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~

Article Review: The Star Newspaper, Harnessing 21st century technology to tackle an old problem

The Star newspaper posted an article about an independent agency call Transparency International  upon issues of illegal logging due to malpractices and corruption in Malaysia.

Introduction

Although there are many efforts taken to curb illegal logging, through FLEGT, customs agencies and government procurement policies are strengthened, and conservation efforts, the illegal logging activities are still proactive due to corruption. In 2011, Malaysia was reported as one of the main timber laundering centres in the region, playing a large role as a transit country in a network that also involves China and Singapore. In January, a senior Perak Forestry Department official was detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after RM720,000 was found in his house in Gerik. Later that month, 40-year-old suspect was nabbed after offering a RM3,000 bribe to forestry officials in Port Klang, Selangor to recover some 110 seized mangrove logs.

What is this article echoing about?

Whistle blowing method! TI’s new Forest Watch Project, everyone can now participate in the fight against illegal forestry activities. With part of its over-arching Forest Governance Integrity Programme focusing on forest governance, anti-corruption advocacy, analysis and monitoring, Forest Watch allows anyone to become the eyes and ears of the forest. 

As in how?

If you chance upon a bald patch which you suspect has been illegally logged, all you have to do is go to the Forest Watch website and submit a report, which will then be investigated. 

And how do you make a report?

The beauty of the project is how it uses the genius of 21st century technology – Google Earth – to empower the masses. A virtual global map and geographical information programme that can be downloaded for free from the Internet, Google Earth displays satellite images (of varying resolutions) of the Earth’s surface. 

Users can browse certain regions by entering a general area, search for specific locations by keying in the address or co-ordinates (geo reference). For example, if you happen to be at the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve in Kedah and spot bald patches of forest and lorries with covered loads travelling in and out of the site, all you need to do is go into Google Earth to pinpoint the location. Then, you submit the co-ordinates along with a description of what you saw, to the Forest Watch website, and it would be investigated.

The project monitoring team consists of members from the Forestry Department, MACC, Institute of Foresters Malaysia and TI. “We (TI) act as a facilitator. The monitoring team will go through the submitted reports every two weeks to a month, and the information will be passed onto relevant agencies, such as the Forestry department and the MACC, for investigation,” says project manager, Victor Soosai. The project was launched early last month and will be replicated in Sabah and Sarawak by June.

I had blogged about Google Earth and it seems to be the recent "best" tools to monitor the forest cover in the fastest rate.  I still have my wary about it. Probably it is the best tool to capture massive changes of land use weekly, or monthly. 

Major challenges that contributes to illegal logging are malpractices in forestry industries. What are malpractices in forest industries?

Malpractices includes 

1. logging timber species protected by national law, 
2. harvesting logs outside concession boundaries, 
3. logging in prohibited areas such as steep slopes, 
4. river banks and catchment areas,
5. extracting under-sized or more trees than is authorized, and 
6. obtaining concessions illegally.

There is no need to introduce what corruption is, however I quoted a thoughtful phase from the article that define what corruption is

“The root cause of corruption is based on a formula … power plus discretion, minus transparency and accountability,” notes MACC director of investigations Datuk Mustafar Ali, who was present at the project launch.

Corruption = Power +Discretion (Avoidance) - Transparency - Accountability

And my thoughts about this?

Illegal logging does not only harm the environment biodiversity or the impact on the communities living in the forest. It relates to common sense. People do not go and cut or harvest fruits from  their neighbor or private / government land, as if got caught will be prosecute for theft  or trespassing. Similar common sense can be seen if we are to pick fruits younger or older that the ripe age of the fruits, as the younger ones need times to grow, and the older one should be retain for seeds supply. Illegal logging is derived not only because of the scarcity of the trees, but also the increasing of human population and this fueled the demand of woods for houses, furniture's, music instrument etc. So part of us being here living so comfortably in the city are contributing to illegal logging too (indirectly).

