOREST RESERVES with a deep sense of foreboding, and I think it is the lackadaisical attitude of the Senior officials in dealing with the timeless problem, that will sound the death knell for our fast dwindling forest reserves! In your report, you mentioned that the State Govt has instituted various efforts since 2004 to stop such illegal harvesting, but in spite of such efforts, as reported here, the illegals are still at it.. But what shocked me most was the statement made by the official, that the "incidences of illegal harvesting from the forest reserves have still not reached a serious level yet" I think it is the taking of such issues as the encroachment of forest reserves so lightly that is largely responsible for the problem NOT being contained. To my mind, any area that has already been designated a RESERVE should be treated as such, that is, it cannot be 'touched'. A forest area that has been 'violated' cannot be restored to its original pristine condition, no matter how many trees are replanted there. That is the reason why it has been protected in the first instance.

Unless the officials entrusted with the protection of our forests have a mindset change, and is convinced that ANY violation and encroachment of our reserves is a serious breach of our laws that protect our precious environment, we will never be able to save our forests and water catchment areas. It's as simple as that.

I hope we all will start to get serious about making REAL efforts to combat global climate change, and seriously look into efforts to change the mindsets of those who are responsible, if we really want to make one of the focus issues of the NEM work, ie Sustainability. Big words must be translated to tasks and objectives that the implementation agencies can understand. The first task, apparently, will be to make sure the country understands exactly what is meant when we define an area as a RESERVE.

At the moment, there seems to be too much 'tidakapathy"