2. Current status of forest plantation development

2.1. Area, location, species and ownership

Considering the manner in which forest plantations have developed so far, their current status may appear to be an eclectic mixture of species with different management objectives, sizes, species, locations, and ownership. The best way to comprehend the current status requires that the three areas, P. Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are first treated separately. As mentioned earlier, most of the prospects and constraints of plantations took place first in P. Malaysia. The States of Sabah and Sarawak were in a position to pick the best options suited for their specific needs following the trials and the experiences gained in P. Malaysia.

2.1.1. Peninsular Malaysia

The tree plantations in P. Malaysia can be divided into three principal types. There are the specialty species like teak which was planted in the northern States of P. Malaysia formerly. Into this category would fall sentang which is now being seriously contending as another species in the same class as teak. Next are the pine plantations which were originally intended for producing pulp. In the third category belong the general utility timber plantations with species like Acacia mangium. Besides the three types of plantations, there are a few hundred species trials, many concentrated within FRIM, and some scattered throughout the country.

The teak plantations were initially tried out on an experimental basis in the northern State of Perlis (Mata Ayer), and some in Kedah (Bukit Enggang) (Wyatt-Smith 1957, 1961). These initial trials in the 1950s have since been expanded into larger scale plantations in the 1960s (Vincent 1964). Interest in planting teak outside the northern States took off in the 1980s and small hectarages have been planted in all the States from Perlis to Johore (Table 2).

Initially, planting of teak was purely a Forest Department effort. Now there has been a dramatic rise in interest from the private sector. This has been so because of the rise in the cost of labour and rubber plantations becoming uneconomical. Many small holders and small estate owners are looking for alternative crops and are beginning to experiment with teak. Since the 1990s, such plantings have been ongoing. At present FRIM has embarked on an adoption scheme for small holders. This too has started attracting many small holders with less than 10 ha of land. So far such adoption schemes have been initiated in the States of Pahang, Perlis, Perak, Selangor, Johore and Kedah. The schemes range from 0.4 ha to 10 ha sizes, the total area only amounting to about 40 ha under the scheme.

Table 2. Teak and sentang plantations in Peninsular Malaysia (plantings <10 ha not represented)

Besides teak, sentang is also receiving similar attention these days (Table 2). There are few plantings that are sizable one being in Trolak, Perak where a private rubber planter has planted it over about 100 ha. Interest has been expressed elsewhere and plantings may be in progress in some cases.

In the 1960s there was the introduction of tropical pine plantations. As mentioned earlier, they were planted for purposes of pulp production. Once the plans for constructing the paper mill was scuttled these plantations were not managed anymore. Sizable plantations still exist, although some have been lost to other forms of development (Table 3).

In the 1980s large areas have also been devoted to Acacia mangium and other fast growing general utility timber species under the Compensatory Forest Plantation Scheme, funded by the Asian Development Bank (Table 4). The scheme was originally planned to cover some 188,000 ha by the end of the 7th Malaysia Plan. However, A. mangium was found to be prone to suffer from heart-rot problem and the Forest Deparment scaled down the planting of the species. The present extent of these plantations stands at around only 64,000 ha (Thai 1995). Some 10,000 ha were planted under State financing. Other species used in the scheme included batai (Paraserianthes falcataria), yemane (Gmelina arborea) and some tropical pines (Pinus spp.). However, A. mangium was the most extensively planted species. Interestingly, rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) too is gaining interest as a timber species and small trials have been initiated.

Table 3. Pine plantations in Peninsular Malaysia (planting <10 ha not represented)

The target of Compensatory Plantations was later revised to 100,000 ha because of lack of poor and degraded PFEs for conversion to forest plantations and the inherent difficulties encountered with the species like A. mangium (Thai 1995). Note that with the earnestness to pursue sustainable forest management, there has been an aversion to convert natural forests into species-poor plantations.

The above three classes of plantations have been planted on a scale with commercialization prospects in mind. Besides those trees a huge number of species trial plots exist. They are mainly concentrated in FRIM, Kepong, but a sprinkling of relevant ones are also found scattered throughout the country. These were started way back at the beginning of the century, some even before FRIM was conceived. The information contained in the plots is very valuable for evaluating the potential of over 150 tree species.

Among these trials the dipterocarps seems to take centre stage. A huge number of species, excess of 55, from P. Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra have been tried out in FRIM and several parts of the country. These represent a vital body of work which will provide the basic data for plantation development into the future.

