Sabah plans sustainable logging with more forests

KOTA KINANALU: Sabah is targeting a total of 400,000ha of forest plantations in the next 15 years, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said the forest plantations would have a production capacity of at least six million cubic metres a year.

“It is my hope that we will be able to achieve it,” he said when launching the state-level International Forest Day 2022 celebration at the Sulaman Forest Reserve Lake in Tuaran near here yesterday.

He said the target was set under the Forest Plantation Development Action Plan 2022-2036 by the Sabah Forestry Department.

“This is a strategic and decisive action to transform our forest plantations into the direction of achieving sustainable land use to strengthen timber products,” Hajiji added.

He said the action plan would be a guide in the development of forest plantations in accordance with the principles of sustainable forest management as outlined in the Plan Sabah Maju Jaya Development (2021-2025) and Sabah Forest Policy 2018.

To achieve the target, the Chief Minister said a total of 23,850ha had been allocated to 18 Sabah Forest Management Licence Agreement licensees to carry out this year.