By Rosli Mansor Ahmad Razali
IPOH: The Perak government will review the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for mountain hiking activities to strengthen visitor safety, including assessing hikers’ fitness levels, skills and overall capability.
Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the review is necessary to ensure recreational and hiking areas are managed more effectively while reducing the risk of accidents in mountainous and forested areas.
He said safety considerations should not be based solely on the duration of a hike, as risks can still arise if individuals are not physically fit enough for the activity.
“It is not merely a question of how long a hike takes. If a person does not possess the required level of fitness, risks can still occur even if the hike lasts only one or two days.
“Therefore, apart from the duration of the hike, factors such as fitness, skills and the overall capability of hikers must also be taken into account to ensure their safety while in mountain and forest areas,” he told reporters after officiating the Perak State-Level International Day of Forests 2026 celebration at the Banquet Hall of the Perak Darul Ridzuan Building here today.
In a related development, Saarani said the state government remains committed to strengthening sustainable forest management as part of a balanced development agenda encompassing economic growth, environmental conservation and public well-being.
He noted that Perak, with a total land area of approximately 2.114 million hectares, continues to maintain about 1.015 million hectares of forested land, representing 48 per cent of the state’s total area.
“Of this figure, nearly 988,724 hectares are Permanent Reserved Forests managed by the Perak Forestry Department,” he said.
Saarani added that the state government has also adopted the National Forestry (Amendment) Act 2022 through the National Forestry (Amendment) Act 2022 (Adoption) Enactment 2026, which was approved in April, to further strengthen governance within the forestry sector.
Meanwhile, he said Perak had successfully planted 11.4 million trees under the Malaysia Greening Programme: 100 Million Tree Planting Campaign, surpassing the target set by the Federal Government through 2025.
The Menteri Besar also highlighted the state’s achievements in biodiversity conservation, including the discovery of a new ginger species, Alpinia lenggongensis, in the Bintang Range, Lenggong, reinforcing the area’s status as a location of significant heritage and biodiversity value.
At the same time, he stressed the importance of involving the Orang Asli community in forest management and hiking activities, noting that they possess extensive knowledge of terrain conditions, forest trails and the local environment.
