FAO-EU FLEGT PROGRAMME IN COLLABORATION WITH FOREST DEPARTMENT AND WWF-MALAYSIA

PROJECT TITLE: 

A gap Assessment of the Harmonized Reduced Impact Logging Guidelines in Support of Sustainable Forest Management in Sarawak

DATE OF AGREEMENT                              : 27^th March 2019

DURATION OF IMPLEMENTATION      : 12 months

TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET             : USD 190, 920

Project Background:

A key aspect of Sarawak's progress towards Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is a' more consistent implementation and enforcement of sustainable harvesting techniques through Reduced Impact Logging (RIL). The aim of RIL is to reduce damage on residual trees, soil disturbance, and impacts on wildlife. The requirement for RIL is not new to the state of Sarawak, the first true RIL system for tropical rain forests^, was developed in the late l 970s in Sarawak^/ (Mattson-Mann and Jonkers, 1981). RIL guidelines^. for Sarawak was first developed and tested in 1998 under a FDS-GTZ cooperation project. Since then, many versions of the RIL guidelines have been developed by the forest sector such as by the Sarawak Timber Association (STA), the Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC), and many private commercial logging companies have also written company level RIL procedures for their own use in 2017, the Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) consolidated these RIL guidelines and developed a Harmonised RIL Guideline for Sarawak— this guidelines have been subjected to consultations and is now available for use by forest managers.

The Harmonised RIL Guidelines for Sarawak is an important step to standardize timber harvesting methods in Sarawak in order to regulate the timber industry in Sarawak.

The project is led and managed by the Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia).  In this project, FDS and WWF-Malaysia are working together to ensure successful implementation of the project. Together, both parties will ensure that the RIL Guidelines for Sarawak is improved following international best practice and through a consultative process.

Project  Objective:

To carry out a gap assessment of the newly Harmonized RIL Guidelines for Sarawak against international best practice and through multi-stakeholders consultation.

Signing of Project Agreement

Hamden (seated), during the L A signing ceremony, with Cammaert (second right), Hon (third left), Murray (second left), Abang Ahmad (right) and Mohd Shahbudin (left).

KUCHING: The Sarawak Forestry Department has signed a Letter of Agreement (LA) with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations to facilitate a gap assessment of the newly harmonised Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) guidelines for Sarawak against international best practices and through multi-stakeholder consultation.