Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

Kota Kinabalu: Sarawak’s policy of gradual reduction of log export quota instead of a total ban to support local the timber processing industry is bearing fruit as industry players assured of State support.

The Log Reservation Quota was introduced in 1988 to ensure adequate supply of logs for the local primary and secondary processing industry.

In 1988, the export quota was 90 per cent with the local processing quota at 10 per cent. By 2018, the export quota was reduced to 20 per cent while the local processing quota had increased to 80 per cent.

This policy has been successful in spurring the growth of the primary and secondary timber processing industry, making Sarawak the largest producer and exporter of tropical plywood etc. in the region.

The Sarawak government will continue the policy of allowing import of log species not available locally in order to enhance the value of Sarawak products for the export market.

“At the same time, there was a gradual reduction of Forest Timber Licences (FTLs) issued from a high of 440 in 2015 dropping to 169 this year 2019.”

This was revealed by Hamden Haji Mohammad, Director of the Forest Department of Sarawak when he delivered his paper ‘Heart of Borneo Sarawak: Issues and Challenges’ at the recent Heart of Borneo Conference held here.

“The Heart of Borneo (HoB) Initiative has been in implementation for over a decade since the signing of the Bali Declaration in 2007.

“In Sarawak, this initiative has always been regarded as an expansion of the existing trans-boundary biodiversity conservation area between Kalimantan, Indonesia and Sarawak, Malaysia.

“With an area of 2.68 million hectares, it covers a wide gradient of land uses from Lawas right to the tip of Borneo, Tanjung Dato at the southern part of Sarawak,” Hamden said.

He said that Sarawak HoB is being implemented using a cross-sectoral approach, focussing on five pillars i.e. Sustainable Forest Management, Ecotourism based on Culture, Adventure and Nature, Conservation of Biodiversity, Sustainable Land use / Agriculture, and Community – based / Rural Poverty Eradication Programme. “After over a decade, Sarawak has seen various accomplishments in terms of policy reforms especially with regards to sustainable forest management as well as more commitment towards sustainable development and conservation,” Hamden said.

He stressed that in balancing the needs for sustainable development and conservation, various issues and challenges were faced and therefore needed to be addressed in a holistic manner.

 “Looking beyond, HoB Sarawak will continue to engage and collaborate with various stakeholders, leverage on HoB branding, embarking on restoration programmes and explore other avenues such as carbon trading and green ecotourism for a new source of revenue for the state,” he said.

Hamden Haji Mohammad, the Director of the Forest Department of Sarawak, stressed that due to HoB, policy reform successfully undertaken include mandatory Forest Management Certification for all long-term Forest Timber Licences (FTL) with gradual reduction of FTL and gradual reduction of log export quota, and this is worth emulating.