Ensuring sustainability of Malaysia’s forests

Malaysia recognises the importance of managing its natural resources intelligently, which includes the conservation of flora and fauna. Conserving the nation’s richly biodiverse forests and its ecosystem is a vital focus for the future, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030. Malaysia’s commitment – dating back to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, to maintain at least 50% of its total land area under forest cover stays true, as currently 55.3% of the country’s land area remains under forest cover. The country has a total forested area of 18.27 million hectares, of which 10.92 million hectares are Permanent Reserve Forests (PRF) and 3.31 million hectares are totally protected areas. Continuous efforts are being made in the interest of sustainability, conservation and environmental protection through a variety of ways that not only address current issues related to industrialisation and commercialisation of natural resources, but also help prepare for the years to come. Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) practices have been embedded in the industry’s foundation for more than a century. The harvesting of timber is strictly managed under the Selective Management System, where only a specified number of standing trees of pre-determined size per hectare are allowed to be harvested, to ensure the conservation of the forest and wildlife habitat. SFM helps to manage the use of forest resources in a manner that meets the country’s current requirements without compromising the needs of future generations.

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theStar