(MY) timber industry

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Tuesday June 6, 2006-The Star

Dire need for change

 

*By Hilary Chiew*

 

*MANY in the timber industry believe that plantation forests are the

solution to the shortage of timber supplies if Malaysia wants to remain a

timber-based exporting country.*

 

Malaysian Nature Society president Datuk Dr Salleh Mohd Nor said the future

of the country's timber industry lies in its ability to switch to plantation

forests.

 

" Trees are biological resources that can be grown. It has been proven that

productivity in a plantation forest is higher than a natural forest given

the right silvicultural technologies. Furthermore, advancement in wood

production technologies have broadened the range of wood types that can be

utilised, " said the former director-general of the Forest Research Institute

of Malaysia.

 

Although the authorities have long recognised the importance of cultivating

fast-growing timber species to reduce the pressure on natural forests,

implementation has been way too slow.

 

As early as 1982, the Forestry Department had launched the Compensatory

Forest Plantation Programme (CFPP) to address the impending shortage.

 

One chosen species was the exotic *Acacia mangium. *But it proved to be a

futile attempt as the trees failed to yield the quality required for general

utility timber and pulp, resulting in huge losses to some state governments.

It is learnt that sub-standard seedlings were the cause. The trees were

saddled with heart-rot disease that compromised their quality.

 

The failure eroded the confidence of public agencies, leaving the effort to

private investors. But interest from the private sector has been lukewarm as

the long gestation period, land scarcity and the general lack of knowledge

in suitable species are risk factors that discourage investors despite the

provision of incentives like pioneer status for 10 years and investment tax

allowances for five years.

 

The incentives were revised in 2003 where the pioneer status was extended to

15 years and the investment tax allowance, to 10 years.

 

Mohd Silahuddin Jamaluddin of Mangium Plantations said the failure was

largely due to poor planning. The pulp and paper plant which was part of the

initial project, was scrapped and as such, there was no dedicated chip mill

to pulp Acacia logs.

 

As a result, the logs fetched only RM60 per tonne in the peninsula compared

with more than RM90 per tonne in Sabah. Due to the blanket restriction on

log export, growers in the peninsula could not sell their logs to overseas

pulp and paper mills.

 

" With the exception of one plantation in Ulu Sedili, Johor, the others are

selling the logs to chipboard plants which is a waste because the Acacia is

of Grade A cellulose quality.

 

A mere 55,648ha of Acacia were planted under the CFPP in Johor, Kelantan,

Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu and another 5,476ha

were undertaken by various state agencies in Johor, Kelantan, Kedah, Pahang

and Terengganu.

 

Despite the bad name that Acacia has generated as an invasive species, Mohd

Silahuddin said it all boils down to common sense.

 

" Don't introduce it in a natural forest. Even growing it near a natural

forest is not possible as Acacia cannot compete with other tree species in a

healthy forest, " said the manager who oversees 17,000ha of Acacia plantation

in the Bengkoka peninsula in the district of Pitas in north-east Sabah.

 

He believes that Acacia is a good species for commercial planting as it is

hardy and has many uses, from pulp log to sawn timber.

 

At the end of 2004, there were 310,553ha of plantation forests – 75,807ha in

Peninsular Malaysia, 174,746ha in Sabah and 60,000ha in Sarawak.

 

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry intends to boost these

figures. It has identified 2.8 million ha of land that is available for

forest plantation.

 

It has earmarked 375,000ha to be planted with fast-growing species over the

next 15 years, with 25,000ha to be cultivated annually.

 

It is projected that 5 million cu m of wood can be harvested every year

based on a 12-to-15-year rotation period. Eight suitable species, including

Acacia and rubberwood, have been identified for the project, that will get

RM2.5bil in government funding. An organisation, Forest Plantation

Development Sdn Bhd, that was formed, has been allocated RM200mil to grow

valuable timber species like rubberwood, *semangkok* and Acacia in five

states.

 

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Tuesday June 6, 2006

 

Dubious forestry practices

 

THE 'close one eye' saga over illegal sawn timber imports at the Sungai

Rambai barter trade port should sound more than one alarm.

 

The alleged power abuse by a Member of Parliament aside, the debacle raised

questions over the source of timber that feeds the country's mills.

 

Jasin MP Mohd Said Yusof justified his interference in the enforcement work

of the Customs Department as for the sake of securing supplies for the

timber industry.

 

In recent years, Malaysia has gained a rogue reputation for laundering

Indonesian timber either by re-exporting them as sawn timber or funnelling

the illegal logs to local mills.

