Currently, more than 26% of the state’s land area, or 1.9 million hectares, have been gazetted as TPAs under the Sabah forestry department’s Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative, he added.

According to Hajiji, Sabah had achieved significant progress in forest conservation since the inception of the initiative 14 years ago.

The TPAs expansion target was in line with the state’s five-year Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya 2021-2025 development plan, which included the HoB initiative, he said.

“From our concerted efforts, Sabah has maintained 50% of its landmass under forest cover and we have increased the forest cover to 65%, of which 52% is gazetted as forest reserves, parks and wildlife conservation areas,” Hajiji said at the “HoB Initiative – Moving Forward in the New Norm” international virtual conference here today.

“The HoB project has restored 2,000ha of forest reserves,” he added.

Hajiji said Sabah was also the first state in the country to launch good regulatory practices, emulating the move mooted by the federal government.

The state would be implementing the integrated landscape management of the HoB areas under a project that would focus on environmental and land development management.

The six-year project involves 1.6 million hectares within the HoB landscapes, costing RM30.3 million to be funded by the Global Environment Facility under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).