Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor wants the state to intensify efforts to create new revenues from its natural forests, like ecotourism and fisheries, instead of just depending on its timber.
Sarawak’s deputy chief minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, on the other hand, says the state should target planted forests for its timber exports.
Hajiji said forests can be used for activities like ecotourism, ecosystem services, mangroves, carbon transactions, herbs and boosting the pharmaceutical industry.
“The forests are no longer just for timber. We can generate more economic opportunities, particularly those based on green sustainability, by protecting and conserving them,” he said in a statement here today.
“New income sources from the forests need to be explored and maximised through research and development.”
Hajiji said research was crucial in ensuring successful implementation of the sustainable forest management and natural forest ecosystem restoration system in Sabah.
Launching the state-level International Forest Day in Sandakan today, he said the state government supported forest conservation. This stand was reflected in the five-year Sabah Maju Jaya development plan launched recently.
“About 101,038ha of degraded forests have been identified for reforestation in Sabah,” he said.
About 63,000ha of degraded forests have already been replanted at a cost of RM316 million.
Under the 12th Malaysia Plan, the state government would also channel RM26.6 million for reforestation programmes in several forest reserves, he added.
Among them are Deramakot, Tangkulap, Pinangah, Ulu Segama, Trusmadi, Gunung Rara, Kalabakan, Timimbang, Botition and Sugut in Beluran.
Forests cover 65% of Sabah, 62% of Sarawak and 44% of Peninsular Malaysia.
No less than 3.8 million hectares, or 52% of Sabah’s total area, have been gazetted as forest reserves, parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
Sabah has set a target to plant 40 million trees in the span of five years.
In Kuching, Awang Tengah said Sarawak’s timber industry can no longer rely on natural forests alone due to the declining production of logs. They should instead utilise timber from planted forests, he said.
He said production of logs from natural and planted forests had dropped from 5.73 million cubic metres in 2019 to 4.33 million cubic metres in 2020, affecting the state’s global plywood market share.
He said Sarawak’s export of plywood to Japan had declined from RM2.11 billion in 2019 to RM1.97 billion in 2020.
“As a result, we lost out to Indonesia as the number one plywood supplier to Japan,” Awang Tengah said.
He said it was clear that the local timber industry players could no longer rely on natural forests alone.
“They must also move towards downstream high value-added activities such as furniture and engineered wood products, employing Industry 4.0 to explore new markets beyond the existing traditional markets.
“Hence, all long-term forest timber licences in the state must have forest management certification by next year to comply with international requirements.”
Awang Tengah said the state government now allowed third-party verification to ensure the certification’s credibility and market acceptance.
“As such, we hope to achieve an export earning target of RM8 billion for timber and timber products by 2030,” he said.