Forestry Departments were the main agencies involved in developing tree plantations. The only crop which was originally planted by foresters and that has since taken over by the private sector is the rubber tree. It was promoted for the latex. The tide is certainly changing at present. More interest in tree plantations have been expressed by the private sector and several states companies have started planting teak and sentang crops in 100 ha parcels in several. Table 5 is a summary of the timber plantations. Only an insignificant amount, about 3.6% (2801.5 ha) has been initiated by the private sector initiatives are confined to growing sentang and teak and much of it began only since the mid-1980s.

Table 4. Compensatory Forest Plantations in Peninsular Malaysia

Table 5. Summary of plantation areas in P. Malaysia (ha)

2.1.2. Sabah

In Sabah there are claims that as early as the 1920s there were trials on teak (Rahim and Anuar 1995). In the 1970s the State Government came to the conclusion that forest plantations may be required to make up for the decline in production from natural forests which were being depleted rapidly. In 1974 the Sabah Softwoods Sdn. Bhd. (SSSB), a joint-venture company between Yayasan Sabah and North Borneo Timber was formed to initiate plantations. This was a creditable move for Sabah thus became the first to start plantations as a private commercial venture. The SSSB began to test some exotic species. About 60,000 ha of Pinus caribaea and P. oocarpa were planted in Brumas, southeast of Sabah.

In 1976 the Sabah Forestry Development Authority (SAFODA), a statutory body, was set up. Its task was to reforest the nearly 200,000 ha of degraded lands that resulted from bad shifting cultivation activity. In the process SAFODA was further aiming at providing additional employment in the rural areas.

In the 1980s more commercial forest plantation ventures were established. The first pulp and paper mill was set up in Sipitang by the Sabah Forest Industries (SFI), a State owned company. It has now been privatized. SFI expects to reforest up to 130,000 ha with industrial forest plantations, mainly with Acacia mangium. Next, both SAFODA and SFI have also initiated tree farming among smallholder in the neighbourhood of their plantation areas in Bengkoka and Sipitang. In 1987, Innoprise Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (ICSB), the commercial arm of the Yayasan Sabah initiated the planting of high value timber species and rattan in its 40,000 ha concession area in Luasong, in Tawau District.

Many more private companies joined the move towards developing plantations. They include Jeroco Plantation Sdn. Bhd., Sejati Sdn. Bhd. and Koprasa Sdn. Bhd., Sime Darby Plantations Sdn. Bhd., and Golden Hope Plantations Sdn. Bhd. Golden Hope has started planting sentang on a 800 ha wasteland in Tenom Valley while Sime Darby is into planting industrial grade wood. Sejati Sdn. Bhd. has so far planted over 2,000 ha of teak and other species in Lahat Datu, Tawau and Sandakan.

In the last two decades commercial plantations have grown relatively rapidly in Sabah and at the end of 1995 there were over 90,000 ha established (Table 6). The Forestry Department too has planted some but they are mainly trial plots in the Research Stations at Sibuga, Gum Gum, Kolapis, Segaliud Lokan, Telupid, Sosopodon and Sook.

In Sabah, although the reforestation and tree planting started much later than in P. Malaysia, overall they have performed better in total hectares planted. In addition, the private sector has been instrumental in leading the planting of timber trees. Another distinction is that there are also real large scale plantings of the high quality timber species among the plantings. Without exception the move towards making planting a private commercial venture and the range of plantation species being tried would make Sabah the premier State for establishment and management of timber plantations.

The major species planted are the exotics Acacia mangium, Paraserianthes falcataria, Gmelina arborea, Eucalyptus deglupta and also rattan (Calamus manan). Their extent is given in Table 7.

In conclusion, the overall picture is that there is a steady growth in the establishment of plantations in the State. The Government made the decision that Sabah would need to develop its plantation sector, with the realization that the natural forests may not be able to maintain the required supply of timber. The types of plantations can be described as follows:

• Industrial pulpwood production mainly with Acacia mangium, principally with SFI pulp and paper mill in Sipitang;
• High quality timber species planted in reforestation schemes in degraded forests which are partly aimed at supplementing the income of rural dwellers. The private sector has also ventured into planting both high quality species as well as general utility ones. The success in plantation establishments in Sabah may mainly be attributable to the role played by the private sector.

