Article Review: VPA Partner Countries (Current Status)

Find this very useful to update keep up with the current status of the FLEGT VPA partnering countries

 

System Development (TLAS)

Indonesia

Cameroon

C.A.R.

Congo

Ghana

Liberia

Formal Negotiations

Malaysia

Vietnam

D.R.C

Gabon

Moving to negotiation

Thailand

Laos

Article Review: Deforestation and Reduce Impact Logging?

According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the 33 million acres of forestland that are lost annually around the globe are responsible for 20 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. And  the bigger part that contribute to forest loss is deforestation activities.

Came across this post last week, and thought it would be good to review it to recite my memory about deforestation and what I have been working about recently. And the first paragraph caught my eyes was:

Trees are one of the human race’s most valuable resources, and yet we cut and consume them at the rate of 3-6 billion (stands??) a year. What other thing, natural or man made, can absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, clean the soil, prevent erosion and control noise pollution, using only free solar energy?

Deforestation is one of the planet’s most dire environmental issues, and  few people realize that by eliminating our forests, we’re actually signing our own death sentence.

What is deforestation?

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use.  Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.The term deforestation refers to the slow but steady elimination of the Earth’s mature forests. There are many reasons for cutting down trees, but most are felled for profit or to make room for massive commercial agricultural operations. Depending on the species, it can take many decades for a tree to reach maturity.

What is the cause of deforestation?

Trees felled for source of timber or charcoal. The cleared land used as pasture for lifestock, agriculture such as oil palm, plantation for comodities or settlements.

War. Deforestation has also been used in war to deprive an enemy of cover for its forces and also vital resources. A modern example of this, for example, was the use of Agent orange in Vietnam. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland

What are the most destructive tools in deforestation?

Clear cutting is a traumatic process whereby all the trees in a given tract of land are felled and removed.  Although the area may be reseeded with young trees, it can take decades before those trees are absorbing carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen at pre-clearcut levels. 

Why clear cutting is destructive?

According to the NRDC, clearcutting can destroy an area’s ecological integrity in a number of other ways, including:

Ø  the destruction of buffer zones which reduce the severity of flooding by absorbing and holding water;

Ø  the immediate removal of forest canopy, which destroys the habitat for many rainforest-dependent insects and bacteria;

Ø  the elimination of fish and wildlife species due to soil erosion and habitat loss;

Ø  the removal of underground worms, fungi and bacteria that condition soil and protect plants growing in it from disease;

Ø  the loss of samall-scale economic opportunities, such as fruit-picking, sap extraction, and rubber tapping; and

Ø  the destruction of aesthetic values and recreational opportunities.

What are the alternatives to clear cutting?

We cannot stop or ban abruptly forest loss activities such as timber felling or land clearing as it is somehow link to human and/or country economic development. In recent years, the environmental NGO's successfully push public awareness to the public being responsible upon their purchasing, daily usage of wood materials and also banning support to illegal logging, which accounts a significant sum to deforestation. In terms of technicality in the forest, a different tree harvesting method such as Selective Harvesting System or Reduce Impact Logging  has been put in place, made as legislation for harvesting in several countries to reduce the impact of sudden loss in the forest.

What is Reduce Impact Logging (RIL)?

Reduced impact logging can be defined as 'the intensively planned and carefully controlled implementation of timber harvesting operations to minimise the environmental impact on forest stands and soils'.

And what are the practice involves?

1.  a pre-harvest inventory and the mapping of individual crop trees;

2. the pre-harvesting planning of roads, skid trails and landings to minimise soil disturbance and to protect streams and waterways with appropriate crossings;

3. pre-harvest vine-cutting in areas where heavy vines connect tree crowns;

4. the construction of roads, landings and skid trails following environmentally friendly design guidelines;

5. the use of appropriate felling and bucking techniques including directional felling, cutting stumps low to the ground to avoid waste, and the optimal crosscutting of tree stems into logs in a way that maximises the recovery of useful wood;

6. the winching of logs to planned skid trails and ensuring that skidding machines remain on the trails at all times;

7. where feasible, using yarding systems that protect soils and residual vegetation by suspending logs above the ground or by otherwise minimising soil disturbance; and

8. conducting a post-harvest assessment in order to provide feedback to the resource manager and logging crews and to evaluate the degree to which the RIL guidelines were successfully applied. 