So, at the least we as consumer can do is to be a responsible and practice good practices, such as using environmental bags, try to use your wood products as long as possible (means must take care of them well), organic facial products, books and wood products with FSC label. IKEA also can! As long as it can help you justify you are not buying or doing anything that contributes to illegal logging.

Article Review: EIA Post about Ali Jambi

Have you heard of Ali Jambi?  Or perhaps you know him in other names? I had heard of him in 2007 and recently EIA made a special post about him and I summarize the post as below:

Who is Ali Jambi?

Tham Hai Lee, Jambi Lee, Jenggo, Hap Ali - who went from Indonesian timber smuggler to wealthy Singaporean business man. Born in Jambi, Indonesia 1969.

What is he famous for?

Controlled the ramin smuggling trade, making a fortune by ferrying the stolen wood across the Melaka Straits to Malaysia and Singapore. An agent define him “the ramin king”, earning his first million dollars by the time he was 30 and operating a fleet of 60 small wooden ships ferrying illegal timber from Sumatra. He was also said to hold a senior position in an organised crime gang.

What is Ramin?
Also know as Gonystylus, hardwood trees native in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Phillippines, and Papua New Guinea, highest species diversity on Borneo. Other names includes melawis (Malay) and ramin telur (Sarawak).

*Photo source: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Raffi-Khatchadourian/2918* 

Why is Ramin prohibited from harvesting?
Ramin is highly vulnerable to over exploitation, regenerates poorly and has never been successfully grown in plantations; illegal harvest practices destroy habitat, making population regeneration unlikely; ramin forests are also important habitat for orangutans and other endangered species.

What is ramin wood famous for?
The white wood, harder and lighter in colour than many other hardwoods, is often used in children's furniture, window blinds and making dowels. 

When was he (Ali Jambi) spotted / rumored?

In 2000, EIA was investigating rampant illegal logging of valuable ramin timber in Indonesia. Ramin is found in peat swamp areas, and the hotspots for illegal logging were Central Kalimantan and Riau Province, Sumatra. And later, his name appeared on a list issued by the country’s Ministry of Forestry of the top 12 illegal bosses in Indonesia. 

And, his past activities for the past ten years, below illustrated base on the EIA post

2000- EIA was investigating rampant illegal logging of valuable ramin timber in Indonesia.

 

2001- Police in Riau claimed to have completed investigations into Ali Jambi’s ramin racket (an illegal or dishonest scheme for obtaining money), but company records obtained by EIA show that by then he had decamped to Singapore – a favoured bolt-hole for Indonesian fugitives with plenty of spare money in their pockets. In another words, he got away. 

2003- EIA monitored series of small ports on the west coast of Malaysia where illegal Indonesian ramin logs from Sumatra were being landed. 50,000 cubic metres of sawn ramin timber from Sumatra was arriving at the Free Trade Zone of Pasir Gudang a year. Paperwork was provided by the port authorities declaring the origin of the wood as Malaysia and it was then shipped onwards to buyers in Hong Kong and mainland China.

2004- EIA’s campaign to curb flows of illicit timber out of Indonesia was gaining ground. Indonesia had successfully listed ramin on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), drastically restricting trade, and Malaysia has banned the import of logs from Indonesia. It seemed that Ali Jambi’s ramin smuggling business was on the wane (becoming weaker, less vigorous, or less extensive ).

2006-  EIA investigators tracked down one of his main sawmills in the province of Riau, Sumatra. Although the site was inactive, a foreman revealed that the boss, called Jenggo (another of Ali Jambi’s names), had moved to Singapore and that his company was called Ramindo. EIA discovered a Singapore-registered company called Ramindo Sukses Perkasa, with the director named as Hap Ali.

2007- A picture of Ali Jambi (or Hap Ali) was snapped at his house by the EIA team members in Singapore. The image was then published in the report: the thousand headed snake, where it aimed to expose the abject failure of the Indonesian justice system to prosecute the main illegal logging bosses, using Ali Jambi as one of the examples.

