KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government wants the state Forestry Department to explore sustainable revenue-generating activities through forests.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said among them include forest-based recreational activities, payments for forest ecosystem services, carbon trading through the implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+), green energy supply, and commercialization of research findings.
"Although the department successfully collected RM1.647 million from Forest Recreation last year, which is about 2 per cent of the total forest revenue collection, its impact is significant on the state's conservation efforts.
"The effort to strengthen forest recreational activities not only helps with state conservation but also provides recreational options for the general public who seek diverse areas to visit in Sabah," he said at the 2024 Forestry Appreciation Ceremony at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) last night.
His speech was delivered by State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
Hajiji said that in line with the commitment to strengthen governance in sustainable forest management, JPS aims to certify all forest management areas under any internationally recognised certification scheme by 2025.
To date, 280,616 hectares of forest management areas have been certified.
He said that in facing the new commodity trading regulations introduced by the European Union (EU) in 2022, the government through JPS will strengthen and review the Sabah Timber Legality Assurance System (Sabah TLAS) standards as a due diligence system that aligns with the requirements of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Touching on forest plantation areas, Hajiji said that the Sabah Government targets to develop 18,000 hectares of forest plantation areas each year to achieve the target of 400,000 hectares of forest plantation areas by 2036, in line with the Forest Plantation Development Action Plan (2022-2036).
"Therefore, I call on all sustainable forest management licence holders, especially those involved in forest plantation development, to intensify efforts to achieve planting targets in their respective areas to ensure the success of this agenda."
Hajiji said that the department is also conducting an Economic Value Chain (EVC) study to support the development of the timber industry in Sabah, with development assessed in terms of the availability of sufficient timber supply and how downstream timber industries need to change to produce value-added products.
In this regard, Hajiji wants JPS to identify several timber industry clusters in Sabah that can be developed in line with the availability of raw materials, especially plantation timber such as Acacia, Eucalyptus, Batai, Laran, and rubber.
"This is to ensure that processing costs, including transportation costs, can be reduced and guarantee good returns to the industry," he said.
As for this year, Hajiji said the department needs to continue increasing forest revenue collection to achieve the target of RM165 million set for this year.
The target includes an estimated production of 920,000 cubic metres of forest produce from reserve forests, state land, and others, which is expected to generate an excess revenue of RM10 million compared to the collection in 2023.
As of March 2024, JPS has successfully collected approximately RM39.7 million or 24 per cent of the actual target.