Importance of forest resources
By Jeani Goh
"In the era of globalisation and fast paced development, other countries in the world are beginning to realise the importance of forest resources in ensuring environmental stability as their forest resources are being destroyed by uncontrolled development. We are fortunate that Negara Brunei Darussalam has acted early to carry out various measures to protect the forest for the present and future generations."
Thang Hooi Chiew, the main resource person of the workshop.
Participants at the workshop.These statements were made by the representative of the Acting Director of Forestry Department, Shahrill Hj Shahbudin in his welcome address at the workshop on the development of Brunei Darussalam criteria and indicators for sustainable development.
The workshop which opened yesterday at D' Anggerek Hotel Apartment runs until Thursday.
The Acting Director of Forestry Department added, "In its strategic programme to achieve excellence, five active stars implemented by the forestry department, among other crucial components are sustainable management of tropical forest towards maximising the resources of forest sector.
"We are fortunate to be able to be involved and provide support to the Rio de Janeiro Summit in which a lot of countries have become signatory to it and in the declaration such as "ITTO Guidelines" to achieve sustainability as agreed upon," he continued.
He concluded, "Criteria and indicators on sustainable forest management is one of them that needed to be implemented, meaning for countries which are able to achieve sustainability will only be considered in its forestry exports to EU/EC."
Thang Hooi Chiew, the main resource person of the workshop who was also the Deputy Director-General of Forestry (Forest Planning and Development) Forestry Headquarters, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia presented an overview on the importance of sustainable forest management and the use of criteria and indicators for its assessment.
Thang Hooi Chiew, who spoke on the sustainability of forest resource said, "One of the major issues in forest management is the sustainability use of the resource itself. Although everyone agrees that sustainability of the forest resource is of paramount importance involving satisfying the needs of the present and future generations, it is not always clear what this means in terms of forest management at the field level."
He revealed that the recent surveys on a global basis suggest that there are about 1.4 million documented species, and the general consensus is that this is underestimated - perhaps 5 to 50 million species exist. However the current rate of genetic loss is also high. Species extinction rates are estimated at approximately 10 to 20,000 per year, or between 1,000 and 10,000 times faster than the natural rate before human intervention.
He explained, "To further enhance the utilisation of the forest resource, and in particular wood from the forest, action should be taken to reinforce the support of both small scale and large scale forest industries. In this regard, small-scale forestry enterprises could be integrated into agriculture as even in highly developed countries such as those in Scandinavia, small plots of forest do offer an off-season occupation for farm families an additional income, which is important for the farm economy. This would also further diversify the rural economies."
Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management were developed to provide countries with a framework for defining sustainable forest management and assessing progress towards this goal. There are tools to help identify trends in the forest sector and the effects of forest management interventions over time, and to facilitate decision making in national forest policy processes. The ultimate aim of these tools is to promote improved forest management species over time, and to further the development of a healthier and more productive forest resource base.
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