Any future plantation only on degraded land – CM

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said the state government shares the views of the federal government that it will not allow any expansion of oil palm plantations into permanent forest reserves.

In fact, the state government, for the time being, will focus on rubber, fruits, plantation timber, cocoa and other crops, he said.

Any future plantation development, including oil palm plantations, will only be carried out on previous agricultural land or degraded land, he added.

Shafie stressed that the state government believes that balancing development and conservation to achieve a sustainable economy is paramount for Sabahans today and a hundred years from now.

This is exemplified by the ban on export of low economic returns round logs since July this year as part of the government’s efforts to protect wildlife and to reform the forestry sector, he pointed out.

He added that a downstream business in timber products had been shown to bring more benefits to local communities.

“We are in full agreement with the federal government in upholding Malaysia’s pledge to the international community that the country would keep its promise of maintaining 50 percent of its landmass as forest cover, which was made at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and reiterated in several major international conferences including the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015,” Shafie said.

Sabah, according to the Chief Minister, will work together with the Federal government to enhance sustainable forest management practices to revitalize the sector as an important economic contributor to the country.

In view of the volatility of palm oil prices in the competitive edible oil environment, the state government will encourage and assist local farmers and smallholders to switch to other cash crops with better local and global demands, he said.

“This is to protect the livelihoods of smallholders against over exposure to the fluctuations of the global palm oil prices which are beyond the control of the state,” he pointed out.