What is he doing now?

He has obtained Singaporean citizenship and goes by the name of Tham Hai Lee, according to his ID card. He is still a director of Ramindo Sukses Perkasa, and also of a shipping company called Barlian Shipping and Trading, although he was involved in a civil dispute over this company with allegations of financial impropriety. His business interests are said to span shipping, real estate, sand mining and coal mining, and he is believed to travel regularly to Indonesia, usually entering via the free trade zone island of Batam.

He is one of the example that is living in a luxurious life on ill-gotten gains from illegal logging and yet, untouched by Indonesia's justice system or international legislation.

IPS Post: Treat Illegal Logging as Organize Crime

World Bank has recently release a report: Justice for Forest, Improving Criminal Justice Efforts to Combat Illegal Logging.  About 2 to 3 weeks ago, Alert Net has reported an annual loss of up to USD 15 billion was caused by illegal logging in developing countries. With that amount of money, it can be use to develop these countries for better infrastructure or economics. And this post I read last week that talks about the World Bank report, which I agreed that preventive and public awareness are not just enough to curb illegal logging to the minimal risk for contributing to forest loss.

Such efforts should complement preventive measures, including educating consumers about the problem, promoting legal reforms governing forest tenure and timber rights, and using certification and related methods to make it easier to differentiate between legal and illegally logged timber.

While preventive efforts have enjoyed a sharp increase in international and public attention and support in recent years, they have until now had relatively "little impact" in curbing the problem, according to the report, "Justice for Forests: Improving Criminal Justice Efforts to Combat Illegal Logging".

While "preventive actions against illegal logging are critical," said Magda Lovei, the Bank's sector manager, "we also know that they are insufficient."

In another word, law enforcement such as investigation, prosecution, imprisonment, and the confiscation of illegal proceeds should be implemented, integrated as part of the solution to curb illegal logging.

Some environmentalist has raised the issue that in this report, World Bank should have evaluate their own operation that may indirectly finance illegal logging. 

"While it is a step in the right direction for the World Bank to look at what actions are needed to curb illegal logging, what is really needed is for the Bank to look at its own role in financing industrial-scale operations that benefit from legal and illegal clearance of rainforests," Lindsey Allen, forests programme director at Rainforest Action Network, told IPS.  "When we follow the money and look to stakeholders who have reported on these issues, as the report recommends, we find that the World Bank and IFC are bankrolling the infrastructure and expansion of destructive sectors such as pulp and palm oil.

"Rainforest Action Network would echo many of the recommendations in this report, while adding the recommendation that the World Bank Group specifically look at its own financing of operations that fail to engage stakeholders and incentivise forest clearance at any cost as has been our observation of World Bank Group projects in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia," she said.

Besides that, enforcement should not only focus on catching illegal loggers on the ground, rather to catch the ones that are behind the scene, the "top and untouchable" that are brain storming the ideas. For example; Ali Jambi. Illegal loggers on the ground are often the victim as they are poor and usually hired to do the job in the forest.  

 "Indiscriminate arrests or needless harassment of poor people – even of those who might, because of exploitation and manipulation, be involved in illegal activities – undermines the credibility of forest law enforcement by ignoring the organizations and 'masterminds' in control of the illegal activity,"

Going after corrupt officials, including high-ranking politicians who may benefit from illegal logging, was critical, he stressed. "No forest sector reform (of the kind the World Bank has promoted) is going to be successful if you're unable to tackle high-level corruption and the political economy of the forest sector. Though the Bank acknowledges these issues on paper, it has historically been weak in integrating them into its forest sector work."