Other than environmental benefits, RIL has been shown to reduce the percentage of 'lost' logs (those trees that are felled in the forest but not extracted because they aren't seen by tractor operators), thereby reducing timber wastage.

Any successful projects about RIL?

There are many RIL projects with collaboration with ITTO. Through its project program it provides training in RIL procedures; for example, one project in the Brazilian Amazon provided training in better logging to 138 operators and assisted several logging companies to achieve the certification of their operations. A new phase of this project commenced in 2003, and similar projects are under way in Indonesia, Guyana and Cambodia. Global Forestry Services is currently monitoring the overall RIL harvesting method in Sabah, Malaysia from 2010 until 2015. 

Hollow tree: A normal practice under Reduce Impact Logging harvesting technique where before felling a tree in the forest, the timber feller will knock on the tree or "poke" the tree with the "parang" to check for tree hollowness. If a tree marked for felling is hollow, it will be retain and not felled as there is no market value and left behind for habitat or ecology purposes.

Article Review: EU “Timber” Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 995/2010)

A short review about EU Timber Regulation base on this post.

What is EU "Timber" Regulation?

In October 2010 the EU adopted a new Timber Regulation  to combat trade in illegally harvested timber. This is one of a number of actions under the 2003 EU Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT).

Why EU 'Timber" Regulation?

1. EU FLEGT Action Plan (2003)

Spurred by discussions at the East Asia FLEG conference in September 2001, the European Commission published its Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) in May 2003. Approved by the Council of the EU in October 2003, it included the following proposals:

• Negotiation of bilateral FLEGT voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) with producer countries. The VPAs will feature a licensing system designed to identify legal products exported from partner countries and license them for import to the EU; unlicensed products will be denied entry. (See Voluntary Partnership Agreements page.)
• Capacity-building assistance to partner countries to set up the licensing scheme, improve enforcement and, where necessary, reform their laws.
• Examination of EU member states' existing domestic legislation, and consideration of additional legislative options, to prohibit the import of illegal timber. (See EU FLEGT: Timber Regulation.)
• Encouragement for the use of government procurement policy to limit purchases to legal (and sustainable) sources. (See Public Procurement page.)
• Encouragement for voluntary industry initiatives to control their own supply chains, and thereby exclude illegal products. (See Supply Chain Management page.)
• Encouragement for financial institutions to scrutinise flows of finance to the forestry industry. (See Banks and Finance page.) 

2. FLEGT Regulation (2005)- Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA)

A key element of the FLEGT Action Plan is a voluntary scheme to ensure that only legally harvested timber is imported into the EU from countries agreeing to take part in this scheme. The internal EU legal framework for this scheme is a Regulation adopted in December 2005, and a 2008 Implementing Regulation, allowing for the control of the entry of timber to the EU from countries entering into bilateral FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) with the EU.  Once agreed, the VPAs will include commitments and action from both parties to halt trade in illegal timber, notably with a license scheme to verify the legality of timber exported to the EU. The agreements also promote better enforcement of forest law and promote an inclusive approach involving civil society and the private sector.

How to implement and what is the obligation?

1. Due Diligence- "operators" shall use procedures and measures called "due diligence system" (DDS)

The core of the ‘due diligence’ notion is that operators have to undertake a risk management exercise so as to minimize the risk of placing illegally harvested timber, or timber products containing illegally harvested timber, on the EU market.

The three key elements of the “due diligence system” are:

• Information: The operator must have access to information describing the timber and timber products, country of harvest, quantity, details of the supplier and information on compliance with national legislation.
• Risk assessment: The operator should assess the risk of illegal timber in his supply chain, based on the information identified above and taking into account criteria set out in the regulation.
• Risk mitigation: When the assessment shows that there is a risk of illegal timber in the supply chain that risk can be mitigated by requiring additional information and verification from his supplier

  

Source of the picture above: FLEGT June 2012 capacity4dev

 

2. Prohibition to place illegally harvested timber or timber products on the EU market

Through Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) of each own country. Source the timber back to the forest license area.

