Nik Nazmi said the federal government disagreed in principle with the state’s declassification of parts of its permanent forest reserve as environmentally non-sensitive areas.

He said the declaration of the Gua Musang enclave as environmentally non-sensitive will affect the status of Kelantan National Park.

“I have sent a letter to the Kelantan menteri besar expressing the view of the federal government.

“I hope the state government will reconsider the proposed changes to the development plan involving the ESAs in Kelantan and work closely with the ministry to strengthen forest management and development, and maintain existing forest land for the sustainability of the environment,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

Nik Nazmi said the removal of ESA classification from forest reserves in Kelantan’s development plans will also affect the Central Forest Spine ecological network and Kelantan’s ecosystem balance.

He said the population of the Malayan tiger and other animals in Kelantan, including elephants and tapirs, will also be endangered because of habitat loss, and increased human-wildlife conflicts will result in crop damage, property destruction and loss of life.

The possible uncontrolled deforestation could also lead to more severe flood woes, he said.

Nik Nazmi said Kelantan’s existing ESAs should be retained in its structure plan, local plan and special area plan to ensure biological diversity and environment sustainability is preserved and conserved.

He said the state government had decided in its state exco meeting on Oct 21 that permanent forest reserves, except water catchment areas, will no longer be classified as ESAs.

He noted that the declassification is still in the draft stage, and the state’s town and country planning department is collecting public feedback from Oct 11 to Nov 11.