'Reduced Impact Logging originates from Sabah'
Published on: Monday, April 20, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) method is the State Forestry Department's gift to the world in the field of sustainable forest management."Anyone that says RIL originates from somewhere else, they are wrong. It originates from Sabah. It is the gift of the Forestry Department to the whole world," said Deputy Director Rahim Sulaiman.Logging with the RIL method has been shown to be able to reduce damage to residual stands by 50 per cent compared to conventional logging.
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Economic factor and widespread use of tractors have contributed to the popularity of RIL compared to other harvesting systems. RIL is a collection of several harvesting techniques used to minimise damage to Potential Crop Trees (PCT), regeneration and soil, to maintain the forest's production capacity and to protect the environment."Under the sustainable forest management agreement, we give areas on average about 100,000 acres for 100 years. And prior to any logging activity, they need to be a forest replant programme."Forest replanting entails not only the trees and whatever in the forest but also the dwellers in that particular forest reserves."So we are not forgetting the Orang Asal," he said during the question and answer session at the Environmental Protection in Sabah and Sarawak – The Way Forward Workshop, here.
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Unfortunately, said Rahim, the forest enactment does not specifically recognise the NCR of the natives and only recognises those that are on the State lands.Replying to a question posed by advocate for Indigenous Peoples' rights, Jenny Lasimbang, Rahim said while he agrees the blanket statement that all the natives do not care about the forest is inaccurate, only a small fraction of natives actually value the forests.
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The rest, he added, would clear forests in order to plant commodity crops such as oil palm and rubber trees."Majority of them, 90 per cent, are all for development. In the Trusmadi Forest Reserves which covers 75,000 acres, there are 22 villages on the periphery within a two-kilometre radius."The majority of them said, please give us this land. There were some 300 people who have already encroached into our forest reserves. So the Cabinet said ok, allow these people to cultivate the lands provided they pay the optimal premium."At first, they said, they will pay, they promised. Two years down the road, they still haven't paid. Janji terang bulan only," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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