Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Numbers, he says, provide precise data and hard proof.
Numbers keep track of whether a company is meeting targets and therefore guide correct decisions on actionable steps.
Turn Sabah into an ITP success?
“It can be done,” he believes.
But the solution is not the mosaic system.
The practice is low in volume and high in cost, Rahman noted.
What Jawala did
Jawala entered ITP in 2016 and spent 2016-17 on land preparation with a high volume low cost landscape planting approach.
It started planting in April 2018.
In all, it planted 4,600 hectares of fast-growing hardwoods – Laran and Albizia.
The winsome numbers?
It took only eight years to yield seven times more timber than tropical logs, with rotations three to five times shorter than natural forests, which require 30-40 years per rotation, Rahman pointed out.
ITP is clearly the future, as tropical logs are already becoming exhausted.
Jawala – National gold standard on ITP Plus
Can Sabah still ramp up planting? The transcript of Rahman’s second interview makes good reading.
Like a potential “blueprint” on how to do it.
This verbatim publication serves as a valuable document.
The fact that Jawala was voted “Best Model Plantation in Malaysia” in 2023 out of 84 companies marks it as a national gold standard in sustainable forestry, industrial tree planting, superior timber yield, strict ESG practices and economic solutions.
Now, the outcome is real, with the company commencing its largest-scale commercial harvest in late March 2026.
As you read, 4,000 cubic metres of ITP timber have already been harvested.
Imagine 100 to 130 fully loaded logging trucks. That is 4,000 cubic metres of wood in perspective.
“We have planted 4,600ha, 80pc of which are the indigenous Laran (Neolamarckia cadamba), 18pc Albizia (Falcataria moluccana), and 2pc other species, some also for Research and Development,” Rahman said.
First commercial-scale producer of ITP Laran
“Which makes Jawala the first company to produce ITP Laran on a commercial scale,” Rahman noted.
“Our 100pc Laran plywood has already been exported to Europe as quickly as it was produced,” Rahman beamed.
You see in this report a picture of Rahman posing beside the natural creamy-yellow hues of Laran plywood, popular in premium markets such as Japan and Europe.
In other words, it sells easily and makes money.
Hence, Jawala plans to ramp up its planting.
The reality – ITP is the solution to sustainable timber
“We have another 2,000 hectares to plant,” Rahman added.
“Once completed, we will be harvesting about 800 hectares per year, producing a volume of 130,000 to 160,000 cubic metres of plantation timber annually.”
“To give an idea, to hit that amount of timber that we target to produce, you would need to harvest 5,300 hectares of natural forest to produce the same volume. Here, we are only using 800 hectares per year to produce the same amount of timber.”
“This is because Laran and Albizia take only eight years but yield seven times more, in addition to having a rotation cycle three to five times shorter than natural tropical timber, which takes 30-40 years per rotation.”
We repeat this quote for good reason.
“The numbers are clear. Industrial Timber Plantations, or ITP, are clearly the solution to sustaining our timber industry.”
“As I have said before, we have to look at ITP as a replacement and substitute for our natural tropical timber.”
“The proof is already here. Today, Sabah as a whole, not just Jawala, has successfully proven that Laran and Albizia can produce seven times more timber than tropical species,” Rahman argued.
The wood density issue and Jawala’s vision
“Now you have other species such as Eucalyptus pellita, Acacia mangium, kapur and keruing. That is Jawala’s vision of ITP.”
“All these timbers have varied densities. If you look at Albizia, it ranges from 300 kilograms per cubic metre all the way up to 800kg per cubic metre in mature Eucalyptus pellita.”
Rahman pounced on Eucalyptus pellita – a premier fast-growing hardwood species that yields high-density and durable timber.
“Now that density is equivalent to kapur and keruing natural timber that takes 50 to 70 years to grow before commercial harvesting.”
“Now Eucalyptus pellita only takes 10 to 12 years to achieve the same density. If you were to build a house or a structure today, you do not need to cut kapur and kerung anymore.
“You can already replace and substitute them with Eucalyptus pellita.”
Master Plan: Target 100pc plantation timber house without touching natural forest
“So, structurally, you can build a house with 100pc plantation timber today, without having to touch the natural forest or natural timber anymore,” Rahman asserted.
“Hence the whole idea is to see how much we can substitute or replace to allow more natural forest to regenerate and for greater conservation.”
“That is how Jawala looks at ITP,” he said.
“It is a replacement and a substitute that allows greater conservation of our natural forest.”
“So I strongly believe this is possible. I think we should set a target from now, a master plan on how much we will produce and how much we will reduce the consumption of tropical timber,” Rahman suggested.
“Of course, you will still need some for interiors, panels and what I call fancy plywood – the exotic species. But exotic-species plywood or panels can be 70pc or 80pc plantation timber and only 20pc exotic timber. We should move towards that because I think it is possible.”
Tool open to Sabah government: One of the most foolproof sustainable forest management policies
“I have mentioned this before. The Sabah Government has one of the most foolproof sustainable forest management policies. It has been tested because we are listed on the Singapore Exchange,” he said.