Greenpeace's Breitkopf agreed, noting that in some Congo Basin countries, "it is quite common for ministers and other high-level politicians to be directly involved in the logging business."
"From what I have observed, the World Bank has so far largely failed to support the criminal-justice system in its forest programme and relied too heavily on soft reforms, voluntary schemes, and the private sector," she told IPS, citing a decade's worth of Bank-backed forest-sector reforms in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  

The report noted that Western countries, including the U.S. and the European Union, are taking important steps to bar illegally logged wood from entering their markets, primarily through certification mechanisms, and urged that other countries follow suit.  

Such initiative has influence the ASEAN countries such as  Malaysia and Indonesia the leading countries to comply to the EU FLEGT regulation, busy setting up their TLAS system to trace wood products to the forest origin, and Vietnam, Laos and Thailand are tagging along developing their first stage of VPA negotiation. This initiative, although it does not curb illegal logging to a minimal risk to forest loss, at least it has reduce illegal logging by a quarter around the world.

I have not read the report yet, and this post actually gave me a rough idea what to expect from the report. 

~Just quoting for my reference~

  *Picture for illustration purposes, not related to this post*

Review of Old Post: How Lacey Act Influence the Way you do Business

I was doing some housekeeping on my emails today and saw this post, which is quite an interesting way to understand how Lacey Act influence any timber related business, which includes guitars.

What is Lacey Act?

The Lacey Act of 1900, or simply the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3371–3378) is a conservation law in the United States. Introduced into Congress by Representative John F. Lacey of Iowa, the act was signed into law by President William McKinley on May 25, 1900.

The Lacey Act protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties^[1] for a wide array of violations, and most notably prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold. The law is still in effect, although it has been amended several times.

And when Lacey Act was related to timber or rather illegal logging? 

When they update the Lacey Act. Updated Lacey Act becomes worlds first ban on illegal logging. Washington DC, USA 'Importers of wood products may want to keep an eye on newly passed regulations in last months farm bill. New amendments added to the Lacey Act aim to cut down on illegal logging.  Depending on how strongly the new provisions are enforced, the law could have implications for the furniture industries supply chain. The legislation creates a requirement for importers to declare the species and country of origin of any plant or plant product, including wood.

Penalties range from $250 to in excess of $500,000 with a possibility of jail sentence for knowingly sourcing, or failing to exercise due care when sourcing, products that contain illegal timber or plants.

The amendments added by this years farm bill to the Lacey Act are intended to protect forests worldwide from deforestation and illegal wood products from entering the United States.

With the passing of the law, the U.S. became the first country in the world to prohibit the import, sale or trade of illegally harvested wood and wood products. The new law is more stringent that the European Unions voluntary Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade, which targets countries that contain nearly 60% of the worlds forests, namely Central Africa, Russia, Tropical South America and Southeast Asia.

Tho, there are several of loopholes in Lacey Act, but the most obvious one are

1. There are no regulation of tracing wood material that maybe listed as endanger species (current or in the future), for whether it has been used or preserved over a hundred years that may enter or re-enter in US. Some good wood material can be reuse and it do falls under the endanger species list as it can sustain for a long time. 
2. The limit of Lacey is to wood, or the first sale of a product. As it is, a guitar will have to pass Lacey for the rest of its existence. That means 40, 50, or 100 years from now if a guitar re-enters the US borders, the ‘importer,’ whether an individual or a business, will have to attest to its materials, (genus, species, and country of origin) which is impossible to do, and causes the buyer to break the law by not being able to do it. Yet, by requiring that of the buyer, the Lacey Act does not do a thing toward the goal of Lacey, but it does work to stop commerce of used and vintage musical instruments.

When we in forestry, timber and legality talks about Lacey Act, the first thing that comes in mind is the Gibson guitar raided and imposed with Lacey Act. However, this topic has been debated several times and actually I see it as a stepping stone to get other guitar makers to be responsible on knowing where they get their wood supply. As such, the article  (or Bob Taylor) explained

That said, here’s how Lacey has affected the way we do business at Taylor Guitars. It’s very simple. We now investigate the sources of our wood, and we ensure to the best of our ability that the wood was taken legally. We fill out the paperwork required and we present our business, as an open book. The cost isn’t so much for us. It’s not an unbearable added burden, and we’re happy to do the extra administrative work.  

