Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam (middle), representing the Chief Minister, launching the International Day of Forests 2023 in Sandakan on Thursday (April 27).
KOTA KINABALU: Forest plantations should not be viewed as a contributor to deforestation, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said this is because such plantations are carried out in line with the development plan approved by the Sabah Forestry Department in accordance with comprehensive guidelines drawn up from an environmental protection point of view.
According to Hajiji, the claims by certain quarters that the development of the forestry sector in Sabah - especially forest plantations - have involved significant deforestation and affected forest cover are inaccurate.
He said that these parties should have done more careful research of the facts and understood the context of forest management in Sabah.
“The Sabah government has identified a small portion of degraded forest reserves with an area of approximately 400,000ha for that purpose, as stated in the Action Plan on Forest Plantation Development 2022 – 2036,” said Hajiji.
He added that the development of forest plantations is one of the strategies of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) to restore declining forest productivity.
Hajiji also said that these plantations are aimed at reducing the dependence of the local timber industry on the supply of logs from natural forests and to ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials.
Hajiji said this in his speech delivered by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam at the launching of the state-level International Day of Forests 2023 at the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) in Sandakan on Thursday (April 27).
On forest management, the Chief Minister said the Sabah government was always committed to maintaining 50% of the state's forest cover, in line with the Sabah Forest Policy 2018.
At the moment, Hajiji said, Sabah still maintained 64% of the state's forest cover.
This involves 3,848,597ha (52%) of gazetted forest reserves and other protected areas.
To strengthen the state's forest management and subsequently protect its important treasure, he said, Sabah has gazetted up to 1.9mil ha (26.4%) of forest areas as Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) in order to reach the target of 2.2mil ha or 30% of state land by 2025.
Towards this end, he said that the state government was carrying out efforts to rationalise land use for the purpose of balancing socio-economic development and environmental conservation.
“Along with that, the Sabah Forestry Department is drafting a Statewide Forest Master Plan, which will provide an action plan guideline for the management of forest resources for the next 25 years, for forested areas throughout Sabah.
“Through this master plan, the Sabah government will ensure that all Ecological Sensitive Areas (ESAs) remain protected while at the same time not neglecting sustainable socio-economic development for the well-being of Sabahans,” Hajiji said.
He said this is in line with the implementation of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan roadmap, which, among others, stipulates the need for the development of infrastructure networks and green development.
Hajiji then added that Sabah will spearhead the implementation of the Food Production, Land Use and Restoration System Effects Programme (Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Programme - Folur IP).
He said the state will do this in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
This programme will involve Integrated Landscape Management covering an area of approximately 2.1mil ha.
Hajiji then said that it will coordinate land use planning and management in Sabah to curb the effects of palm oil production, in addition to maintaining high value forest areas, HCV (High Conservation Value) for the benefit of the environment and development.
It will be implemented in 12 districts in Sabah, and is expected to benefit approximately 56,000 rural residents.
He then added that the Sabah government has explored initiatives that can support forest conservation programmes through the potential of generating non-timber-based income (Forest Beyond Timber) as an alternative for generating new income.
Hajiji said this included forest-based recreational activities, payment for forest ecosystem services and carbon trading through the implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+).b
“One of the examples we can see is the infrastructure development at the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) visitor's complex, which has proven to be able to attract tourists from within and outside the country who are interested in forest-themed recreational activities.
“The RDC visitor's complex was completed in 2022 with the technical and financial assistance of the (federal) Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change amounting to RM7mil,” he said.
