At over 100 years old, Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) remains committed in ensuring that through its ever evolving and expanding functions and its forest management practices that are in line with international standards and requirements, it is capable of managing Sarawak’s forest sustainably.
As observed in the past decade, FDS has come to depend on not only advanced technology and research and development (R&D) to manage and develop forest resources while contributing to the State’s economy and protecting the environment, but also the cooperation between its stakeholders such as local communities, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.
This is reflected in its numerous achievements over the past three years (2018-2020); some of which are as follows:
Sustainable Forest Management – Forest Management Certification
To date, 14 Forest Management Units (FMUs) with an area of around 1.32 million ha have been certified, the process of which involves a third-party audit that utilises Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) standards which are endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
The Sarawak Government has mandated that all long-term licensees for natural forests obtain their forest management certification by 2022.
This is to ensure that forest resources in Sarawak are managed sustainably and complied fully with international recognised standards.
Implementation of Industrial Forests
45 forest plantation licences has been approved for the fast-growing tree species (e.g. Acacia, Batai, Eucalyptus, Kelampayan, Sawih, etc.) programme that aims at ensuring sufficient supply of timber resources to sustain the timber industry in Sarawak.
Under this programme, the Sarawak Government has targeted one million ha of land to be planted with fast-growing tree species by 2025. To date, over 0.52 million ha has been successfully planted with these trees.
Forest Landscape Restoration Programme
Since its inception in 2019, the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Programme has enabled FDS to engage and collaborate with its stakeholders to encourage more tree-planting activities.
Through the programme, the Sarawak Government is committed to planting up to 35 million trees within five years or an average of seven million trees annually.
It is a goal that is deemed achievable from FDS’s perspective, considering that in 2020 alone, Sarawak has managed to plant more than 10.32 million trees.
Research and Development
Achievements in research and development (R&D) for FDS fall under two categories: natural forest and biodiversity research, and forest plantation research.
Through its research on Sarawak’s natural forest and biodiversity, FDS has conducted various long-term research projects, including the Forest Geo Lambir 52-ha Long-Term Ecological Research in collaboration with Centre for Tropical Forest Sciences (CTFS), and the Establishment of Permanent Ecological Research Plots in the Existing and Proposed Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) with Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).
The department has also successfully recorded diverse species of plants that can be found in Sarawak; the latest discovery being Vatica abang-zoharii, which is a tree from the resak species.
To date, FDS has a collection of 300,000 herbarium specimens, 16,000 wood samples, 5,000 fungi specimens and 500,000 insect specimens housed in its Forest Research Institute (FRC) and Timber Research and Technical Training Centre (TRTTC).
In terms of its research in forest plantation, to enhance its research focus on tree breeding materials, silvicultural treatment, pest and disease management and many other aspects of forest plantation, FDS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 13 forest plantation licensees and another with Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) on 4 November 2020.
Through these collaborations, FDS will be able to empower its human capital development, technology transfer, funds, and support equipment in forest R&D.
Prevention and Enforcement
From 2018 to 2020, FDS undertook 402 cases, in which 368 suspects were arrested. The department also confiscated a total of over 69,956.76 m3 timber with total royalty value of over RM4.5 million.
To boost its capability to prevent illegal forestry-related activities, FDS has introduced OP Rengas COMOS (Continuous Monitoring and Surveillance), which combines the latest technology that uses geospatial information as a mechanism for the detection of illegal logging activities in the field.
It is the department’s long-term prevention and enforcement goal to achieve zero illegal logging activity in permanent forest estates (PFEs) in Sarawak by 2025.
Heart of Borneo Initiative Phase II (2016-2020)
The Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative in Sarawak aims to empower sustainable development and conservation in the State. Phase II prioritised environmental conservation, community and ecotourism development, and sustainable forest management.
In 2018, the HoB area in Sarawak expanded from 2.12 ha to 2.69 ha.
