UNIVERSITI Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has engaged the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) to help reforest an old rubber plantation located in its campus in Skudai, Johor, starting this year with a 10-ha area to be planted with high quality timber species.
The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between UTM and FRIM to provide for this project to be undertaken over a period of five years was held on 30 April 2012 at the UTM Skudai campus in Johor Bahru. Representing the Malaysian Forestry Research and Development Board (MFRDB) was the FRIM Director General (DG) Dato’ Dr Abd Latif Mohmod, while the university was represented by its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dato’ Ir Dr Zaini Ujang. According to Abd Latif, FRIM will use a different planting method known as “Systematic Cluster Planting”, which allows the old rubber trees to remain and gradually be replaced with the selected species with a target density of 350-500 trees per ha. The selected timber species include meranti, chengal, keruing, merbau, nyatoh and jelutong. The reforestation project also includes the cultivation of 30 local and exotic commercial bamboo species which can be used for construction as well as the setting up of a herbal garden within the 10-ha area.
FRIM has been involved in reforestation activities for about 100 years. Its main campus in Kepong is a model for successful reforestation, making it one of the oldest and largest man-made tropical forests in the world. FRIM has also been successful in rehabilitating and reforesting an ex-tin mining area of 115 ha in Bidor, Perak, and some 50-ha of BRIS soil site in Terengganu. Recently, FRIM has also be appointed by a private firm to reforest an ex-mining area in Pengkalan Hulu, Perak, using the fast tract system to plant fast-growing tree species over a period of five years. The FRIM-UTM MOU will also pave the way for the establishment of a twin campus programme, in line with the university’s aim to work towards an Eco Tropical JB Campus and the attainment of a world class quality innovative education in tropical environment.
Among others, the MOU provides for exchange of researchers, staff and students for mutual benefits including undertaking joint research assignments or projects which may result in joint reports, publication and study visits; exchange of information on the system and structure of higher education, reforms and new educational technologies; training and capacity building; and other areas of cooperation in forestry and forest products research. Also present to witness the signing ceremony were UTM Vice Chancellor (Development) Prof. Ir Dr Wahid Omar, Dr Maketab Muhamed, Prof. Dr Zuklifli Yusop and Assoc. Prof. Dr Abd Latif Saleh from UTM; and FRIM Forest Plantation Programme Head, Dr Ahmad Zuhaidi Yahya, Senior Researcher, Dr Hashim Md Noor and Corporate Management Head, Puan Norhayati Nordin.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
MTC Global WoodMart 2012
During his opening remarks, the MTC Chairman said that “MTC is confident that the Global WoodMart 2012 would be another outstanding success. And I am proud to say that based on exhibitors and visitors’ positive feedback, the Global WoodMart has already become a trade event that is looked forward to by the timber trade in 2012”.
MGW’s debut show in 2010 attracted 108 exhibitors from more than 20 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, South Korea, the UAE, UK and USA. In addition, over 2,000 trade buyers from 50 countries attended, with sizeable representations from Japan, the Netherlands, China, India, Singapore, Thailand and the UAE. Feedback from participants was encouraging and favourable with many expressing their interest to return for MGW 2012. Said John Chan of AHEC, “It provided us a good platform to meet with the users, traders from many countries.” Stuart McCallum of Timberbond, New Zealand, mentioned that “Opportunities persist in the Malaysian market. It has been very insightful.” Yaqoub H. Abdulla from the Department of Seaport & Customs, UAE said, “It has given us a chance to be in this market, opening a couple of chances to discover this wide and big market of Malaysia.” Peter Thomson of Glosswood, Australia said, “There is a good range of timbers available and it really does showcase the Malaysian timber manufacturers.”
To create awareness of MGW 2012, MTC is currently carrying out international promotional efforts through its offices in London, Shanghai and Dubai to bring prospective buyers from traditional markets in Europe, the USA, Japan and Australia, as well as emerging markets such as China, Russia and countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America to Malaysia. MGW 2012 will feature a wide selection of tropical and temperate hardwood and softwood products such as logs, sawntimber, plywood and panel products, wooden flooring, wooden decking, doors and windows, mouldings and furniture components.
