Malaysia In Forefront Of Tropical Forest Management

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Despite allegations against Malaysia on its tropical forest management policies, it is still in the forefront compared with other tropical countries, said Malaysia Timber Certification Council (MTCC) chairman Dr Freezailah Che Yeom. He said almost five million hectares of the country’s permanent forests were sustainably managed and certified for sustainability mainly under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), endorsed under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). "Certified forest areas in Malaysia represent 35 per cent of our permanent forests. "Let these statistics speak for themselves regarding our commitment, efforts and professionalism of our forest managers and they are doing their utmost to expand the area of permanent forests to be certified," he said when presenting a paper at the seminar on Forest Management Certification (Natural Forest) in the east Malaysian state of Sarawak here from Aug 20-21. He told the forum that as a responsible member of the international community, Malaysia was fully supportive of the various initiatives to combat illegal Logging such as the United States Lacey Act, the European Union (EU) Timber Regulation and similar legislation by Australia. Indeed, he said, Malaysia was one of the earliest countries to negotiate with the EU to conclude a Flegt voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) to ensure Malaysia’s timber exports harvested from its permanent forests, state land forest or alienated land were verified for legality in compliance with relevant laws in the forest and timber sectors. He said substantial progress had been made in the negotiations with the EU but Malaysia, unlike certain countries, refrained from signing the Flegt VPA pending agreement on all major issues. Apart from Malaysia, he said the five countries that were reported to be making notable progress also included Brazil, Gabon, Guyana and Peru. He said the implementation of sustainable forest management needed strong institutions, knowledge, skills and resources both human and financial, which were all in short supply in developing tropical countries. Freezailah also suggested that Malaysia formulates a Forest Vision, which was both important and urgent as the extent, conservation and sustainable management of forest resources impacts the welfare and well-being of all Malaysians. He said the process could be initiated by the Natural Resources and the Environment Ministry in consultations with all the stakeholders with the vision tabled to the National Land Council for adoption in the case of the Peninsular for policy development. "And parallel initiatives also can be undertaken in Sarawak and Sabah," he said. -- BERNAMA