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Sarawak resets industrial forest plantation target to 2025

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The state is unable to meet the target of 1 million hectares by 2020 because of slow planting progress, says Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.

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Free Malaysia Today
Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg says about 420,146 hectares of trees have been planted to date. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING:
Sarawak has reset the deadline to achieve the Industrial Forest Plantation (IFP) target to 2025 due to the slow planting progress, said Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.

He hoped all licence owners would expedite the development of the industrial forest plantation as another source of raw material to support the development of the timber industry.

“Sarawak has issued 43 IFP licences to meet the target of planting a total area of 1 million hectares by 2020.

“As of today, about 420,146 hectares have been planted,” he said at the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation’s (STIDC) 45th-anniversary dinner at the Borneo Convention Centre here last night.

He also wanted the industrial forest plantation owners to intensify research and development (R&D) activities to enhance the production of high-quality planting material, pest and disease control, forest management and harvesting to improve the planted forest’s performance.

Abang Johari said the harvesting of the industrial forest plantation in Sarawak began in 2011 with a log production of 44,000 cubic metres.

In 2018, log production from the planted forest was about 1.72 million cubic metres and this was expected to increase in the years to come, he said.

With the potential to be developed as the hub of planted forest-based industry in this region, he said Sarawak could explore opportunities to produce higher value-added products like engineered wood, pulp and paper, bio-plastics, bio-fuel and furniture.

He said the total export value of timber products last year was about RM5.4 billion, of which about 91% were primary and secondary products.

“The timber industry has been one of the major contributors to the economic development of Sarawak, alongside with other sectors like natural gas, petroleum and palm oil,” he said, adding that the industry has created more than 100,000 job opportunities.

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