KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is expected to produce about six to eight million cubic meters (m3) of plantation logs annually by 2036.
Chief Conservator of Forests Datuk Frederick Kugan said the sustainable supply of timber would encourage more downstream and high-value investments that was expected to contribute to the state's gross domestic product (GDP).
He said the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan and the Sabah Forest Policy 2018 were focused on rebuilding the productive capacity of forest reserves.
He said 400,000ha was being earmarked for industrial tree plantations (ITP) in the state by 2036, as stipulated in the Forest Plantation Action Plan for Sabah (2022-2036).
"This is part of the 1.65 million ha of forests licensed under the long-term Sustainable Forest Management License Agreements (SFMLA), which will be the main source of future timber supply to sustain the forest industries, which will reduce pressure on natural forests and contribute towards forest conservation.
"It is projected that about six to eight million m3 of plantation logs can be produced annually once the annual allowable cut of 40,000 ha is achieved by 2036.
"This could provide a continuous supply of planted timber for the viability and sustainability of the wood-based industry in Sabah.
"A sustainable supply of timbers will encourage more downstream and high value-added investments that are expected to contribute to the state's GDP of about RM 11.5 billion," Frederick said in a speech to open the Symposium on Developing Resilient Industrial Tree Plantations in Sabah – Forestry Pests and Diseases here today.
He said the effort would create about 40,000 skilled and semi-skilled jobs in upstream and downstream forest industries for Sabahans by 2036.
Frederick said plantation forestry is a significant component of forestry management, particularly as a means to ensure sufficient availability of raw materials to support the growing wood-based industries in Sabah.
"Timber and timber-based products are important in contributing towards the socio-economic development besides generating substantial revenue for the state. Plantation forestry also indirectly contributes towards sustainable forest management.
"In reducing the pressure on the natural forests, the establishment of Industrial Tree Plantations (ITP) is the way forward for the management of forest resources. Sabah's timber industry will have to rely on forest plantations as the main source of raw materials."
Frederick said some quarters felt that forest plantations were not considered important when virgin forests were still abundant.
However, he said there had been attempts in the past to plant a few species for a small experimental plantation.
"Early records show that the first trial planting was carried out with teak, planted in the early 1920s in the northern part of Sabah at Bandau, Kota Marudu, by a Dutch tobacco company as a shade tree for the main crop.
"However, based on Sabah Forestry Department's (SFD) record, systematic planting to study the growth of selected forest plantation species only started in mid-1960s, when the department established a Plantation Research Section.
"The establishment of this section facilitated systematic experimental tree-planting to determine the feasibility and growth performance of selected tree species," Frederick said.
SFD, through its Forest Research Centre, managed four Plantation Research Stations at Gum-Gum and Kolapis, he said.
Small trial plantations were also started in other parts of Sabah to cover a variety of site conditions.
"The Sibuga, Gum-Gum and Ulu Kukut plantation research stations were the earliest research stations set up by the Sabah Forestry Department. However, the Ulu Kukut Research Station was handed over to Sabah Forestry Development Authority (SAFODA), which is a state government agency in the mid-1970s."
Frederick said the development of large-scale commercial forest plantations started in 1974, with the establishment of Sabah Softwoods Sdn. Bhd. (SSSB).
"In 1976, SAFODA was established. In the early 1980s, the first pulp and paper company in the country, Sabah Forest Industries Sdn. Bhd. (SFI) was formed. Initially, most of these organisations (SSSB, SAFODA and SFI) were government or semi-government bodies.
"The main reasons for the government's involvement were the high capital expenditure needed and the long gestation period in the development of forest plantations. The late 1980s and 1990s witnessed the participation of other privately owned companies and individuals in forest plantation development, largely on their own lands."
CURRENT NUMBERS OF FOREST PLANTATIONS
As of 2021, Frederick said, there were approximately 370,130 ha of forestery plantations in Sabah.
"This comprises 163,143 ha established by various SFMLA Licensees, 173,983 ha of smallholders rubber forest plantations developed through rubber planting projects under the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra), Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) and Malaysian Rubber Board, and another 33,004 ha developed by the Sabah Rubber Industry Board, and other companies and agencies such as SAFODA and Sabah Softwoods Bhd."
When talking about pests and diseases, he said such occurrences were higher when it came to monoculture forest plantations.
"For forest protection, integrated pest and disease management rather than control is advocated. Essentially this method aims at keeping pest and disease populations below the level at which they cause economic damage to the standing crop by optimising available and appropriate control techniques and inputs in consideration of the overall social, economic and environmental values."