Monday November 13, 2006


Much less incidence of illegal logging
By SIMON KHOO


simonkhoo@thestar.com.my KUANTAN: Cases of illegal logging have dropped drastically since the amendment to the Forestry Act 1984 provided a heavier punishment to offenders, Forestry Department deputy director-general Datuk Dahlan Taha said.

“For example, an average of 200 cases occurred yearly before the amendment in 1993. “But for the first six months this year, we only detected six cases.

“These cases are not illegal logging per se but are breaching of certain conditions of the licence issued,” he said when met after opening a two-day course on reduced impact logging in tropical peat swamp forests at MS Garden Hotel here recently.

A total of 40 participants from 17 logging firms based in Pahang and Selangor attended the programme.

Dahlan said illegal logging came in three categories.

“The first covers planned logging in a massive scale without any licence or outside the licensed area.

“Secondly, we have encroachment of forest reserves for agricultural activities and settlement, and thirdly, the felling of unmarked trees and other breaches of rules and regulations,” he said.

Dahlan said that most cases committed presently were a breach of conditions and action had been taken against the six offenders, including blacklisting them.

“Most logging firms do not dare to commit illegal logging any more,” he said, adding that the deterrent lies in the mandatory one-year jail term, a maximum fine of RM500,000 and a penalty of 10 times the value of logs felled.

Dahlan said with the advent of technology, they could use the GPS to detect locations besides enlisting the help of police and army personnel to arrest the culprits.


On the peat swamp forest, he said efforts were being taken to educate the operators in protecting the environment and achieve sustainable logging in the areas. He said two equipment – log fisher and rimbaka timber harvester – should be used to minimise damage to the environment.

Presently, there are about 190,000ha of peat swamp forests mainly in Pahang and Selangor.