MGW 2012 is endorsed and supported by:
• Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities
• Malaysia External Trade & Development Corporation (MATRADE)
• Malaysian Wood Industries Association (MWIA)
• Malaysian Panel-Products Manufacturers’ Association (MPMA)
• Timber Exporters’ Association of Malaysia (TEAM)
• Malaysian Wood Moulding & Joinery Council (MWMJC)
• Malaysian Furniture Industry Council (MFIC)
• Association of Malaysian Bumiputra Timber & Furniture Entrepreneurs (PEKA)
MGW’s debut show in 2010 attracted 108 exhibitors from more than 20 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, South Korea, the UAE, UK and USA. In addition, over 2,000 trade buyers from 50 countries attended, with sizeable representations from Japan, the Netherlands, China, India, Singapore, Thailand and the UAE. Feedback from participants was encouraging and favourable with many expressing their interest to return for MGW 2012. Said John Chan of AHEC, “It provided us a good platform to meet with the users, traders from many countries.” Stuart McCallum of Timberbond, New Zealand, mentioned that “Opportunities persist in the Malaysian market. It has been very insightful.” Yaqoub H. Abdulla from the Department of Seaport & Customs, UAE said, “It has given us a chance to be in this market, opening a couple of chances to discover this wide and big market of Malaysia.” Peter Thomson of Glosswood, Australia said, “There is a good range of timbers available and it really does showcase the Malaysian timber manufacturers.”
To create awareness of MGW 2012, MTC is currently carrying out international promotional efforts through its offices in London, Shanghai and Dubai to bring prospective buyers from traditional markets in Europe, the USA, Japan and Australia, as well as emerging markets such as China, Russia and countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America to Malaysia. MGW 2012 will feature a wide selection of tropical and temperate hardwood and softwood products such as logs, sawntimber, plywood and panel products, wooden flooring, wooden decking, doors and windows, mouldings and furniture components.
MGW 2012 is endorsed and supported by:
• Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities
• Malaysia External Trade & Development Corporation (MATRADE)
• Malaysian Wood Industries Association (MWIA)
• Malaysian Panel-Products Manufacturers’ Association (MPMA)
• Timber Exporters’ Association of Malaysia (TEAM)
• Malaysian Wood Moulding & Joinery Council (MWMJC)
• Malaysian Furniture Industry Council (MFIC)
• Association of Malaysian Bumiputra Timber & Furniture Entrepreneurs (PEKA)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Foreign companies blamed for depletion
Balikpapan - Primary forest cover in East Kalimantan has been depleted from 19 million hectares in the 1960s to just 4 million hectares today due to legislation allowing foreign companies into the local forestry sector, a researcher said on Friday.
Bernaulus Saragih, head of the Natural Resources Study Center at Mulawarman University in Samarinda, the provincial capital, said on Friday that the massive deforestation in the province was triggered by 1967’s Law on Foreign Investment (PMA).
“The degradation of primary forests in East Kalimantan was drastic after 1967. That was because the PMA law allowed the rate of degradation to increase significantly” by allowing foreign loggers and plantation companies in, he said.
While Indonesian firms are the No. 1 concession holders in the province, the US Department of Agriculture noted last year that “Malaysian companies have collectively established over 1 million hectares of active oil palm plantations in Indonesia and own a further 1 million hectares of land [that] has official permits allowing its development in the future.”
Bernaulus said other policies that had contributed to the high rate of deforestation included zoning regulations to assign large tracts of forests for plantation, logging and mining operations as well as for human settlement.
Should the opening up of the province’s forests continue at current rates, he warned, there would be no more primary forest cover left in just a few years.
Izal Wardana, executive director of the East Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the loss meant the province no longer complied with a zoning regulation requiring 30 percent of the total land area of 20.45 million hectares to be forested.
He warned that the province was losing 500,000 hectares of forest each year and that new infrastructure projects were threatening previously untouched tracts of virgin forest.
Izal urged the provincial administration to freeze the issuance of new forestry concessions and evaluate existing operations, including exhausted mining and plantation operations that have left behind an estimated 8.1 million hectares of degraded land.
Bernaulus Saragih, head of the Natural Resources Study Center at Mulawarman University in Samarinda, the provincial capital, said on Friday that the massive deforestation in the province was triggered by 1967’s Law on Foreign Investment (PMA).
