Sabah Forestry Dept to increase collection to reach RM165 million target - Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor wants the Sabah Forestry Department (JPS) to increase its collection to reach the set target of RM165 million, this year.

He said the target needs to be implemented through the production of 920,000 cubic metres of forest produce, from forest reserves, government land and registered land.

According to him, as of March this year, JPS has collected around RM39.7 million, or 24 per cent of the set target and if this momentum continues, he is confident that JPS will be able to achieve revenue collection exceeding the target.

“I hope that all JPS employees work hard to ensure this effort is achieved,” he said, in a statement here today.

He also wants the department to explore more revenue-generation opportunities, including forest-based recreational activities and payments for forest ecosystem services.

He added that carbon trading through the implementation of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation Plus (REDD+), green energy supply and the commercialisation of research results can also increase the collection.

He said even though last year the department only collected RM1.64 million in revenue from forest recreation or two per cent of the total collection of forest revenue, the impact was very large on the conservation efforts carried out in the state.

Hajiji said to strengthen forest management governance, JPS has aimed for all forest areas to be certified under an internationally accepted certification scheme by 2025, and a total of 280,616 hectares of forest management areas have received certification thus far.

Meanwhile, the government, through JPS, will introduce and revise the Sabah Timber Legality Assurance System (Sabah TLAS) standards, he said.

He said that the move is a due diligence system, which is in line with the requirements of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), introduced by the European Union (EU) in 2022.

Touching on the forest plantation area, Hajiji said that the Sabah government aims for 18,000 hectares of forest plantation area to be developed each year.

The move is to reach the target of 400,000 hectares of forest plantations by 2036, in line with the Forest Plantation Development Action Plan (2022-2036).