 

The government responded to Indonesia's request to assist in controlling its

alarming illegal deforestation by banning the import of round logs in 2002

and then restricting the import of sawn timber to those below 60cm

circumference a year later.

 

Peninsular Malaysia's reliance on imported sawn timber has grown steadily:

from 180,780 cubic metres cu m in 1995 to 665,301 cu m in 2004.

 

Sustainable forest management has been incorporated in the National Forestry

Policy since the 1970s. Each state is recommended to set aside permanent

forest estates (PFE) and implement selective felling to ensure a sustainable

log flow, besides retaining sufficient forest cover.

 

Despite constants claim by the authorities that logging is conducted on a

sustainable basis, all is not well with the country's forestry management

and production.

 

The latest Forestry Statistics Peninsular Malaysia (2004) lists declining

supplies to log, sawn timber, plywood, mouldings, veneer and blockboard

mills over the last decade. This corresponds with the decline in sawn timber

production from 5.592 million cu m in 1995 to 3.199 million cu m in 2004.

 

Ideally, with sustainable logging practices, a logged-over area would be

ready for the next round of harvesting based on an average 25-year rotation

system. Trees below the cut-limit that were spared the chainsaw back then

would have reached the commercial size thus ensuring healthy log production.

 

 

A Forestry Development Fund was created as required by the National Forestry

Act 1984 whereby cess was collected from logging licensees to finance

reforestation.

 

" If indeed we have been practising sustainable forestry, why do we need to

import? Why are we not able to sustain supplies? " asked a forestry

researcher.

 

To date, the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) has issued

sustainable forest management certificates for 4,674,825ha in Pahang,

Selangor, Terengganu, Johor, Kedah, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, and Kelantan.

 

The researcher said the scheme was misleading as the sustainable regime only

applied to production forests in the PFE.

 

Unlike in Sarawak where the first MTCC certificate was issued to one " forest

management unit " (FMU) covering 55,949ha in the Se'laan-Linau complex in

Upper Baram, in the peninsula, each state is considered as one FMU which

technically means that all harvesting regimes are regarded as sustainable.

 

" Logging outside the PFE is mostly clear-felling as these involve land

conversion for agricultural and other development needs. Even within the

PFE, we often hear about illegal logging and unscrupulous licensees stealing

timber beyond their allocations. Sustainable forestry is very much a farce, "

he concluded.

 

The researcher also noted that only 67 of Perak's 91 registered sawmills are

operating. " The jobs will disappear as the forests disappear. " In fact, the

number of workers in Perak's wood-based industries has been halved in the

last 10 years – from 7,990 in 1995 to 4,198 in 2004.

 

An industry veteran from Johor pointed out that sawmilling, the first user

of logs and an indicator of the level of supplies, is a sunset industry.

 

" Sawmills are not operating on a daily basis as we simply cannot get enough

logs, " said Soo Lip Hong, vice president of the Johor Wood Industries

Association. Johor has 58 sawmills in operation as of 2004.

 

He said sawmillers supported the government's reforestation plan but were

let down as the policy was not implemented effectively.

 

In 1990, the government imposed an export levy and quota on sawmills. The

levy goes into the Forestry Development Fund to pay for reforestation.

 

In 1995, Soo demanded that the Ministry of Primary Industries lift the levy

as replanting did not happen as pledged. Representing the Johor Sawmillers

Association then, he criticised the ministry for misusing RM63mil –

contributed by Johor sawmillers over five years – to purchase 12 levels of

the 21-storey Menara PGRM in Selangor to house the Malaysian Timber Council

(MTC) and Malaysian Timber Industry Board.

 

Soo said since its establishment in 1992, the MTC had used the fund to

counter the anti-tropical timber campaign which was largely targeting

Sarawak, and the organisation has paid little attention to reforestation in

the peninsula. The government subsequently lifted the levy in May 1998,

partly due to the financial crisis.

 

Soo said state governments failed to heed federal policies on sustainable

forestry, being more interested in revenues generated from timber-based

industries.

 

For example, new sawmilling licences continued to be issued as recent as

2004 despite the prevailing log shortage. He said this might encourage

sawmillers to acquire illegally-sourced timber.

 

He also lamented the lack of vision among state governments in encouraging

plantation forestry as logged land was quickly converted for development

projects that brought in quick money.

 

The Forestry Department declined to comment on the effectiveness of the

sustainable forestry management and the delay in developing the plantation

scheme. – *By Hilary Chiew*