“The degradation of primary forests in East Kalimantan was drastic after 1967. That was because the PMA law allowed the rate of degradation to increase significantly” by allowing foreign loggers and plantation companies in, he said.
While Indonesian firms are the No. 1 concession holders in the province, the US Department of Agriculture noted last year that “Malaysian companies have collectively established over 1 million hectares of active oil palm plantations in Indonesia and own a further 1 million hectares of land [that] has official permits allowing its development in the future.”
Bernaulus said other policies that had contributed to the high rate of deforestation included zoning regulations to assign large tracts of forests for plantation, logging and mining operations as well as for human settlement.
Should the opening up of the province’s forests continue at current rates, he warned, there would be no more primary forest cover left in just a few years.
Izal Wardana, executive director of the East Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the loss meant the province no longer complied with a zoning regulation requiring 30 percent of the total land area of 20.45 million hectares to be forested.
He warned that the province was losing 500,000 hectares of forest each year and that new infrastructure projects were threatening previously untouched tracts of virgin forest.
Izal urged the provincial administration to freeze the issuance of new forestry concessions and evaluate existing operations, including exhausted mining and plantation operations that have left behind an estimated 8.1 million hectares of degraded land.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Malaysia's timber will use the "green lane" to EU
Malaysia's timber products will use the "green lane" to the European market next year, in line with the implementation of the European Union's (EU) timber trade legislation, says the EU ambassador Vincent Piket. Malaysia is undertaking a bilateral voluntary partnership with the EU under its Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action plan to ensure that only licensed and certified timber enter the EU markets. Malaysian Timber Certification Council chairman Datuk Dr Freezailah Che Yeom said negotiations will come to an end possibly "within this quarter".
"We have made substantial progress and hope to conclude (talks) fairly soon," he told a media briefing after the launch of FLEGT Asia in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Dr Freezailah, who is adviser to the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities on the negotiations with the EU, said the talks involve consultations between over 100 stakeholders, including industry players, the government and non-government organisations. "Some stakeholders feel that it (FLEGT) is too stringent at this point of time, while others feel it is not stringent enough. "Malaysia has to strike a delicate balance but nonetheless, we have a strong commitment (to the plan) and where there is a will there is a way," he added. The "grey" zone is to strike the boundary, between legality and sustainability, he said.
Wood product exports to the EU have risen from RM2 billion to RM3.3 billion in 2006, with the growing trend towards increased sourcing of furniture and joinery products from the far east. In 2006, the EU imports of Malaysian wood products comprised RM1.2 billion of wood furniture, RM1.1 billion of sawnwood and RM414 million of plywood. The main European markets are the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy. Over the last five years, there has been particularly strong growth in European imports of Malaysian wood furniture, plywood and mouldings. Peninsular Malaysia was the main source of the wood furniture, while Sabah accounted for sawn timber and Sarawak mostly for plywood.
Apart from Malaysia, the EU is also undertaking negotiations with Indonesia. In 2007, these two countries combined, accounted for a total of RM6 billion worth of timber trade with the EU. The EU now also plans to expand the FLEGT programme to the rest of Asia. The European Forest Institute, a Finnish-based organisation will expand the FLEGT outreach to other countries from Kuala Lumpur. The FLEGT Asia programme will be carried out in the Mekong region, in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.
"We have made substantial progress and hope to conclude (talks) fairly soon," he told a media briefing after the launch of FLEGT Asia in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Dr Freezailah, who is adviser to the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities on the negotiations with the EU, said the talks involve consultations between over 100 stakeholders, including industry players, the government and non-government organisations. "Some stakeholders feel that it (FLEGT) is too stringent at this point of time, while others feel it is not stringent enough. "Malaysia has to strike a delicate balance but nonetheless, we have a strong commitment (to the plan) and where there is a will there is a way," he added. The "grey" zone is to strike the boundary, between legality and sustainability, he said.
Wood product exports to the EU have risen from RM2 billion to RM3.3 billion in 2006, with the growing trend towards increased sourcing of furniture and joinery products from the far east. In 2006, the EU imports of Malaysian wood products comprised RM1.2 billion of wood furniture, RM1.1 billion of sawnwood and RM414 million of plywood. The main European markets are the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy. Over the last five years, there has been particularly strong growth in European imports of Malaysian wood furniture, plywood and mouldings. Peninsular Malaysia was the main source of the wood furniture, while Sabah accounted for sawn timber and Sarawak mostly for plywood.
