Authorities in a district of Pahang – a major durian-growing state – began destroying durian orchards on April 8 by chopping down 200 trees.
Within three days, over 1,000 trees were reduced to ruins. Many of the trees had been grown for decades, including those of the expensive Musang King variety.
The destruction was part of a government campaign to crack down on illegal land use, according to the New Straits Times.
The trees were located on land that was illegally occupied and were not safeguarded by any court order, according to state legal adviser Datuk Seri Saiful Edris Zainuddin.
“Those who encroach on state land without permission have no legal rights. The state government is within its rights to act and is also prepared to face any legal challenge in court,” he said, as reported by state-owned news outlet Bernama.
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Workers inspect durian quality in Malaysia’s Pahang state in February 2021. Photo by AFP |
Farmers, represented by non-government organization Save Musang King Alliance, have protested the enforcement.
Reports from local media indicate that citizens have blocked authorities’ access to the farms with banners to protect the durian trees.
The Save Musang King Alliance claims that a court order in May last year blocked the government from demolishing the farms.
“Today, the farmers’ legal team sent an official letter to the Pahang government demanding an immediate halt to the tree-cutting to prevent further damage to the orchards,” Chow Yu Hui, chairman of the alliance and member of parliament, said last week.
Chow, who was arrested for obstructing civil servants on Monday but was later released on bail, told the media that farmers had spent between 30 and 40 years nurturing their trees to achieve peak fruit yields, only to see the trees felled within two minutes each.
Despite the protests, the government maintains its position that no court order has been violated, and that it has the right to fell the trees on the 200 hectares of land which it controls.
In 2021, the Forestry Department removed approximately 15,000 Musang King trees from illegal durian farms in the Batu Talam forest, also located in Pahang state, and subsequently replanted the area with forest tree saplings.
Malaysia exported 1.14 billion ringgit (US$258 million) worth of durians in 2022, with China—its largest buyer—driving the demand, according to the South China Morning Post. The export volume surged last year after Malaysia secured an agreement with Beijing to allow the export of fresh durians, which had previously been limited to frozen ones.
