Malaysia’s Forest Pledges and The Bornean State of Sarawak: A Policy Perspective

Abstract

Malaysia deforested 6.3 million hectares since independence; 91% of which occurred before Malaysia pledged, at the Earth Summit in 1992, to maintain a minimum 50% of its terrestrial area under forest cover. However, under economic and population pressure, Sarawak—the largest contributing state to the country’s current forest cover of 54.8%—shows continuing deforestation even after 1992. This paper reviews land use policies underpinned by economic development and environmental protection considerations, land rights issues that complicate land use planning, and legislation that regulates land use change. The objective is to investigate the adequacy of existing policies and legislation in governing forest cover in Sarawak and to recommend improvement measures. If the Sarawak Land Use Policy that allocates seven million hectares for forest is realized, Malaysia’s forest cover would drop to 53%, assuming other states maintain their forests. It is recommended that legislation governing the designation of permanent forest and conversion of forest for other land use to be strengthened, civil society to be enlisted to enhance knowledge level, and carbon credit production to be promoted as alternative land use that keeps forests standing. With these measures, it is hopeful that Malaysia’s aspirations regarding forest cover can be achieved.

Indigenous engagement challenges and carbon mitigation activities in Malaysian forest policy

“…Joshi advocates for the implementation of adaptable and creative compensation schemes for conservation that can effectively accommodate the unique needs of local and regional contexts (Joshi, 2023). Koh et al (2023) propose strengthening legislation related to permanent forest designation and land conversion, enlisting civil society's support to enhance knowledge, and promoting carbon credit production as a sustainable alternative land use, all aimed at achieving Malaysia's forest cover goals. Ng et al (2022) advocate for comprehensive changes in political leadership and institutional structures to address deforestation and promote sustainable economies.…”

“…Concurrently, indigenous communities, whose reliance on forests is substantial, face external socioeconomic pressures due to their customary exclusion from forest management and carbon activities (Diansyah et al, 2021). This exclusion leads to a dearth of considerations in addressing the multifaceted impacts of socio-economic and ecological changes on Malaysia's forests, particularly affecting indigenous forestdependent communities (Koh et al, 2023).…”

“…With over 55% of Malaysia's land area still forested, rural communities residing in and around forests continue to rely significantly on forest resources. The legal landscape governing forests in Malaysia reflects a historical continuum from ancient traditions and colonial edicts to modern statutes grounded in parliamentary democracy (Koh et al, 2023). There have been a number of recent developments which can be seen as progressive reforms of the forest regulatory framework in Malaysia.…”

“…There were also developments of carbon credit projects in Malaysia but they has encountered challenges including the substantial reliance of states on natural resources and land for a significant portion of their revenues (World Bank Bank Negara and Malaysia, 2022). A persistent issue within the forestry sector is the absence of an equitable revenue-sharing mechanism between federal and state governments, posing a challenge to incentivise states for the conservation and rehabilitation of their forests (Koh et al, 2023). Existing mechanisms, such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFTs), as indicated by several studies, have proven inadequate in replacing income generated from exploitative activities like logging, land sales, mining, or rent-seeking practices such as plantations, notably palm oil (World Bank Bank Negara and Malaysia, 2022;Joshi, 2023).…”

Forest Segmentation with Spatial Pyramid Pooling Modules: A Surveillance System Based on Satellite Images

“…If deforestation activities, especially the illegal ones, are left without any restorative efforts, forest areas will surely continue to shrink. According to Koh et al [7], 6.3 million hectares of Malaysia's forest has been legally and illegally exploited since 1957. Generally, the suspects were accused of illegally removing logs from the forest and selling them for a quick profit, which clearly shows the ineffectiveness of the deployed forest monitoring system in tracking illegal deforestation activities.…”