Goh (centre) receives the award from Willie (second left). Also in the photo are MTC chairman Norrida Yusoff (second left), MTC chief executive officer Muhtar Suhaili (right), and Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities’s secretary general Datuk Ravi Muthayah (left).
KUCHING (Jan 16): KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd (KTSP) has once again proven itself a notable company in forest industry for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) at the national level after being honoured with the Environment and Sustainability Distinction Award at the MTC Malaysian Timber Industry Awards 2022.
The award was presented by Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Willie Mongin to KTSP manager Collin Goh during the Malaysian Timber Council’s 30th anniversary gala dinner at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on Jan 10.
KTSP was awarded the Category I: Environment and Sustainability Distinction in honour of its sustainability efforts in planning, execution, and output in the implementation of the green practices in the management of Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve (SLFR) in Sandakan, Sabah.
According to Goh, this involvement had made a positive impact on the company’s image.
He said the effort to implement the SFM concept in SLFR had been initiated since 1993 through close collaboration with the Sabah Forest Department.
Subsequently, in 2009 KTSP has been the first Forest Management Enterprise in Malaysia that has been certified under Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) since the establishment of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC).
KTSP has since continuously enhance the implementation of SFM principle through research collaboration with various scientific community such as Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Forest Research Centre, Sabah, to name a few.
Early history indicates that SLFR, which covers an area of 57,247ha, was characterised by pristine lowland dipterocarp forest until conventional harvesting was granted in the 1950s. It has since been repeatedly harvested until early 1990s.
Simultaneously, the surrounding areas have been gradually converted into oil palm plantation, which covers 75 per cent of the neighbouring land-use.
The massive conversion of forest into oil palm plantation has altered the natural habitat of wildlife, resulting in SLFR as a immediate refuge as demonstrated by the high population of wildlife in the reserve.
“Uniquely, the reserve is home for all species of rare, threatened and endangered (RTE) species in Sabah. Similarly along this border, the forest recovery has been found almost stagnant due to the sudden alteration of the ecology.
“Realising that long term tenant period of managing the reserve can only be economically feasible if managed based on a set of correct principles, hence in 1998 KTSP made a significant voluntary initiative to implement Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) principles before it was made mandatory in Sabah through the Sustainable Forest Management License Agreement (SFMLA) –the first prudent move that set apart KTSP on different trajectory from the rest in the industry.
“KTSP has continuously revolutionise the industry with responsible, proactive and adaptive forest management approaches, a commitment towards excellence in sustainable forest management,” said Goh.
Once described as degraded forest, SLFR has now become an active production forest with healthy growing stock as well as being home for keystone species in Borneo such as elephant, clouded leopard, proboscis monkey, sun bear and orang utan.
At least 75 species of mammals (excluding bats), 220 species of birds and over 100 species of reptiles, amphibians and fish have been recorded.
To support the rich biodiversity and high population of wildlife, 11 per cent of its area has been set aside for conservation purposes.
“The conservation aspect of the reserve is continuously being enhanced through various research initiative such as the Rawog Scientific Expedition and the on-going Wildlife Monitoring Programme from various fields of expertise,” added Goh.
For the record, in 2008 KTSP was awarded the Prime Minister Hibiscus Awards for notable achievement in environmental performance, followed by the MTCC Leadership in Sustainability Awards in 2019 for its exemplary leadership in sustainability initiatives.
Winning the MTC Environment and Sustainability Distinction Award is yet another endorsement at the national level for the unique forest management approaches by KTS Plantation in implementing sustainable forest management.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Timber Industry Awards 2022 held in conjunction with MTC’s 30th anniversary was held to award and acknowledge selected timber industry players for their achievement and contribution in the industry and also to award 14 MTC employees with Long Service awards.
The timber award was open to all timber-based companies registered with any of the timber associations nationwide, such as Malaysian Wood Industries Association (MWIA), Timber Exporter’s Association of Malaysia (TEAM), Malaysian Plywood Manufacturers’ Association (MPMA), Malaysian Wood Moulding & Joinery Council (MWMJC), Malaysian Furniture Council (MFC), Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA), Sarawak Timber Association (STA), Sabah Timber Industries Association (STIA) and Timber Association of Sabah (TAS).
The awards were divided into 5 categories, namely Category I: Environment and Sustainability Distinction, Category II: Digitalisation and Digitising Excellence, Category III: Covid-19 Operations Excellence, Category IV: Innovative Timber Products, and Category V: Timber Industry Personality.
KTSP was one of the three winners in Category I, along with Weng Meng Industries Sdn Bhd and One-tech (M) Sdn Bhd.
The winners for Category II were Weng Meng Industries Sdn Bhd, Deep Furniture Sdn Bhd and KJH Wood Industrial Sdn Bhd; Category III: Soon Her Sing Industries (M) Sdn Bhd, Weng Meng Industries Sdn Bhd and Dee Noon Corporation Sdn Bhd, Category IV: Deep Furniture Sdn Bhd, Simewood Product Sdn Bhd and HeveaBoard Berhad, and Category V: George Tan Seng Hoe.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/33fOVWt
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