The Sustainable Forest Management in East Malaysia project (the Project) seeks to develop sustainable forestry management plans to restore landscape connectivity, improve opportunities for local communities and protect ecosystems. The main goal of the Project is to develop a model for sustainable forest management, which is environmentally friendly, economically successful and socially adequate. Ideally the Project will assist the Kubaan-Puak FMU achieve sustainable forest certification.
The Project began in January 2015 and was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture(BMEL), WWF Germany and WWF Malaysia. Important stakeholders include: Ta Ann Holdings, Forest Department Sarawak, Sarawak Forestry and CICOM (Umbrella Organisation of indigenous groups).
The Project objectives include:
- Completing a scoping study to develop activities that progress the certification of forest resources, and protect the livelihoods of the local people;
- Developing a land use management concept for the 360000 ha corridor;
- Developing a forest management plan for the Kubaan Puak FMU (32000 ha), which includes the management of areas which are important to the Penan for food and resources; and
- Evaluating the HCV assessment toolkit in a Sarawak landscape.
Following the scoping study, the Project deliverables were defined as:
- Empowering communities towards co-management of the Kubaan-Puak FMU
- Establishing food security in the forest (Sago and subsistence agriculture)
- Ecosystem maintenance (Rattan management)
- Developing a land use plan
- Achieving forest management certification for the Kubaan-Puak FMU
- Promoting the proposed land use plan with government stakeholders
- Establishing market links for local handicraft products
