KUCHING: Sarawak has been successful in managing its forest and forest resources sustainably.
Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) director Datuk Hamden Mohammad said the National Audit Department has given its thumbs-up following an inspection on the state’s forest management.
He said the National Audit Department has carried out a large-scale audit (on forest management) and the report has been released and will be tabled in Parliament soon.
“FDS has received the report and the summary on our forest management and various programmes implemented in Sarawak from 2016 to 2022.
“The summary of the audit says forests in Sarawak have been managed sustainably for socio-economic benefits and maintaining environmental sustainability.
“This means that the National Audit Department has acknowledged that forest management in Sarawak is in accordance with our Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) standard,” Hamden said.
He was speaking at the media night hosted by FDS at a hotel here last night (Mar 20).
Apart from Sarawak, Sabah, Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu are among the states that the National Audit Department has carried out special audits on forest management and its impact on the environment.
The Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 2 said the audit is to assess whether forests and forest resources have been managed in accordance with the Sustainable Forest Management Principles (PHSB).
Hamden said FDS will continue its effort to better manage the state’s forest in line with the Post-COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 of which one of its seven strategic thrusts is environmental sustainability.
“FDS is also actively promoting reforestation, forest conservation, social forestry and the link between forests and the carbon market,” he said, adding that the operation to combat illegal logging is actively being carried out.
“We don’t deny the fact that Sarawak fully depends on timber as a source of income at one time.
“But, after reevaluating the situation, we need to change how forest products are being managed.
“Most importantly to maintain the sustainability of our forests with stricter controls on logging,” he said.
On another note, Hamden said the FDS won two gold medals and one silver medal in the Public Service Innovation Award (PSIA) category at the Malaysia Technology Expo (MTE) 2023 held in Kuala Lumpur from March 16 to 18.
The gold medals were for the department’s ‘Continuous Monitoring Surveillance (COMOS): An Adaptive Solution for Continuous Monitoring and Actionable Intelligence, and for the department’s ‘Sarawak Bom (SARABOM): Bridging Technology For Greening Malaysia’.
Meanwhile, the silver medal was for the department’s ‘Smart Forestry — A Game Changer For Timber Legality in Sarawak’.
“This success proves that FDS is capable of being a benchmark for the government or private agencies in the innovation of public service delivery,” addef Hamden.