Table 6. Forest plantations in Sabah as at end of 1995 (Rahim and Anuar 1995)

Table 7. Species planted in Sabah

2.1.3. Sarawak

Like in Sabah, interest in forest plantations in Sarawak began in the early 1920s (Kendawang 1996). But here the forests started with the indigenous species of the Engkabang group which are important producers of the illipe nut. Some 19 ha were planted in the Semengoh Forest Reserve. The interest in this species was the need to find species that can be incorporated into the agro-forestry systems that were being encouraged for the natives who were practicing shifting agriculture. Besides the engkabangs fruit trees like the durian were also tested. Research has been continuing, albeit at a small scale, on testing many of the indigenous hardwood species for inclusion into the agroforestry projects.

No major plantings were done after the initial trials until 1965 when interest in a “Reforestation Research Programme” was initiated. The objective this time was to test out the fast growing exotic tree species, especially conifers, for reforesting land which was subjected to repeated cycles of shifting cultivation. From 1964 to 1968, a total of 200 plots of various provenances of tropical conifers such as Pinus caribaea, P. insularis, Agathis macrophylla, Araucaria cunninghamii and A. hunsteinii were tested. The results were poor and the conclusion drawn was that the fast-growing tropical conifers were not suitable for Sarawak conditions (Fahlman 1975).

The poor performance of the conifers led Sarawak foresters to look for alternatives. In the early 1970s, the Forestry Department began experimenting with some of the fast growing exotic tropical hardwoods like Acacia mangium, Gmelina arborea and Paraserianthes falcataria. Species with somewhat longer rotations like Swietenia macrophylla, Durio zibethinus and Shorea macrophylla were also added to the list. All these species were considered for reforestation of lands that underwent shifting cultivation.

The problem with shifting cultivation is a major one in Sarawak - the damaged forest areas have increased tremendously increasing from 2.25 million ha in the 1960s to 3.33 million ha in 1985, with a small percentage within the PFE as well. In Table 8 the progress of reforestation in Sarawak can be seen. The localities are shifting cultivation areas within the Permanent Forest Estate.

Table 8. Progress of reforestation in Sarawak (1979 - 1995) (ha)

The extent to which each of the timber species are planted is given in Table 9. Shorea spp. of the Engkabang group cover about a third of the area, followed closely by Acacia mangium. In Sarawak rattan, an agroforestry crop, has also been included into the area of plantation. The pattern of planting can be rapidly gauged from Table 8. Up to 1980 there was hardly any planting. By 1985, there was about 1,770 ha planted up. The area planted up in the next five years was double that in 1985. The pace quickened and during the period from 1991 to 1995 about 7,500 ha were planted. This is more than double that of the previous five years. As of late 1995, nearly 13,000 ha have been planted up with various timber species.

Among them are many species of Artocarpus, Pinus, and Ceiba planted in small trials. Although Acacia mangium has become one of the major species for reforestation the Forest Department has scaled down the planting in recent years. Numerous adverse reports about its susceptibility to heart rot has lead to such a decision. The plan in the future is to plant the enkabang and mahogany for their high value timber.

Things may change more rapidly from now on. For example, Keresa Sdn. Bhd., a private company has a joint venture with Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation to plant rattan. Borneo Pulp and Paper Co. Sdn. Bhd. has just applied for over 200,000 ha of State land for initiating pulp plantations.

Table 9. Species planted in Sarawak

The overall conclusion is that the situation differs somewhat in Sarawak compared to that in P. Malaysia and Sabah. The urgency to develop plantations has so far not been felt in Sarawak, considering the amount of productive forests still left. The major development in Sarawak was the problem of reforesting areas that have been degraded through shifting cultivation. Another related concern was to develop agroforestry systems to assist the rural folk. So the kind of species tested included many of the fruit trees like the illipe nuts, durian, and Artocarpus which yield both fruits and timber. In terms of industrial timbers, a safe “wait and see” attitude has been adopted by the Forestry Officials. This is so far a reasonable attitude to adopt considering there is no urgency in their case and also the lack of success with many of the industrial species.

The lessons learned in the other regions would ultimately come of value to them. But the scenario may be rapidly changing. Already many private companies are negotiating with the State for plantation lands. The State announced opening 500,000 ha for tree plantations to capitalize on the lucrative pulp and paper industry (Sarawak Tribune 1996). Another report concluded that if Sarawak succeeded in converting 20% of its natural forests into forest plantations the State would be able to increase timber production by as much as 200% (Sarawak Tribune 1996). Perhaps it is timely. With sustainable forest management practices logging of natural forests may have to be scaled down. Alternative sources of timber may have to be from plantations.