“So the Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreement came under the microscope of the relevant authorities in Singapore before we could list. They had full confidence in our sustainable forest management policy and hence we got listed.”
Rahman reminded all that it was no mean feat.
“I am happy that the current Government is back in power because it has emphasised and given special attention to industrial timber plantations as part of the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan.”
This version keeps almost all of the original content, cadence and emphasis, while correcting the mechanics and technical errors.
Target 80pc plantation timber
“And I am confident it will continue. Of course, Sabah will still need some amount of tropical timber – but a composition of 70-80pc plantation timber as the core material for plywood, while placing special focus on expediting the development of ITP on a greater scale,” he maintained.
“We have a new Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Zulkifli Suara, who took over from Datuk Fred Kugan in February. I have paid a courtesy call on him and he has assured me that ITP under the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan will continue to be given focus and emphasis, and be further developed as the next income earner for the state.”
Use Vietnam & Indonesia as models
“So Vietnam and Indonesia should be seen as models,” Rahman suggested.
“The ironic story is, as you know, Vietnam was buying and importing Acacia mangium from Pitas and Bengkoka 20 to 25 years ago.”
“In just one generation, they have today developed 4.7 million hectares of ITP plantations, mostly Acacia and Eucalyptus pelita, producing 30 million cubic metres of plantation timber a year.”
“Today, Vietnam is reputedly called the ‘Kingdom of Acacia’!”
“And that one industry alone – the timber industry – generates US$18 billion a year, which is equivalent to the GDP of Sabah from just one single source!”
“Indonesia today produces 63 million cubic metres of plantation timber and only 8 million cubic metres of tropical timber.”
“In the case of Vietnam, they have suspended natural forest logging. They rely only on plantation timber and the balance of about 30pc is imported timber. They do not touch their natural forests anymore,” Rahman pointed out.
“So these are the two regional neighbours whose ITP policies I think Sabah should emulate.”
Relook & enhance FMUs as chairman of national ITP policy formulation
A distinct opportunity to elevate Vietnam and Indonesia as Sabah’s models now exists after Rahman was appointed Chairman of the National ITP Policy Formulation Committee.
“We should be presenting our policy to the relevant authorities. Hopefully we can come up with a sound policy for the country. We are working with our colleagues and counterparts from Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia on that.”
Daily Express: This is a national plan, not a state plan?
Rahman: No, it is a national policy. At the state level, we more or less already have a policy. But of course, with the new Chief Conservator of Forests, we want to relook and enhance it, especially with the commercial harvest now taking place. We want to see where improvements can be made to make operations more efficient – a more efficient operation for the FMU licence holders.
ITP is the future
Daily Express: I see. Anything else?
Rahman: To touch on another point, as I have said, the world population continues to grow and more timber will be required. Projected demand in the global timber market is expected to exceed 3.1 billion cubic metres per annum by the year 2060. Where is it going to come from? No question, it is going to come mostly from forest plantations,” Rahman cast that point in stone.
“This means an additional 33 million hectares of new forest plantations will be needed on top of the 200 million hectares we already have in the world today in order to produce that amount,” Rahman laid bare the obvious direction Sabah must move towards.
Set up ITP as feedstock for electrification to beat a perennial
“Now, we are also looking at another perennial issue in Sabah and Malaysia.
“In Sabah, we are looking at the perennial electricity problem.”
“Now, we are looking at renewable energy, but we are also looking at ITP as an alternative biomass source for electricity generation.”
“We see that as a very viable alternative because you can harvest within three to four years to produce feedstock for biomass electrification with little or minimal carbon emissions.”
“So this is one of the items we are proposing to Malaysia under the energy transition programme. They are looking at solar, they are looking at hydro. Now we are trying to offer forest plantation biomass as feedstock for the energy transition programme.”
Divert wood pellets to electricity?
“The fact is we are already exporting our bio-wood pellets from Malaysia, even from Sabah, to Japan and Korea. So why not look into producing your own feedstock since this is 100pc clean energy? You cannot rely solely on palm oil.”
“So we are proposing to introduce to the Government a new source, namely forest plantation biomass from planted timber, which can be harvested within four to five years. We believe this may be a viable alternative for the state.
“We will be looking at the numbers and working with various parties to prepare a paper for submission to the Government.
“And you will also have a lot of waste material and offcuts coming out of our factories.”
When huge volumes of ITP are needed
“But for me, I hope that factories will generate their own electricity. That would be ideal.
“But in order for them to move to the next step of producing or generating their own electricity, huge volumes of ITP will have to flow into the factories.
“So planting has got to be seriously looked into and ramped up,” Rahman said, leaving no two ways about it.
Glaring limits of the mosaic planting system
“In the case of Sabah, we produced less than 30,000 cubic metres of plantation timber from the FMUs last year,” Rahman revealed, highlighting the limits of the mosaic planting system.
“To give you an idea, 30,000 cubic metres means that 10 or 15 years ago, only about 150 hectares were planted. That is what the numbers mean.
“You will agree with me that this is not good news,” Rahman said frankly.
“But despite that, the state government is taking serious and immediate action for all FMUs to plant on a bigger scale.
“So that is encouraging news,” he concluded.