In BBC news last October 2011 posted a value of USD 500,000 of rosewood was seized from Gibsons Guitar; the shipment from India to Dallas in June 2011. Last 2 years ago,  Gibsons Guitar has their shipment for Magadascar ebony wood confiscated under Lacey Act amendment.The shipment from India was also rosewood from plantation (as claimed), however it was made illegal to export out from India, hence has violated Lacey Act.

And, why  are rosewood and ebony important in guitar making?

"The wood that goes into guitars is crucial to the tone of the instrument," says Laurence Juber, an acoustic guitarist who lined up with Sir Paul McCartney in Wings.
"I can show you the difference in sound between Indian rosewood and Brazilian rosewood and ebony and maple."
 

Woods are not like electronic items, it can be kept, become better, depending on the type of wood, density and species. And for guitar making, with good quality wood such as rosewood, ebony and/ mahogany,  if it is well kept, the sound would be more "beautiful" as years goes by. 

Malaysia  often host the rain forest music events, where all environmentalists, foresters, music and nature lovers gathers to enjoy and feast beautiful musics, certainly do not want to find out that their musical instruments (guitars are the most favorites among all to carry around the globe) are made from illegal source!

Martin & Co, Mahogany Solid

*Picture for illustration purposes, not related to the post*

REDD+ & Sustainable Timber Production in Congo Basin

This post will be citing important information I had read in CIFOR blog, something that I need to know and understand. 

The article was introducing the new project in Congo Basin to support scientific evidence prove sustainable timber production in forest could increase carbon stocks, which is needed to reduce GHG emission that contribute to global warming. 

As sustainable timber harvesting (or logging) proved help limiting deforestation, however increase the overall carbon stocks and reduce GHG gas emission has not been well understood. The research shall be carry out by monitoring carbon stocks in different areas, identifying the most effective sustainable timber harvesting that can contributes to projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation, such as REDD.

Congo Basin Forest is the largest tract (area) of rainforest in the world, over 40% of its 200 million hectares being allocated for commercial timber production, yet only 2 % (4.5 million hectares) are regulated under the international forest certification schemes.

And understanding more about REDD+, this give a better view of how developing countries and investor could go wrong with REDD+

Without strict regulations to protect the 25-30 million tonnes of carbon locked its forests, those countries signed up to REDD+ –a mechanism that places a monetary value on the carbon stored in trees– could lose their share in the USD$1.25 trillion expected from compensation payments.

This three year project will also to analyze the impacts of sustainable timber production in the forest concession areas and then compare them to other land use management:  protected areas, communities forestry, livestock production and un-manage exploited forest.

The study shall also contributes to gain wider timber production practices (harvesting guidelines), and see if the standards set by forest certification schemes could be compatible with REDD+ standards and safeguards.

Stated in the referred article, why sustainable timber production hardly associate with REDD+,

At a recent conference in Cameroon to highlight the FORAFAMA project, many participants voiced concerns that it may be too early to integrate sustainable timber forest management practices with REDD+, especially as “international standards had not been set, and REDD+ is still a national, voluntary project”, said Alain Karsenty of the French research organisation CIRAD.

Similar challenges was observed how to combine both sustainable timber production and conserve biodiversity. The project will come to the end in 2013. More information about the project can be refer here.

 

 *Picture for illustration purposes, not related to this post*

Rio Summit may "ignore" forest

Rarely my favorite topic to discuss about carbon and forestry on my blog since this was out of my topic of interest. However, it is important as it is a propaganda of ways to measure forest loss and gain in line with other industries. 

Recently, I read this article about Rio +20 Summit, the first paragraph stated 

Forests have barely been mentioned in the draft of the international agreement to be made at the Rio+20 Earth Summit later this year (20-22 June), the body that represents 15,000 of the world's forest researchers has complained.

