KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd constantly strives to enhance its knowledge on sustainable forest management at the Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve as the way forward.

KTS Plantation Sabah area manager (Forests), Collin Goh said the company focused very much on the growth and sustainability of environmental conservation and social development.

To enhance its conservation effort, Goh said a research collaboration had been established through a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Sabah Forest Department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and KTS Plantation last year.

Among the programmes of collaboration are wildlife survey, forest camp and forest rehabilitation assessment.

He said KTS Plantation provided study grants for UMS students to do research, as well as transportation, manpower and accommodation at Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve.

“We want to educate and impart our knowledge to young foresters (on sustainable forest management),” Goh said in an interview during the International Conference on Heart of Borneo (HoB) here yesterday.

The two-day event, themed ‘A Decade of HoB Initiative: Accomplishments and the Way Forward’, began yesterday at Magellan Sutera Harbour Resort here.

Through KTS Plantation’s conservation efforts, Goh said a UMS study found wildlife species still in the Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve.

He said the company would have more collaborations with UMS and other higher learning institutions to conduct wildlife survey and research in the future.

Earlier, Goh said KTS Plantation adopted sustainable forest practices in managing Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve, adding that the company was the first in Malaysia to attain the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

He said the forest management practice in KTS Plantation had been endorsed by various certification schemes such as Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification (Natural Forest) and EMS ISO14001.

KTSP was the first private forest management unit (FMU) that voluntarily implemented Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) since 1998 in Industrial Tree Plantation (ITP) areas with the objective to reduce damage to Potential Crop Trees (PCT), preserve flora and fauna habitats, including carbon volatilisation during and after logging, he added.

Despite the social and environmental certifications, Goh said KTS Plantation strived to enhance its knowledge on sustainable forest management and conservation.

He said the company received guidance from the expertise at Sabah Forest Department through the collaboration.

“The next step for us is to identify the high conservation value forest (HCVF) and set up a programme to manage it in a sustainable way.

“With the full commitment and encouragement from KTS Plantation’s top management, the company is able to move forward to a better forest management on sustainable, economical, social and environmental aspect,” he said.

KTS Plantation also handed over research grant to two UMS Master students, Lee Woon Jia and Kee Sze Lue for wildlife population research at Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve yesterday.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by BORNEO POST

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