Forest Dept seeks 21 certified FMUs in Sarawak by 2022
KUCHING: The Forest Department may revoke the licences of timber companies which do not attain certified Forest Management Units (FMU) in their licensed areas by 2022.
Sarawak Forest Department director Hamden Mohammad said Sarawak currently has four FMUs covering an area of 423,917ha, three of which are within the 340,382-ha Heart of Borneo ( HoB) and aims to have at least 21 by 2022.
He pointed out that another two FMUs are in the process of Stage 2 of auditing and would be certified soon, adding that certification of FMUs ensures sustainable forest management, which Sarawak is vigorously working to achieve.
“Our target is to have 21 FMUs for the whole of Sarawak and all must be certified by 2022. We have certified four (FMUs) and another 17 to go within the next four years,” he told reporters yesterday after launching the Kubaan-Puak Corridor Project Finale 2018 workshop.
“We have to put a timeframe so that all licensees will work together very hard to go towards that (certification) because if I say by 2030 or 2040, everybody will relax. So we need to set up a timeframe and once we reach 2022, we will see what we want to do,” he said.
Earlier, Hamden said the department acknowledged that parts of Sarawak’s forests have been degraded, adding that the department is working on a forest restoration masterplan with a landscape approach to involve local communities and stakeholders.
“The state government remains committed in ensuring its forest and forest resources are managed in a sustainable manner and this commitment is further affirmed by the policy that requires all longterm timber licensees to obtain forest management certification by 2022.
“The way forward for our state and the Forest Department under my watch will be towards forest landscape restoration,” he asserted.