Timber plantations in permanent forest reserves are not considered deforestation, plantation and commodities minister Johari Ghani told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said the government considered such plantations as forest since the land use remained unchanged and trees were replanted after harvest.
Johari also said states were allowed to log and replant only a small portion of reserves at a time, capped at 5% of the total area.
He said Malaysia would honour its pledge to the United Nations to keep half of its land under forest cover.
“We are at 54.3% (forest cover) today, so we’re still within our limit,” he said.
He said loans had been provided to support timber plantations under the industrial timber plantation (ITP) scheme, with repayment due when harvesting begins, usually after 15 to 20 years.
As of June 30, some 259,654ha of reserves had been converted into plantations, of which 67.5% had already been replanted.
He was responding to a question by Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail (PN-Kubang Pasu), who had asked about the progress of ITPs, the extent of deforestation involved, and their impact on the environment and ecosystem.
Johari said that clearing forests for oil palm was not allowed as such crops would not meet global sustainability standards and could not be exported.
He also rejected claims that ITPs were monoculture projects, saying various species such as acacia, rubber and teak are being planted.
“The key rule is to keep replanting after each cycle so that forest cover is maintained in the long term,” he said.
On the timber trade, Johari said raw log exports remained prohibited.
“Logs must be processed locally before export, such as into furniture,” he said.
Imported logs are permitted, but only from certified sustainable sources to protect Malaysia’s export certification.
He was responding to a question by Tan Hong Pin (PH-Bakri) on whether logs from Malaysian forests were being exported directly overseas.