Apart from Malaysia, the EU is also undertaking negotiations with Indonesia. In 2007, these two countries combined, accounted for a total of RM6 billion worth of timber trade with the EU. The EU now also plans to expand the FLEGT programme to the rest of Asia. The European Forest Institute, a Finnish-based organisation will expand the FLEGT outreach to other countries from Kuala Lumpur. The FLEGT Asia programme will be carried out in the Mekong region, in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
60% of Sabah still under rainforest
Despite extensive landscape changes in the past, including the introduction of agriculture to reverse the overdependence on timber, some 60 percent of Sabah still remains under forest cover, state Forestry Department Director Datuk Sam Mannan said. The rate of deforestation between 1970 and 2010 was about 0.5 percent a year, with its height being between 1990 and 2000 during the oil palm cultivation boom, which unfortunately also saw a direct correlation between the number of Orang Utans being sent to the rehabilitation centre in Sepilok, he said.
"Fortunately, what is most important is the fact that we did not discard the forest reserve system that we inherited. If anything, we expanded it. "About four million hectares of Sabah remain under forest reserves, parks and wildlife sanctuaries," he said when briefing the Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who visited the department's Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) in Sepilok, last Saturday.
Mannan said despite "acts of random madness of the past," rainforests have managed to recover, with biological assets largely intact, and no record of any species going extinct so far. "The closest to extinction is the Sabah Rhino which we are trying to save through captive breeding," he added.
He also said the RDC, launched in 2007, is developed to meet objective of creating awareness on conservation and the environment as well as to promote ecotourism and recreation, education and research and development. Mannan said the total development cost for the centre has exceeded RM25mil and approximately RM10mil spent under the 10th Malaysia Plan to further develop its facilities.
"Fortunately, what is most important is the fact that we did not discard the forest reserve system that we inherited. If anything, we expanded it. "About four million hectares of Sabah remain under forest reserves, parks and wildlife sanctuaries," he said when briefing the Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who visited the department's Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) in Sepilok, last Saturday.
Mannan said despite "acts of random madness of the past," rainforests have managed to recover, with biological assets largely intact, and no record of any species going extinct so far. "The closest to extinction is the Sabah Rhino which we are trying to save through captive breeding," he added.
He also said the RDC, launched in 2007, is developed to meet objective of creating awareness on conservation and the environment as well as to promote ecotourism and recreation, education and research and development. Mannan said the total development cost for the centre has exceeded RM25mil and approximately RM10mil spent under the 10th Malaysia Plan to further develop its facilities.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Website to prevent illegal logging
In a bid to reduce illegal logging cases, Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) has come up with a user-friendly website for Malaysians to monitor rain forests and alert the authorities over suspicious activities. Its executive director Alan Kirupakaran said that the website would provide a platform for stakeholders to become efficient monitors and hoped it would become an effective measure to conserve forests in Malaysia.
“I believe with the co-operation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), using simple tools like the Google Earth Geospatial Technology (satellite, imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe) will allow the public to become active participants in protecting our forests,” he said at the workshop on forest adoption yesterday. He said since the website's creation in February, TI-M had received many public tip-offs regarding illegal logging activities and authorities had managed to investigate and expose six cases of illegal logging nationwide.
It was reported that Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup told the Dewan Rakyat that the country had lost some RM10.7mil in revenue to such activities. Alan said TI-M would help monitor the website with relevant authorities as well as with ForestWatch's expert monitors from the Malaysia Forestry Department. The public can assess and report irregularities through its website.
“I believe with the co-operation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), using simple tools like the Google Earth Geospatial Technology (satellite, imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe) will allow the public to become active participants in protecting our forests,” he said at the workshop on forest adoption yesterday. He said since the website's creation in February, TI-M had received many public tip-offs regarding illegal logging activities and authorities had managed to investigate and expose six cases of illegal logging nationwide.
It was reported that Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup told the Dewan Rakyat that the country had lost some RM10.7mil in revenue to such activities. Alan said TI-M would help monitor the website with relevant authorities as well as with ForestWatch's expert monitors from the Malaysia Forestry Department. The public can assess and report irregularities through its website.
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