Important to have balance in usage of peatland — Mah
KUCHING: Concerted efforts are needed to ensure that there is a balance between retaining peatland based on its unique characteristics and the use of peatland for economic activities, said Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.
He pointed out that the symbiosis needed to be balanced to ensure long term sustainable use of peatland without endangering the environment.
“I would like to urge all of you present here today to take this opportunity to deliberate and exchange views towards ensuring sustainable development of peatland for development purposes.
“I sincerely hope that this congress will deliberate on these issues. Your keen interest and participation will certainly provide opportunities to develop ideas to promote sustainable development of peat and the oil palm industry to higher level,” said Mah at the 15th International Peat Congress ( IPC) held at a leading hotel here yesterday.
In the context of Malaysia, Mah explained that the palm oil industry is synonymous with the economic development and raising the income level of the rural farmers, who are mostly smallholders.
He said currently, smallholders owned closed to 40 per cent of the total planted area of 5.64 million hectares.
“This industry is an important pillar of the agriculture Gross Domestic Product (GDP) whereby last year, its contribution was 4.1 per cent and in terms of export earnings, this sector contributed export values of RM63.2 billion and accounted for 8.1 per cent total merchandise exports in 2015,” said Mah.
Mah assured that the Malaysian Government would continue to place emphasis on sustainable development perspective of the palm oil industry especially the use of peatland for oil palm cultivation.
“The sustainable development of peatland for palm oil means that it does not lead to environmental and ecosystem degradation,” he said, adding that the government had set up the Tropical Peat Research Laboratory ( TPRL) in Sarawak to collaborate with the Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in developing best practices in the use of peatland for oil palm planting.
“For the period 2008 to 2015, a total allocation of RM39.1 million has been made available to undertake research activities towards developing best practices and other measures to ensure the suitability of oil palm development on peatland,” he said.
Mah also said that the Malaysian palm oil industry has adopted the industry led initiative for certified sustainable palm oil under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ( RSPO).
“Malaysia has also implemented our own certification scheme - the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil ( MSPO) which is based on our current laws and regulations. In addition, MPOB has developed ‘Guidelines for the Development of Standard Operating Procedure for Oil Palm Cultivation on Peat’ as guideline on oil palm cultivation in peatland,” he said.
Mah added that with the setting up of the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council ( MPOCC), implementation of the MSPO would be further strengthened and expanded to counter negative perception and allegations on palm oil cultivation with regard to the environment and sustainability practices spread by ignorant and irresponsible parties.
He disclosed that the country currently has 54.6 per cent of land area under forest, in line with its commitment at the Rio Summit 1992 to retain at least 50 per cent of its land area under forest.
Mah said palm oil cultivation was currently at 5.64 million hectares which occupied 17.1 per cent of the total land area.
“We will continue with this commitment and to ensure the sustainable development of the palm oil industry,” added Mah.
Meanwhile, Mah revealed that the government has taken the initiative to increase productivity through replacing old and unproductive oil palm trees with high yielding planting materials.
“This will allow the industry to increase the national average fresh fruit bunch ( FFB) yield from 20 tonnes per hectare per year to 26 tonnes per hectare per year by 2020,” said Mah.