Log export ban boosts wood-based industries
KOTA KINABALU: The revenue collected from the state’s forests has decreased due to the shortage of timber production, said Sabah Chief Conservator of Forests Datuk Mashor Mohd Jaini.
“In the past, timbers from the natural forests contributed more than 50 per cent of the state’s revenue every year.
“Unfortunately, the revenue collected from the forests has since dwindled due to the shortage of timber products from the natural forests.
“The conventional logging activities in the past, in one way or another, had contributed much to the decline in timber production, and as such damaging practices had badly impacted the forest ecosystems, the environment and the sustainability of our flora and fauna,” said Mashor.
In light of this, he pointed out that the State Government had opted to manage the forestry sector in accordance with the international standards of sustainable forest management.
This is to ensure the sector would remain as one of the main sources of revenue to the socio-economic development for Sabah, he said.
“The State Government’s current policy on log export ban was partly catered for log consumption for the local sawmills.
“This has empowered the wood-based industry in Sabah with more flexible opportunities to seek for supply of raw materials for their mills,” said Mashor in his speech during yesterday’s International Conference on Heart of Borneo (HoB) 2019 launching.
He reckoned that the emphasis on the production of a broad range of high-end valueadded forest products would spur the development of wood-based industries in the state.
He added that this would also foster the creation of more job opportunities for locals.
To date, about 60 per cent of Sabah’s land mass is still covered with forests, of which 26 per cent was gazetted as Totally Protected Areas (TPAs).
“We should be proud of the number achieved on our TPAs so far as it had exceeded the target set by the International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which aims to conserve around 17 per cent of the terrestrial and inland water areas, plus a further 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas.
“With regard to the Sabah Forest Policy 2018, the State Government has pledged to preserve at least 30 per cent of Sabah’s land area as TPAs by the year 2025,” explained Mashor.
“Despite of these tremendous milestones, the burning issue raised by some of the people is whether such milestones were achieved just for the sake of numbers or would it actually benefit the state.
“This is a big challenge for us - to ensure that the environmental conservation and economic development would not be in conflict.
“Environmental protection is not a burden, but a source for innovation and most importantly a source of income for the government,” he stressed.
The conference was officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdalin Attendence was Federal Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources Tengku Zulpuri Shah, among others.
Commenting on the conference, Mashor disclosed that a total of 46 working papers will be presented in the conference.