Dept: It’s illegal to remove agarwood in state forests
GEORGE TOWN: Any attempt to remove agarwood (gaharu) from the state’s forests is illegal, the state Forestry Department said.
Its director, Muhammad Ezhar Yusuf, said the state Forestry Department had never issued any licence to remove agarwood from any of the forests.
“This is despite Penang having a sizeable number of karas trees, which produce the valuable agarwood.
“As such, we carry out constant checks to put a stop to agarwood theft activities in the state,” he told the New Straits Times.
Ezhar said, time and again, they received tip-offs of possible agarwood thefts in forests in the state, and conducted checks on the matter.
“We welcome and encourage the public to report any poaching of agarwood or any illegal activities in our forest reserves,” Ezhar added.
Elaborating, he said the availability of karas trees in the state forests made it a choice location for poachers.
“Our forests are open to the public for recreational activities, making it easy for poachers to act.
“They will disguise as members of the public before stealing the agarwood,” he said, adding that there were many access roads leading to the state’s forest reserves, which made it difficult for the authorities to determine which routes were used by the poachers. In Penang, those caught stealing agarwood can be charged under Section 15 of the National Forestry Act 1984, and are liable to a fine not exceeding RM500,000, and imprisonment of up to 20 years, upon conviction.
In 2004, the National Forest Inventory estimated there were 3.55 million karas trees in the wild.
The number has since been reduced to 1.16 million today.
The tree produces agarwood as a reaction to injury, either by insects or bacterial infection, lightning strikes or even human logging activities.
It acts as a defensive mechanism for the trees, much like white blood cells in the human body.