SE Asian timber trade continues to thrive
SE Asian timber trade continues to thrive
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Southeast Asia's timber industry will
remain healthy despite the pall of smog cast over much of the
region from forest fires raging in Indonesia, officials say.
Government officials in Malaysia and Indonesia said they had
adopted policies to ensure logging would not strip the land.
Malaysian Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik said the
government began a US$1.3 billion plan last year to renew its
forests over a five-year period.
Under guidelines set by the Japan-based International Tropical
Timber Organization (ITTO), all timber exports must come from
sustainable-managed forests by 2000, or face an export ban.
"ITTO requires the country's tropical forest to be sustainedly
managed by the year 2000, and if not, our timber products will
not have easy access to the international market," Lim said.
He said only fully-grown trees were felled and enrichment
planting was carried out where necessary, to promote the growth
of secondary forest.
"In other words, by the time another round of selective
logging takes place after 30 to 60 years, depending on the
condition of the particular forest compartment, trees in the
logged-over areas would have gained full maturity," said Lim.
Soedarmo, head of the forest fire sub-directorate of
Indonesia's forestry ministry, said timber can still be harvested
despite the latest forest fires.
"I think it is possible because the timber industry involves
trees which can be cut after 10 years," he said. "I don't think
forest fires will impact on the timber industry," he said.
Malaysia has a total land area of 32.9 million hectares, of
which 58 percent, or 19.2 million hectares, are forested.
Officials said there were about 240,000 workers in the timber
industry and the country earned $5.5 billion, or about seven
percent of its export earnings, through the sale of logs, sawn
timber, plywood and other timber products last year.
More than two-thirds of Malaysia's tropical rain forests are
on Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo island. Indonesia's
Kalimantan province is on the eastern half of the island.
Lim said Malaysia was fortunate to be one of the world's major
rubber producing countries as rubber trees which were no longer
productive are felled to make furniture.
The government said laws against illegal logging and other
forestry offenses were adequate.
Fines reach a maximum of $20,000. Jail terms of between one
and 20 years were imposed on illegal loggers.
The situation was different for Thailand.
Thailand imported timber from Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and
Papua New Guinea after a decree imposed in January 1989 banned
all logging. The decree came after floods and mud slides killed
several people in southern Thailand in 1987 and 1988.
"Thailand still has several forested areas. The department is
now in charge of a reforestation program which calls for planting
quick-growing trees such as eucalyptus in degraded forest
reserves areas," an official said.
Forests in the Philippines have been largely stripped by
illegal logging. Those that remain are confined to remote areas
of the country, officials said.
From 1989 to 1995, the average rate of deforestation was
estimated at 130,000 hectares annually. The country's total
forest area dropped to 5.686 million hectares in 1994 as against
6.3 million in 1989.
"We have enough laws to protect our forest reserves, what is
needed is strict monitoring and more funds to implement
reforestation" an official at the Forest Management Bureau said.