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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

How Sustainable is Malaysia's Forest Industry?

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

November 28, 1995

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

The question of how sustainable Malaysia's Forest Industry is will

have great impact beyond Malaysia's dwindling forest resources and

lost tropical wilderness. This is because Malaysian style

industrial forestry is being exported to the last virgin tracts of

rainforests remaining on the planet. This sickness, once over

heavy logging under the guise of development, threatens to erase

millions of years of evolution and ecological diversification.

Bruno-Manser-Fonds, Association for the peoples of the rainforest,

reports on the the state of Malaysia's forests.

g.b.

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/** Newsletter Nov 95, Bruno Manser Fonds **/

** Topic: LOGGING IN SARAWAK **

** Written by Bruno Manser and Roger Graf **

How Sustainable is Malaysia's Forest Industry?

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Malaysia, the world's largest exporter of tropical wood (50

percent of the world market in 1990), essentially has a good

forestry law which should guarantee it a sustainable use of its

forests. It is not the same in practice. Based on the exhaustion

of its own forest resources, West Malaysia has already become an

importer of wood from the two east Malaysian states of Sarawak and

Sabah. Sarawak has too few forestry officials to enforce the law

in this respect.

Maximum felling quantities as recommended by the International

Timber Trade Organization (ITTO) have been exceeded. And

stipulations concerning the minimum diameter for fellable trees,

time spans before a second cutting, protected species (such as

abang) and the incline of the land are often disregarded. An

aerial view exposes the tremendous erosion damage. Even half of

the Magoh Biosphere Reservation has already been developed and

exploited.

The most tragic fact, however, is the disregard for the

traditional land rights of the indigenous peoples. Over 700

members of various Dayak groups have been arrested in the past

years for their determined resistance.

"Eco" labels for wood and "sustainable forestry" which are

conferred by individuals are not credible. At the present time,

hevea is the only timber on the market from Malaysia which can be

verified as sustainable. Hevea is a caoutchouc-producing tree

whose wood has acquired a useful purpose when the tree has been

"milked out"

For further information or comments, please contact:

Bruno-Manser-Fonds

Association for the peoples of the rainforest

BMF,

Heuberg 25

CH-4051 Basel

Switzerland

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You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal

campaign use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and

forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely

pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Archives at URL= http://gaia1.ies.wisc.edu/research/pngfores/

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises/ 301K Eagle Heights/ Madison, WI 53705

USA/ Phone- (608) 233-2194/ Fax- (608) 233-2193/ Emails-

gbarry@forests.org or switpi@igc.apc.org