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Plantation development in the Lesong Permanent Reserved Forest: Are we really practising sustainable forestry?

  • Publication Date | September 26, 2014
  • Document Type | Media Statement
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Deforestation, Forest Conversions, Logging
  • Tags | Lesong, Pahang, Permanent Reserved Forest, PRF, sustainable forestry
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SAM deplores the decision of the Pahang State Government to permit forest conversion activities to take place within the Lesong Permanent Reserved Forest (PRF) in Kuala Rompin.

On September 25, The Star reported that the Pahang Forestry Department had reasoned that since a third of the Lesong PRF is deemed to contain poor quality timber, “hence, a decision was made by the Pahang state government to convert part of Lesong that is poor in standing volume composition into commercial timber plantations.”

Currently, 3000 hectares of the Lesong PRF is being cleared. The area concerned, believed to be the size of Cyberjaya, is said to have come under a larger 16,896 hectare area designated by Pahang as an industrial timber plantation since 2012. It has been categorised as a ‘degraded’ forest. Altogether, the Lesong PRF stands at 52,464 hectares.

Over the years, our policy makers and industry interest groups have been persistent in their claim that Malaysia practices sustainable forestry management. This despite the fact that timber production and export trends in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak have all consistently demonstrated an immediate sequence of rapid growth and a steady decline – usually completed within three decades or so. Subsequently, plantation development would be introduced in some of the logged over forests. All these seem to contradict our claim on sustainable forestry.

A plantation is not a forest. There is no such thing as a ‘forest plantation’. It is therefore scientifically, statistically and ecologically misleading to allow plantations to remain within a gazetted PRF.

Under the National Forestry Act 1984, within the gazetted PRF, timber production forests fall under the functional class timber production forest under sustained yield. This term itself is clearly indicative of its sustainability objective – the PRF must be logged and managed in such a way so as to ensure that timber production can be permanently sustained.

How can then parts of a PRF simply be converted into a plantation under the justification that the areas are now considered ‘degraded’? If the Lesong PRF had indeed been sustainably managed, how is it possible that parts of it is now ‘degraded’? Has the PRF been overlogged and under-cared for in the past? Forests do not suddenly ‘degrade’ for no particular reason.

Equally important, what is the ‘grade of degradation’ the forest suffers from that conversion is preferred above all other options? Is the term ‘degraded’ defined based on rigorous science – which can be utilised to develop a suitable rehabilitation plan for ecological restoration, or is it defined more on the basis of commercial lucrativeness – which prioritises short-sighted but immense profitability for loggers, against the possibility of sustainable management for the public good well into the future?

Curiously, despite its degradation, the report from The Star seemed to point to an abundance of harvested logs from the area. How can the logged forest be considered degraded when the estimated value of timber from it is RM150 million?

Thus, if it is still highly profitable to log the forest concerned, why can’t its conservation and sustainable management be affordable too? This is an important matter, considering the proximity of the Lesong PRF to the Endau Rompin National Park.

We call on the Pahang authorities to stop the logging and undertake rehabilitation of the ‘degraded’ forest.

S.M. Mohamed Idris
President

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
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Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
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My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
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No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
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Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

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