3. Traceability -"Traders" shall be identified to their suppliers and customer

Through the central point of expertise for timber procurement website provides online information on how to meet the UK Government’s Timber Procurement Policy, the EU Timber Regulation and the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation.

What is the product scope?

Listed in Annex using EU Custom codes. Covers a wide range of timber products (solid wood products, flooring, plywood, pulp) and includes  printed papers such as books, magazines and newspapers. The product scope can be amended if necessary. The Regulation applies to both imported and domestically produced timber and timber products. Timber and timber products covered by valid FLEGT or CITES licenses are considered to comply with the requirements of the Regulation. 

Does not cover waste and recycled products, packaging material to support or carry another product, certain bamboo and rattan products or other products not listed in Annex (e.g.: toys, musical instruments). Maybe amended to include other products

What is illegally harvested timber?

Harvested in contravention of the applicable legislation in the country of harvest such  as 

1. Legal rights to harvest
2. Taxes and fees linked to harvesting
3. Compliance with timber harvesting laws, including directly related environmental and forest legislation
4. Respect for third parties tenure/use rights
5. Relevant trade and customs rules

Who is liable?

“Operators” = any natural or legal person who places timber or timber products on the EU market.  Liable for exercising of due diligence and prohibition

"Traders” = any natural or legal person who trades on the internal market timber or timber products already placed on the market. Liable for the “traceability”

Who checks? Role of the member state 

Competent authorities =national government bodies responsible for the application and enforcement. This means looking into operators, monitoring organizations (selected from 27 EU member states)  and reports.  List of CA can be found here.  Penalties: effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties

 

How does FLEGT and CITES licenses work?

Products covered by FLEGT or CITES licenses are considered to have been legally harvested for the purposed of the EU Timber Regulation. Means by importing FLEGT or CITES licenses timber, due diligence is exercised.

How about 3rd party verification?

Does not enjoy the "green lane" as FLEGT or CITES license. May be taken into account in the risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures if cover compliance with applicable legislation and if considered credible. Criteria for assessing their credibility in the implementing regulation.

When will EU Timber Regulation take place?

3rd of March 2013

Secondary legislation:

April / June 2012 a delegated Regulation on the procedural rules for the recognition and withdrawal of recognition of monitoring organization (selected from 27 EU member states)

June 2012 an implementing Regulation on the detailed rules concerning the due diligence system, the frequency and nature of the checks on monitoring organizations.

My Forest Shoes

Its been almost 3 weeks since I last posted an entry, so inefficient that  there was not even one entry for the first half of April. Will try to be more consistent in blogging.

As any girls/ladies/woman/aunties in any age, beautiful shoes are desired and often a thing status to show that she have great taste, a style whether choosing the type of shoes to wear and also, status. Especially the type of shoes wear to work. Generally working class ladies wear heels, flats, sneakers, running shoes, sandals, and probably fashionable boots to work as their work space permit them to do so. 

For the past 2 years, that is not for the type of shoes I can wear to work, especially in the tropical rain forest. There are indeed many types of rubber wear shoes design for forest hiking and trekking, probably very good for leisure or weekend trips to the hill. Or in the temperate forest (West Countries), a good Timber brand shoes is prefer as it looks much tough and rugged, very reliable as the base is rubber made, however, easily to be slipped off or being dunk into the muddiness of the soil in the tropical rain forest. 

Hence, most of the workers in the tropical rain forest normally wear either the look-a-like Phua Chu Kang yellow boots ...

haha, or something like this:

This rubber shoes was name "adidas kampung". The reason was because of the strips on it is similar to the Adidas strips. "Kampung" means village. It comes in either black or white. And, this was what I encountered last in my recent trip.

But I am not the only one..

And to that reason, it has that inspired me to write a post about it was my feminine instinct felt pity on me for most of my peers are wearing beautiful or at least normal looking shoes every day to work, whilst I wear a rubber shoes or probably the cheapest working shoes  (cost not more than USD 2.50 per pair) to work. And probably, the most durable, reusable and sensible shoes to wear into the forest every week. The reason : easy to wear, easy to wash, the shoe base is design to walk on the mud steadier, enable a person to balance on the slippery fallen tree and canopies to cross from one end to another, and it is darn cheap! However, you can't find this foot wear anywhere else except Sabah! 

