Terengganu will apply for additional rangers from Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks after Pulau Bidong was officially gazetted as a state park on July 16.
Datuk Tengku Mohd Ariffin Tengku A. Rahman, the state’s tourism director, said the application is necessary to strengthen monitoring and enforcement across the island’s land areas, surrounding waters and adjacent zones extending up to one nautical mile.
“Of the total, 330 are state-appointed enforcement assistants, while the remaining 181 are community rangers under Perhilitan and funded by the federal government,” he said, noting that Terengganu currently deploys 511 rangers to protect biodiversity and guard against encroachment and the illegal taking of forest resources and wildlife.
“On July 16, Pulau Bidong was gazetted as a state park. So, we need additional rangers to protect the island from encroachment activities,” he said after the Terengganu-level World Ranger Day 2026 celebration at Wisma Darul Iman.
The event also marked the launch of the Kenyir Rangers logo, representing the team’s expanded conservation mission, according to an article by malay mail.
The collaborative group has grown from 10 agencies when it was established in 2017 to 16 agencies, each with its own jurisdiction in the Tasik Kenyir area.
Tengku Mohd Ariffin said patrols are coordinated across agencies but details of operations are not disclosed in advance to ensure effective enforcement.
“The operations are carried out by the respective agencies and are not publicised to ensure effective enforcement against activities that violate the law,” he said.
He outlined how each agency operates within defined boundaries: the State Park Management Council oversees the gazetted 32,000-hectare area, the Forestry Department enforces laws under the National Forestry Act 1984 and Perhilitan can act anywhere wildlife is present. “Where there are animals, there is Perhilitan,” he said.
Terengganu’s move to bolster ranger capacity after a state park designation illustrates the enforcement infrastructure required to sustain nature-based tourism.