A coalition of the NGOs, known as Pertahankan Hutan Simpan Kuala Langat Utara, said there had been multiple objections from the public and the people of Selangor to the state government’s proposal.

The coalition said online petitions had received a total of 129,034 signatures while an email campaign hosted by the Greenpeace website had drawn 1,500 emails within two weeks.

“These emails reflect the sender’s objection to the degazettement and encouraged state assembly members to state their position on a published green scorecard.

“In addition, about 200 Orang Asli from several villagers staged a peaceful demonstration at the Selangor state secretariat building while a memorandum stating their objections was handed to the menteri besar and the relevant agencies in February last year,” it said.

The coalition said a resolution against the proposed degazettement had been unanimously adopted on Nov 11 by the Selangor state assembly.

“The motion was aimed to protect all gazetted forest reserves in Selangor, to ensure the conservation and protection of water catchment and forest areas.

“As there was no objection from any of the elected state assembly representatives, it can be concluded that this motion reflects the wishes of the people of Selangor, and that is, they wish to see no more degazettement of any forest reserves,” it said.

The coalition said they had invited Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari to discuss the proposal but has not received any feedback on the matter.