Malaysia announced it will move to increase fines and jail terms for those found guilty of illegal logging in the country, Reuters reports.
Xavier Jayakumar, Malaysia’s water, land and natural resources minister, told Reuters the updates to its forestry legislation will likely be made by the end of the year.
“We have introduced (draft) laws whereby if you’re caught in the jungle, you have got to have a reason why you are there,” Jayakumar said.
Malaysia was one of the top six countries with the largest forest shrinkage in 2019, and has lost 7.7 million hectares of tree coverage between 2001–2018, according to Reuters.
Environmentalists protested at Malaysia’s parliament last year to demand the country increase its penalties for illegal logging and pollution in order to curb the deforestation, according to the report.
