No rare earth mining in forest reserves pending Climate Bill - minister

PARLIAMENT | No rare earth mining in currently gazetted forest reserves will be approved pending enactment of a proposed Climate Change Bill, according to acting Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Johari Abdul Ghani.

Johari, who is also the plantation and commodities minister, today said the draft Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

“Once it has been finalised, it will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat. Barring any major changes, it is targeted to be tabled after the tabling of Budget 2026. While waiting, there are currently no rare earth mining activities in forest reserves.

“In the meantime, a team of researchers led by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (Frim) has gone to a forest reserve area in Labis, Johor, to observe what needs to be done before and after a mining activity,” said Johari in response to Hasni Mohammad (BN-Simpang Renggam).

Hasni, in a supplementary question, asked Johari for the government’s stand on the proposed Climate Change Bill as an overarching policy to guide all federal and state agencies in charge of approving and overseeing mining activities.

Earlier, in response to a main question from Alias Razak (PN-Kuala Nerus) on the government’s support for proposed rare earth mining activities in Terengganu, including within forest reserves, Johari reiterated that the current focus remains on finding the best way to avoid environmental damage from leachate.

Specifically, Johari cited an ongoing proof of concept project in Kenering, Perak - within a 270-acre plot of land - to analyse the leachate produced per tonne of rare earth to be exported to China, as Malaysia does not have the necessary processing facilities.

“In the past, we had a copper mining activity in Ranau, Sabah... What happened? The waste had caused pollution, and not even fish could survive in the water,” he said, adding that the project was eventually shut down.

He added that the ongoing experiment involves channelling the leachate to land allocated for palm oil, rubber, and fish cultivation, to monitor its impact.

Reporting by Alyaa Alhadjri, Zarrah Morden.

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