Media Statement: Legal Implication of Shah Alam Community Forest Degazettement
NGOs and CSOs Express Alarm Over Legal Implication of Shah Alam Community Forest Degazettement The Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF), part of the Bukit Cherakah Forest Reserve, is facing a legal loophole that sets a dangerous precedent for the protection of all forest reserves. Any degazettement of forest reserves must be announced in the government gazette to be legally valid. Otherwise, it remains legally a forest reserve until the date of a gazette notification that changes this. However, on 5th May 2022, the Selangor government published a gazette notification (Selangor G.N. 1645 of 2022) that refers to a decision by the Selangor State Executive Council on 20th November 2000 to announce that an area which includes the SACF was no longer a protected forest. In effect, the Selangor government has backdated the degazettement of the protected area by 22 years! Furthermore, the Selangor National Forestry Act (Adoption) Enactment 1985 was amended in 2011 to require a public inquiry before...
