However, Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam (Peka) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) voiced concern over how this expenditure would impact conservation efforts at the state level.
According to the economy ministry, the EFT is an intergovernmental fiscal transfer to distribute public revenue from the federal to state governments to overcome funding gaps for conservation financing and incentivise states to meet national conservation objectives.
“The additional RM50 million is commendable, but no data is openly available on how much was channelled to the state governments’ treasuries or the total hectarage saved from logging,” said Peka president Damien Thanam Divean.
Damien suggested that the state governments could write off their debts to the federal government in exchange for replanting abandoned forests and cancelling projects such as logging, sand mining and limestone quarries that contribute to global warming.
SAM president Meenakshi Raman welcomed the additional funding but felt that the increase was insufficient to incentivise states to keep their forests and biodiversity intact.
Funds for human-wildlife conflict, floods
Damien said the budget did not mention any increase to the existing RM10 million fund that was allocated in last year’s budget to support victims of human-wildlife conflict.
He highlighted the lack of available data on the topic and the risks of fake claims and abuse of power when disbursing the funds.
“We do not have data on how much was distributed to victims of wildlife attacks and how damages were calculated. This must be addressed,” he said.
He also voiced concern that no funds were allocated for educating schoolchildren on the dangers of global warming and climate change, adding that the next generation should be “planet-friendly” and work towards reversing global warming.
Meenakshi said the 2025 budget seemed to have a “business-as-usual” approach towards flood mitigation efforts.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who tabled the 2025 budget yesterday, said the government will immediately channel a RM150 million allocation to local authorities and the irrigation and drainage department to begin cleaning drains and dredging rivers in flood-hit areas.
“While this is welcome, we would have liked to see high prioritisation given to adaptation through ecosystem-based approaches, rather than just stress on infrastructure and engineering-based efforts,” Meenakshi said.