– extracted and adapted from RAKAN Sarawak January-March 2020 –
Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) has been incorporating the latest technology in its effort to sustainably manage and protect Sarawak forest resources.
This is necessary due to Sarawak’s geographical makeup of mountain terrains, rivers, tributaries and complicated road access, which demands non-traditional methods of implementing forest management and protection.
FDS does this through its System and Application Development Unit that consists of a rapid response team working within a command centre that makes use of technologies to perform day-to-day forest monitoring activities and collect on-the-field data.
Among these technologies is the hyperspectral sensor. This sensor produces high-resolution images containing electromagnetic spectrum upon gathering and processing information that it has acquired in an area or an object.
Through the spectrum in these images, users are able to identify materials, find objects and detect activities; hence hyperspectral sensor technology can be utilised in wide ranging fields, including agriculture, geosciences and surveillance.
In FDS’s case, its sensor is mounted on a fixed wing aircraft or a helicopter for use in aerial monitoring, surveillance and reconnaissance, which has provided the convenience the department needs for survey works or detection and mapping of illegal logging activities.
The department also employs hyperspectral sensing on forest plantation mapping to monitor planting progress and health status of planted trees, as well as compositions of Sarawak’s forests to identify and collect data on biochemical and biophysical properties of various tree species.
Interestingly, the technology has enabled FDS to mitigate the depletion of wild Karas trees, a critically endangered tree species that produces a dark resinous hardwood called agarwood or gaharu that is used in perfume-making and industry’s including pharmaceutical and furniture.
Given that it is difficult to find presence of agarwood external ly, hyperspectral sensing helps to detect this raw material easier through the leaves.
Another technology that FDS utilises is the Sarawak Logs Tracking and Forest Revenue System (REVLOG)
mobile application, which is used to monitor in real time forest and mill licensing, harvesting, log tracking movement, log export, and revenue and billings.
The application is designed by Sarawak Information Systems (SAINS). which provides a comprehensive forest management solution to enable government agencies and departments like FDS to manage and monitor natural timber resources.
These include log and timber product licensing, harvesting, transporting, manufacturing and trading, as well as billing, collection and revenue reporting facilitation.
The solution also combines various technologies such as geographic information system (GIS). remote sensing and drone technology to detect illegal logging and illegal log movement.
For FDS, it intends to invest in more advanced technology and research and development to ensure the longevity of Sarawak forests.
It is presently looking at legality verification for logs through on-thefield sensing, spatial assessment of soil characteristics in Sarawak mangrove forests, and resource assessment applications, for example a
spectral database on mixed dipterocarp forest.