2.1.4. Malaysia

The plantation scenario for the whole country seems somewhat disparate. Each of the regions treaded a slightly varied pathway in its plantation development. Sabah with a boost from the private sector has made the greatest headway despite coming into field only some two decades ago. Sarawak, on the other hand, took on a cautious path, and is only just beginning to make its interests in plantations known, now that most of the policies and directions are beginning to be clearer and some significant advances have already been made in the technical areas. P. Malaysia is the one that had to sail before the wind and had to look a new after each mishap either from technical problems or sudden shifts in policies. Needless to say, the experience is a valuable one and the other regions are in a position to capitalize on it. The existing 180,000 hectares of forest plantations according to their age class are as shown in Tables 10 and the volume per hectare (m³/ha) for each of the species are as shown in Table 11. The situation for the country as a whole is summarized in Table 12.

From Table 12 it is quite evident that only Sarawak has timber surplus against its local processing capacity. Sabah and P. Malaysia are already or will be facing deficits in timber. Moreover the present outputs from the PFEs are on the unsustainable level and will have to be reduced considerably if they are to be managed on a sustainable basis. This would mean a further reduction in production from the PFEs in Sabah and P. Malaysia. Some 20 - 30% reduction is expected in the two regions, and similarly for Sarawak. Following that, while Sarawak will be able to meet the needs of its industry, the deficits for Sabah and Sarawak would magnify further from the current annual deficit of about 5 million m³ to about 11 million m³/year.

If timber imports are excluded the only recourse for Sabah and P. Malaysia is to develop their timber plantations. The 180,000 ha of plantations in existence seem paltry against the actual requirements. The 180,000 ha at a conservative production rate of 10 m³/ha/year would only produce some 1.8 million m³ of wood annually. An additional 11 million m³ are required in the equation if Malaysia is going to balance the timber requirements without causing the timber industry or the natural forests to suffer. The problem here is time - plantations initiated today will take a while at least one decade before the benefits can be perceived. What can be done in the interim period is any ones guess.

Table 10. Forest plantations in Peninsular Malaysia by species and age classes

Table 11: Volume (green) per hectare for the different species (m³/ha)

Table 12. Summary of plantation hectares in Malaysia, compared to the PFE and the current timber output from them. The production and industries needs reflect the 1990s figures

2.2. Management objectives

The management objectives with regards to plantations did not remain consistent throughout the period that interest in plantation was expressed. They varied between the three regions of P. Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. This was obviously decided by the amount of natural forests still remaining in production, the state of development of the downstream industry, status of research in plantations, loans from international donor agencies, availability of labour as well as social-economic development concerns.

In the past the position for plantations remained somewhat hazy and the commitment remained lacklustre. When some decision was made there were reversals along the way. At present the forestry sector in Malaysia is undergoing much change. These are influenced by both internal factors such the growing demand for timber by the industries and external factors that include international concerns about logging and degradation of tropical forests.

The past events appear to have shaped more concrete plans and objectives in the case of forest plantations. Under the Seventh Malaysia Plan the management objectives in Malaysia are the following.

2.2.1. To meet the anticipated deficit in timber supply

The timber industry is a big contributor to foreign exchange earnings with some RM 13 billion per/year and employing over 200,000 people. If the mills are to remain in supply of the raw material timber alternative sources besides that from the natural forests have to be explored. Plantations offer good prospects with year round growing climatic conditions. The biggest demand will be for general utility timber that can be raised cheaply over short to medium term rotations. There is also a growing demand for pulp and paper material and Malaysia is importing considerable and increasing amounts of the material. Therefore, this sector of pulpwood production has also been identified as critical. A few paper mills are already in the pipeline and one is already in operation. The need for pulpwood plantations is enormous and the government has to assist the private sector in developing this sector of plantations.

2.2.2. To reduce pressure on natural forests

Malaysia has traditionally relied on timber from natural forests. However, concern for their sustainability has become a moot issue these days. If sustainable practices are to be adopted the total amount of timber would decline. But this has to be balanced against our need for preserving the environment. Malaysia is committed to preserving a good balance of forest for perpetuity including the preservation of biodiversity and the ecosystem functions. This would mean that more timber has to be obtained from other sources. Plantations offer a promising source of timber.

2.2.3. To ensure better land use

A lot of degraded or under-utilized land is found in the country. This is due to the rapid shift in the economy of the country and labour shortages have resulted in neglect of many of the agricultural lands. In States like Sabah and Sarawak shifting cultivation has resulted in degradation of a significant area of former lands. One attractive solution to these two issues is plantation development which is a low labour intensive industry. Besides ensuring the lands are well utilized in the country and there is also the added benefit of bringing social development to the rural people.