Not surprising as I feel the whole talk about carbon forestry from the beginning it was visualize as a vague idea of environmentalist and economist to earn money from the depletion of the forest, jetting up the forest to a non existence value. They probably valuate the carbon project  has an impact to change the ore, plastic, oil and  ocean industries, it may works in forestry sector too, although the profit margin is very much lower than the said industries. Not I am denying the fact carbon is related to forestry, just  carbon is a forest cannot be quantify as an item or by ultimate measurement to purchase and sell. 

Yet, carbon understanding has recently became one of my priority as it seems to be the only way to  promote Sustainable Forest Management, one of the way to eradicate poverty, especially communities or those involve directly to forestry operation. A clinging hope where all the current forest talks are taking place.

In the article, I agreed with the statement made by Louis Verchot, principal scientist at the Centre for International Forestry Research in Indonesia "quoted from his blog

"The absence of forests from this year's agenda is remarkable," he said in a blog post (14 February). "Policymakers must recognise that forests are essential to all of the major challenges that are on the table for this meeting."  

Forest are one big part of the carbon sequester and the type of forest does matter. The more "virgin" the forest, the more the carbon are being stored.

And the "zero draft they were talking about, only have one paragraph of forestry section;

[Forests and biodiversity]
90.    We support policy frameworks and market instruments that effectively slow, halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation and promote the sustainable use and management of forests, as well as their conservation and restoration. We call for the urgent implementation of the “Non-Legally Binding Instrument on all Types of Forests (NLBI)”.

And the  “Non-Legally Binding Instrument on all Types of Forests (NLBI)”, which has a purpose to 

• To strengthen political commitment and action at all levels to implement effectively sustainable management of all types of forests and to achieve the shared global objectives on forests;
• To enhance the contribution of forests to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, in particular with respect to poverty eradication and environmental sustainability;
• To provide a framework for national action and international cooperation;

Just my opinion and reference for future uses. Kindly comment if I had wrote something that may sounds totally out of the way. 

*Picture for illustration purposes, not related to this post* 

Thanks! Happy Reading :)

Plans to sell Bukit Cahaya Alam (BCA)?

The initial idea by the state government was to sell 100 acres (40.5 ha) out of 1,295 Ha of the park area to raise RM 100 million and put into a trust fund to manage the park. My questions would be

1. From the article, I presumed that BCA is not making  and losing money.
2. If they plans to sell the 100 acres land, it would be either for housing development or logging operation, yet its doubtful to be able to raise up to rm 100 million for just logging operation, hence housing development sounds like a better option.
3. Leasing the forest to the federal government, questionable. Over the period of 26 years, only 236 million was spent on BCA entire park, means less that a million ringgit per year was allocated to develop the entire park. And in 2006, the federal government has in mind to lease the entire BCA park for 60 years and gazetted it as Forest Reserve. And also, had allocated RM 116 million ringgit from 2010 to 2014 (5 years) to develop the park. Say, if the allocated RM 116 million ringgit has been materialize, means about RM 46.4 million for year 2010 and 2011 has been used to developed the park. Hmm, if there was that much of money being channel into the BCA park, why is it still losing money?

Just a thought. Need more information ...

Acacia & Eucalyptus Species

I always thought that these two species belongs to the softwood category, until 2 days ago a Swedish forester corrected me and say both of it belongs to the hardwood category. For some expert in forestry, this maybe a kindergarten post for you. 

Hardwood / softwood categorize into types of woods in trees, leaves, shape and fiber.