Not trying to complain, but wishing back for the time wear I can wear shoes like this to work too! :)

Christian Louboutin Nude Shoes with Sparkling Stilettos

 Alexandar Wang Heels (from Wendy's Lookbook)

And if, they don't cost USD 400 and more too. Have a good Monday! :)

Snapshot: Kompassia spp (Mengarris)

A shot of a Mengarris tree! Retain as prohibited from felling in Sabah. Also, it is retain because it can provide natural honey as bees (not sure about the species) built hives on it. 

Article Review: Lack of Land for Rice Planting in Malaysia

A non related to forestry post. Read the Star newspaper today online and saw this post.

According to the Agriculture and Agro-based Indus­tries Ministry, paddy land in the peninsula decreased from 372,542ha in 1997 to 284,441ha last year. That is almost 100,000ha of paddy land in the peninsula – the equivalent of 50,000 football fields that have given way to industrial and housing development over the last 15 years. In Sabah and Sarawak, paddy fields decreased by about 6,000ha in the same period.

So in total, 106,000 ha of paddy land  over 15 years has been relocated for industrial and housing project, which is about 7066 ha per year. With this rate, has caught the attention of the public.  But if we compared the rate to the total forest land being converted, the total land loss for paddy field over 15 years accounts a similar  total forest loss per year in Malaysia from 2000 to 2005; 106,000 ha per year! 

According to the Statistics Depart­ment, the population grew an average of 2% a year between 2000 and 2010, from 23.3 million to 28.3 million. With no reference to the total tonnes of rices being produce locally, it only reported that Malaysia now imports about 1.2 million tonnes of rice a year from Vietnam (49%), Thailand (33%), Pakistan (16%) and other countries (2%). In average,  Malaysians consume 180,000 tonnes of rice a month. According to a source from Bernas, the rice distributor and industry regulator, Malaysia spent RM1.85bil on rice imports last year.

References to the total land area and forest cover in Malaysia

The total land are in Malaysia?

The total land area of Malaysia is estimated to be 32.83 million ha with Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak having 13.16 million ha, 7.37 million ha, and 12.30 million ha respectively. Peninsular Malaysia is separated from Sabah and Sarawak by 720 km of the South China Sea, giving the country a coastline of almost 4,830 km.

Forest and balance of carbon stock in Malaysia (2005)

In terms of major forest types, it was estimated that in 2005 Malaysia had 15.97 million ha of dry inland forest, 1.36 million of swamp forest, 0.58 million ha of mangrove forest, and 0.40 million ha of forest plantation, with the proportion of forest areas much higher in Sabah and Sarawak than in Peninsular Malaysia which is more developed. The total carbon stock in the natural forests in Malaysia at the end of 2005 was estimated to be 3,442.33 million tonnes, with the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak having 1,138.71 million tonnes, 751.63 million tonnes and 1,551.99 million tonnes respectively.

Snap Shots of Plants, Scenery and Nature # 2

This is picture post! Pictures from my recent trip into the forest area. Hope you guys (whoever that reads my blog), arhermm, happy viewing it! :)

I had to hike into this area for about 0.5 hours. All the way hiking, non stop!  And it is tiring  for me. If only this picture can show you guys how steep this area is. 

The gap created within the younger trees served for the purposed activity. Gaps are good for regeneration. Just not too big gap, it will cause "wind" trapped, which can be dangerous.

The left behind trees (biomass). Only if we know what we can do about it besides leaving it behind to fertile the soil.

My biggest excitement in the forest:  my encounter with the big mushroom in the forest!

It is a fungae in the forest. Probably sprout after the rain! And, it looks so delicious, to go with tom yam kung.

This is an unlikely sight for me: abandon log. It take a longer time to decay and fertilize the soil back.

 

I always like to take photos from below to top of a tree. This is picture of below to top macaranga trees. Isn't It beautiful?

And on the way back to the car, I found 2 big mushrooms growing on the decayed wood. Tummy rumbles!

~Happy Viewing~