Sustainable Forest Management Practices and Environmental Protection in Malaysia
Malaysia has large tracts of forest which have been converted to give way to settlements and agricultural and industrial areas. Despite logging is still being carried out annually, Malaysia can still boast to be able to maintain and protect the environment through vast areas of forested land as P...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English English |
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2008
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16913/1/Sustainable%20Forest%20Management%20Practices%20and%20Environmental%20Protection%20in%20Malaysia.pdf |
| Summary: | Malaysia has large tracts of forest which have been converted to give way to
settlements and agricultural and industrial areas. Despite logging is still being carried out
annually, Malaysia can still boast to be able to maintain and protect the environment through vast
areas of forested land as Permanent Reserved Forest which account about 14.39 million ha or
43.8% of its total land area at the end of 2006. At the same time forestry sector’s share of GDP is
1.10% in 2006, and has contributed significantly to the economic growth and development of
Malaysia through foreign exchange, employment opportunities, industrial development and
revenue to the State Governments. How does Malaysia achieve this? The answer is through
Sustainable Forest Resource Management (SFM). SFM involves not only the continuous
functions and services provided by forest but also about meeting the global concerns and
expectations in managing the forest with greater emphasis on environmental protection and
conservation of biological diversity. Subsequently forest certification was introduced as market
incentive to improve the quality of forest management including protection of environment. In
this connection, Malaysian Criteria and Indicators were also formulated to enhance social and
environment aspects; compliance of the activities will be rewarded with certificate. To date, 8
timber producing states in Peninsular Malaysia have been awarded the certificate by Malaysian
Timber Certification Council after being assessed by independent assessors. Issuance of forest
management certification manifested itself our commitment towards sustainable forest
management through the three pillars viz, economically viable, socially well-aware and
environmentally sound. Thus, the practice of SFM by Forestry Department Malaysia |
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