Forestry 2024 Annual Report reflects department's accomplishment

Borneo Post

10-05-2025

Safar Untong (right) holding an advanced hardcopy of SFD 2024 Annual Report, presented to him by Frederick Kugan during the Forestry Appreciation Ceremony.
KOTA KINABALU (May 10): The Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Frederick Kugan, presented the 288-page 2024 Annual Report of the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) to the State Secretary Datuk Seri Panglima Sr. Hj Safar Untong representing the Chief Minister during the State's Forestry Appreciation Ceremony in Kota Kinabalu on Friday.
The report showcases all project implementations, activities and achievements of the department throughout the year. It is the Key Performance Index (KPI) or the report card of the department.
Many activities were implemented with achievements accomplished in 2024.
The department hosted the 20th Malaysian Forestry Conference, held in Kota Kinabalu in October 2024, and was officiated by the Chief Minister.
Sabah's Mangrove Action Plan was launched during the conference.
The department has also been invited to numerous international, national and state events to showcase the success in forest management, protection, and conservation efforts. Some of the events are the ASEAN Sustainable Agriculture & Food Security (ASEAN SAFS) Forum 2024, the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Workshop, the Sabah International Blue Economy Conference (SIBEC) 2024, the International Conference on Biodiversity, Agroforestry, Non-Wood Forest Products and Sustainable Livelihoods, and the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Forest Landscape Restoration 2024. Various programmes were conducted to enhance public awareness and knowledge on the importance of tree planting, as a step to preserve and conserve Sabah's forests. Sabah has planted 23 million trees thus far, under the Greening Malaysia Campaign.
To date, about 63% or 4.6 million hectares of Sabah's landmass is still forested, with two million hectares or 27% as Totally Protected Areas, in line with the department's vision towards the realization of sustainable forest management.
The revenue collected from timber royalty and other charges in 2024 was RM171 million. This is a significant increase of RM16 million, compared to 2023.
In diversifying contributions and revenue from forests, carbon has been incorporated in the Forest Enactment 1968 as one of the forest produces. The department is tasked to house the Green House Gases (GHG) Unit for two years to support the State's climate change agenda. This is a legacy, initiated by the department, to build capacity on climate change in a span of two years, beginning with the GHG Unit and would eventually evolve into a department or ministry.
The department was appointed as the Permanent Secretariat of the Sabah Climate Action Council (SCAC).
The Sabah Timber Legality Assurance (Sabah TLAS) is currently being revised, to align with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the European Union Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU CS3D) requirements. This is to allow the Sabah timber industry flexibility to enter international markets, particularly the EU market.
On forest plantation target, some 178,000 hectares have been established. It is important to encourage the timber industry players in Sabah to tranform the timber industry by exploring the Economic Value Chain (EVC) concept, which integrates both upstream and downstream sectors.
The Sabah Government, through the effort of the Forestry Department, has initiated the Sabah Jurisdictional Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (JCSPO) Initiative. This initiative is a step-wise approach towards group certification at the State level. This will make certification more cost effective, particularly for the smallholders, and capitalize on the progressive policy and forest conservation efforts in Sabah.
Apart from the agriculture sector, conservation values were also being integrated in other sectors, such as built environment, i.e., Pan-Borneo Highway Project and other building infrastructure projects that involve forest reserves.
In addition, the concept of No-Net Loss (NNL) or Nett-Gain (NG) as compensation mechanism for forest replacement policy to minimize forest loss or impacts was also introduced. The NNL collection are reserved solely for conservation purposes.
On forest protection and enforcement, the implementation of existing initiatives, such as the Honorary Forest Rangers (Renjer Hutan Kehormat, RHK) courses, appointment of RHK (via gazettement), Firearm/shooting training and Ops Khazanah (OBK) operation have been carried out throughout the year.
The department was recently being appointed as a member of the National Anti-Financial Crime (NFCC). It is crucial to maintain transparency and integrity in performing duties.
The development projects under the Twelfth Malaysia Plan were implemented accordingly in 2024. The expenditure percentage for Federal development projects was 99.53% while for State development projects, it was 99.99%.
Throughout 2024, the department has been active on collaboration strategies and research output, with 20 existing Memoranda of Understanding and more than 112 publications, research reports and presentations. Efforts have been taken in digital transformation to improve the department's efficiency by enhancing forest management and delivery systems in 2024.
Some of the applications developed in 2024 are the Aplikasi Kutipan Cukai (Sistem Pemeriksaan & Pentaksiran Royalti Kayu Bulat) and Phase 1 of the E-Ladang Hutan (Geoforest System) were developed.
Meanwhile, Phase 2 Geoforest is under development. Additionally, the Conservation Area Information System (CAIMS) has also been reactivated.
With the teamwork from everyone in the Sabah Forestry Department and various stakeholders, the Chief Conservator of Forests is confident that department can excel in sustainable forest management for the benefit and well-being of the people of Sabah.