BOTH licensees and local community will benefit from the implementation of the Forest Certification Management Policy and the establishment of the Forest Management Unit (FMU).
Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Len Talif Salleh noted that one of the benefits enjoyed by licensees is the ability to sell their timber and wood-based products on the worldwide market without restrictions.
“They will also get premium prices because the timber and wood-based products produced are from legitimate sources and sustainably managed areas,” he said.
He said this in response to a question from Dennis Ngau (GPS-Telang Usan) on the impact of the implementation of FMU on the timber company and local community during the question-and-answer session at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Len further pointed out that the licensees’ forest management has met several criteria and indicators established by the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) standards, which are internationally recognised under the Programme for Endorsement for Forest Certification (PEFC).
“Through different forest certification initiatives done by the Sarawak Forest Department in partnership with Sarawak Timber Association (STA), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and licensors, it also improves community engagement and skills.
“Apart from that, it also enhances the licensees’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) by providing essential services such as road maintenance and upgrades as well as other support to the local community.
“In principle, the licensee’s logging roads are not for public use because they do not fulfil the required public safety criteria.
“However, locals are free to use the streets. At the same time, the licensee will always maintain the logging roads as long as they operate in the licencing area,” he explained.
In response to a supplementary question from Dennis on how forest management certification can assure a sustainable source of timber for the state’s economy, Len stated that demand for timber from certified forest areas and sustainable forest management is quite strong on the worldwide market.
“The licensors’ serious adherence to each principle in the forest management certification procedure will be able to ensure that the logging activities carried out can continuously generate the state’s economy and preserve the ability of a forest area to supply timber resources sustainably,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, in response to Dennis’ second supplementary question about the state government’s other efforts to ensure that the forestry sector remains relevant in contributing to the state’s revenue, Len stated that the state government has also enacted carbon laws that are critical to the success of carbon trading activities.
“This also involves inspecting activities for the benefit of local communities, such as conservation, restoration and ecotourism.
“This carbon project is crucial not only to ensure the long-term viability of heritage forests for future generations, also as an alternative source of revenue for the state government to continue various development projects that the people of Sarawak need,” he stressed.
