The Malaysia’s Forest For All Forever Dialogue brought together media, businesses and forest managers as well as worker unions, environmental and indigenous community representatives to openly deliberate on FSC’s forest certification scheme in Malaysia, and the opportunities, challenges and future of Malaysia’s forest industry. This event also introduced the work of FSC in the country and provided a platform for Malaysian holders of FSC certificates and businesses to interact.
The Dialogue was led by a set of impressive panelists from the Sabah Forestry Department, the largest certificate holder in Malaysia; Tetra Pak Malaysia, a global supplier of FSC-certified packaging products; JOAS, Malaysia’s network of indigenous organisations and FSC International’s Board of Directors.
“There is no other certification scheme in the world that is performance-based, is consistent in its application and has a governance system that lends credibility across the world,” said Anthony Sebastian, FSC International Board Director.
He added “If what the forest industry needs is just certification, then there is no need for the FSC. But what the industry really needs is independent assurance of legality and sustainability. It needs verification. Only the most widely credible, and widely trusted standard, can provide this”.
Malaysia is a tropical country with some 21 million hectares of forest, and with a forest industry that has played a major role in its history and economic progress. This industry has also been subjected to much public scrutiny. Legal, credible and economic sustainability are key to the future of Malaysia’s forest industry, and certification plays an important part in delivering these. The FSC scheme is the most recognised by global markets, most trusted and supported by environmental organisations and provides a much-used platform for conflict resolution.
Some 755,000ha of natural forest and plantations are currently certified by FSC in Malaysia, with 83% of them in Sabah, comprising 11 forest reserves. The largest of these is the Ulu Segama-Malua forest reserve in Lahad Datu, covering 242,884ha. There are two FSC-certified concessions in Terengganu.
Just yesterday, FSC Malaysia concluded the final nationwide stakeholder consultation on the National Forest Stewardship Standard, or the Malaysian standard for FSC certification. It brought together economic, social and environmental stakeholders from Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, and received full endorsement for a final standard for Malaysia.
Musa Salleh, Sabah Forestry Department said “Each and every one of FSC’s 56 criteria has verifiers that are developed by all national stakeholders in the country where the audit takes place. For the Forestry Department in Sabah, we take this as an endorsement of our forest management practices by all citizens of Malaysia. We aim to add at least one new FSC-certified forest each year”.