Description	Hardwood	Softwood
Wood type	Angiosperm (flower with seed producing plant)	Gymnosperm (seed bearing plant)
Fiber	Long fiber	Short
Leave	Broad leave	Pine

Acacia and Eucalyptus species are often mistaken as softwood due to their wood density. Both are fast growing species, from 6-8 years can give you a yield of 1-2 cubic meters per tree. And also, as they are much preferred species for pulp production. People often thinks  that softwood tree species are selected for pulp production, but the core of pulp making is hardwood species, because of the long fiber nature. Long fiber makes paper much more harder during the pulp processing, enable them to combine (like finger joint process) and easier to be drawn or printed on. 

Normally softwood species are selected in the tissue manufacturing as with the short core nature, makes tissue firm, easy to tear and translucent. Something I would like to keep in mind about.

Acacia mangium

Eucalyptus

~Everything goes back to the basic~

15 Billion USD a Year Lost

That is what illegal logging cost on the developing countries. And It also “exacerbates climate change, impacts the livelihoods of rural communities and undermines ecological security (resulting in) things like flooding.” Alert Net reported the shocking news of what illegal logging caused to the developing countries and what are lacking in these countries (in Asia); enforcement. 

“Environmental crime is a growing threat to the planet, particularly in Asia. It produces revenues of billions of dollars to criminal groups, yet to date the enforcement against these crimes has been lacking,” Newman said.

Even when seizures of illegally harvested timber or ivory occur, there is often no follow-up, no prosecution and no attempt to break up the networks behind the crimes, he said.

Enforcement is a difficult approach. A country may have sets of legal law and act, however it maybe only legitimate if the law breaker was convicted, bring to court and been penalized. However this is different and difficult in developing countries. The major players that back up the countries economies in Asia are  often are the law breakers that are directly or indirectly link to this illegal logging. 

Set for example, 

"According to EIA, Indonesia had an illegal logging rate of 80 percent in the 1990s, meaning four out of five trees cut were cut illegally. After the government started taking steps to combat the flow of illegal timber in 2005, the rate reduced to about 40 percent, a still-significant but much-improved number.  However, 12 top businessmen engaged in illegal logging and identified by the Indonesian government in 2000, none have been arrested or charged."

Illegal logging does not only meant felling of trees without authorization. It has a wider scope that covers "questioning" areas conserved for protection has been awarded  for logging without necessary paperwork, harvesting areas that are over-logged or probably harvesting area bigger than the allowable size, etc. And of course, lack of transparency.

~Just a thought~

Updated in 26 March 2012

I came across this article on BBC reporting similar amount of cost of loss of illegal logging does to the world. And I just want to quote down updates about since EU FLEGT and US Lacey Act has impose legislation to local company to prove their wood are legally source.

In 2010, a report from the London-based Chatham House think-tank concluded that these and other measures had reduced illegal logging by about a quarter over the preceding eight years.

It is good to see a quantified improvement from the legislation imposed by the Western countries. 

Snap Shots of Plants, Scenery and Nature

I went hiking last week in a forest area somewhere between the border of Sabah and Indonesia, Pensiangan. As I was hiking, I took some pictures of plants, some nice scenery and river.

A close picture of the flower. Sorry, do not know the name of this plant.

My favorite among all, the wild orchid. Had a story to this.I always wanted this orchid to be planted in my garden. And I had the opportunity last week to take the baby of this orchid. As I was carrying in my bag, I noticed the honey suckling insects ("anak madu") were intensely orbiting me. And more of it came to me until I took out the baby orchid and place it back to where I took it. The "anak madu" was still around me, but not so intense as when I was having the baby orchid with me. Strange, but I got a feeling the forest area did not want me to carry home part of it's beauty back to my garden. Or I could be over sensitive.

And the little sucker "leeches" that made the hiking journey a little fearsome.

 

The curling plant that "awe" me

Which is actually part of the fern growing.

Across the mountain is Kalimantan, Indonesia!

One satisfying view after hiking an hour

After the hiking, we headed back to the car and always find the view of the river welcoming us at the end of the journey is somehow refreshing. Always wanted to dive in, but never bring enough clothes to do so.

~Happy Viewing~