Costs of sustainable forest management (SFM) will continue to rise during the coming years, according to a forestry official.
This is because of new issues incorporated into the concept of sustainability and further improvements required in forest practices and protection, said Sabah Forestry Department's head of SFM division, Jeflus Sinajin.
"This makes SFM an expensive exercise, while the supply of financial resources is limited," he said at the Malaysian Forest Dialogue 2007 here Monday.
Sinajin said the financial burden of SFM licence agreement holders should be eased by reducing the RM5 million performance bond.
"It costs them RM100,000 per year on interest alone to service the loan," he said.
"The SFM licence agreement holders in return should not expect that society owes them everything, while their only goal is to reap profits," he added.
He suggested that licence agreement holders go into joint venture partnerships in managing the forest areas with other international entrepreneurs with strong financial capabilities.
Sinajin said for most licence agreement holders, their SFM funding comes from logging profits but these are not sufficient because the areas they managed are logged-over forests with low annual allowable cut coupled with reduced impact logging restrictions.
"On the other hand, the pressure to generate adequate earnings for shareholders has led to a focus on production as opposed to long-term sustainable management," he said.
Sinajin said all sources and mechanisms of SFM funding should be explored and encouraged to ensure the forest survival.
"In this respect, financing in SFM should be a joint effort and not just at the expense of the SFM licence agreement holders," he said.Malaysian National News Agency
