SEVEN forest carbon study permits and one forest carbon licence have been issued in Sarawak to support forest carbon initiatives to strengthen the green economy through nature-based solutions (NbS), said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
He said six new applications are currently being processed.
“To attract more investment, the statutory charges for carbon projects have also been reviewed and adjusted,” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
To strengthen Sarawak’s role in sustainable forest and biodiversity management and tackle climate change, he said the Sarawak Forest Department has partnered with several institutions including the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department (JPSM), Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Sarawak, and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak through various local and international research and development (R&D) collaborations.
At the Asean level, Awang Tengah who is also Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development, said Sarawak has formalised a partnership with the Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation (AFoCO).
Globally, he said Sarawak is collaborating with Japan’s Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in developing forest monitoring technologies such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), training scientific personnel, and managing biodiversity in protected forest areas.
“Our latest collaboration is with the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), which includes leading international institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University in the United States, as well as Osaka University in Japan.
“This partnership reinforces Sarawak’s commitment to carbon emission reduction and forest conservation through the establishment of a research plot at Bukit Lambir National Park,” Awang Tengah said.
To achieve UNESCO Global Geopark status for the Sarawak Delta Geopark by 2026, he said Sarawak is now in the final stages of preparation for the official evaluation by UNESCO, scheduled for Jun 22 to 25, 2025.
“To ensure everything is on track, two pre-assessment sessions were conducted in Apr and May 2025,” he added.
