Malaysia can manage its forest, says Sec-Gen
Copyright 2000
Business Times (Malaysia)
November 15, 2000
By Zaidi Isham Ismail
MALAYSIA does not need outside help or interference in the sustainability and management of its 90 million ha tropical forest, Primary Industries Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Haron Sirai said.
He said it is a fallacy for Malaysia to listen and adhere to the guidelines set by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and lobby groups of developed nations such as the US and Europe.
"The so-called guidelines of these developed nations in forest management and management are totally obsolete, dating back to colonial times which are no longer relevant to modern times not only to Malaysia, but to other tropical countries as well.
"If we were to listen to these groups, than the entire population of the Penan ethnic group in Sarawak would be wiped out," Haron told reporters after opening a training course on forest and environmental audit in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The course was jointly organised by Institute of Foresters Malaysia (Irim) Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim) and Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM).
Haron said developed nations are only serving their own interests when it comes to forest management since they are the main buyers of timber and timber products in the international market.
"They are only interested in dictating prices to their own gain. They are not sincerely genuine in helping us out to the extent of telling us to conform to their method of planting trees which I feel is a bit too much," he added.
Haron said Malaysia prides itself in its gazetted preservation of 14.7 million ha of permanent forest reserves. The figure represents about 57 per cent of the total forest area in Malaysia which stands at 90 million ha.
Out of that 14.7 million ha, 11.7 million ha have been gazetted into protection forest and productive forest.
"Nobody is allowed to touch or fell trees within the protected forest for purposes of water conservation and bio-diversity."
In the production forest area only selected trees are felled systematically to maintain a balance as to prevent indiscriminate felling.
"In this way, one tree is allowed to grow while the other is being felled and that allows our forest to be sustainably managed and remain green forever," Haron said.
Haron also told participants of the training course the importance of understanding the mechanisms of forest certification, timber labelling and resource auditing, and assess its appropriateness and relevance in meeting national goals of sustainable forest management.
"Auditing for certification has been described as one of the many tools that may be instrumental in achieving the goal of sustainable forest management and recognised globally as a mean to achieving better market access.
"The idea of certification is simple where a product you grow or make conforms to a certain spelled out standard."
"The nature of guarantee is the idea of proving that you're growing trees or manufacturing plywood, for example in an environmentally sound manner," he said.
Haron said these participants can extend their knowledge and expertise to other developing countries as well such as in the Phillipines, Latin America and Africa.