KUCHING: Sarawak still lags in forest plantation development compared to other Asian countries, despite having one of the oldest rainforests in the world.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said research and development (R&D) is one of the key initiatives to address the gap, the unavailability of high-quality planting materials, incidence of pest and disease, and the right species to be planted amongst others.
He said all these need to be addressed holistically to ensure success in achieving the primary objectives of forest plantation development.
However, he said research and development is a time-consuming process and Sarawak will need decades to get a proven result in tree cultivation since the soil types vary across the region.
Besides, he said, there was a lack of adequate knowledge in the propagation and silviculture management of indigenous species, as well as a higher supply of seeds of the exotic species, which are fast-growing and high yielding.
"We welcome international collaborations to build up the state's research capacity in Sarawak, contributing to the growth of the high-value profitable plantations based on high productivity and quality," he said.
Abang Johari was speaking at the opening of the 3rd IUFRO Acacia Conference 2021, themed "Embracing Transformation for Sustainable Management of Industrial Forest Plantations", which was held virtually today.
He said Sarawak has a strong desire to embark on tertiary downstream timber processing towards an export-oriented direction, especially on large-scale manufacturing of furniture and other value-added timber products.
"Logs from the planted forest will be the ultimate substitute for future raw material in the timber processing industry."
"Thus, the timber products manufacturing sector must be ready to transform and re-invest to adapt their processing equipment and techniques to the changed log quality and species."
Abang Johari also said Sarawak embarked on large-scale forest plantations as a long-term strategy towards providing an alternative source of wood material for the wood-based industries in the state since 1996.
The state government was hoping to establish 1 million ha of industrial forests by 2025 with the planting of the fast-growing species, to relieve pressure on natural forests in the state and increase the state's forest cover in reducing the greenhouse effect.
The Chief Minister said the use of advanced technologies could bring further changes to the forest sector, especially in the planted forest, including the hyperspectral imaging system developed by Forest Department Sarawak.
"The system contains a wealth of data, including forest stand composition such as species composition of natural or planted forest through discrimination and mapping.
The high spectral and spatial resolution sensor can determine the health status of planted forest stands in the state. These benefits include monitoring of pest and disease, nutrient status and the effectiveness of control measures, among others."
Abang Johari also called upon universities and training institutes to work closely with the sector to prepare and develop the integrated industry-universities training courses to provide skilled and motivated employees for the industry to ensure its (the industry) success.
