Malaysia's
sustained-yield forest management practised since 1901, and
the goverment stipulation that not les than 46% of the total
land area as Permanent Forest Reserves (PFR), mean a briht
future for the timber and wood preservatives industries. |
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The
future holds a lot of exciting challenges and promises for business
in Malaysia, particularly for those dealing in wood preservatives.
Firstly, the supply of timber in Malaysia is perpetual, unlike in
many countries. We owe this to the Malaysian goverment's selective
logging system, which is a componet of sustained-yield forest managment
practised in this country since 1901, that is long before the term
"selective logging" became known elsewhere.
As a point of interest, the area of natural forest in malaysia is
approximately 20.25 million hectares, or 61 percent of its total land
area. Also malaysia has designated 15.19 million hectares, or 46 percent
of the total land area, as Permanent Forest Reserves (PFR).
Secondly, the sources of marketable lumber are not limited to the
natural forests alone. As recent as more than a decade ago, rubber
wood, for instance, was only used as fuel. Today, it is turned into
furniture of quality high enough for export, thanks to the technological
advancements made in the formulation of wood preservatives. Who can
tell that the other types of wood now deemed to be of no commercial
value will not also metamorphose into something highly marketable?
The trunk of oil palm is one example Research is under way to find
more uses of every part of this wonderful plant. |
