Industries everywhere

Timber as an export commodity began contributing to the Malaysian economy only toward the end of the nineteenth century. The timber industry started in today's East Malaysian state of Sabah (formerly British North Borneo) in the 1880s. Despite attempts in neighboring Sarawak (ruled by the Brooke Raj and then a British colony from 1946), it was only after World War II

(1941–1945) that the industry became significant there and even overtook Sabah in both production and exports. Likewise the industry became important in peninsular Malaysia (formerly British Malaya) after 1945. In 1963, Sabah and Sarawak joined the independent Federation of Malaya (1957), which in 1963 became the Federation of Malaysia.

The timber industry of Sabah began with a chance sale of felled timber from a clearance of land near the seaport town of Sandakan for sugar planting. In February 1885, the first shipment of felled timber headed for Australia. Other shipments followed, and by the 1930s Sandakan had become one of the major timber ports of the world.

The leading market for the tropical hardwood known as billian was Hong Kong, where it was used for sleepers in the expanding railway network then being undertaken in China. Timber companies at that time were in European hands, namely the British North Borneo Trading and Planting Company and the British Borneo Timber Company. Timber was Sabah's major export from the 1910s onward; exports, mainly in logs, reached their peak in 1937. Before 1941, Sabah was the third-largest timber exporter inthe British empire, with markets in Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, and Australia.

In Sarawak, the Borneo Company exported small quantities of billian to Hong Kong and Calcutta. But inexperience, difficult terrain, and fluctuating timber prices hampered large-scale operations during the pre-1941 period. A few Chinese logging companies also served the overseas market, and the European-owned VAMCO Timber Company pioneered the export of sawn timber and plywood in the 1930s.

Timber production and exports from peninsular Malaysia became significant only from the late 1960s. Together with production from Sabah and Sarawak, timber became the third leading export of Malaysia after rubber and tin. The 1980s and 1990s witnessed Malaysia's becoming one of the world's largest exporters of tropicalhardwood , accounting for 37 percent of world production (1998). Timber-based industries produced a wide assortment of wood products, from sawn timber, plywood, and veneer to prefabricated houses and furniture, including rattan furniture for domestic and overseas markets.

The two major organizations related to the timber industry are the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB). FRIM undertakes research in forest development aimed at sustainable growth and conservation of the resource base. MTIB regulates and controls the timber trade, including marketing and distribution, and promotes effective utilization of Malaysian-produced timber.

Conservation and regulation of the timber industry began in Sabah in the early 1910s, with the establishment of the Forestry Department. Forest reserves were designated, and silviculture andresearch were undertaken to ensure that the forest remained a sustainable resource asset. In the post-1945 period, measures to arrest the adverse consequences of logging activities and to ensure sustainable management of forest resources included the creation of the Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) and the rehabilitation of loggedover forest through different types of silvicultural treatments. The National Forestry Policy implemented since 1978 was revised in 1992 to include the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable utilization of genetic resources, and the role of local communities in forest development.

The adverse effects of logging activities on the environment have been overstated, as has the negative impact of logging on forest dwellers. Measures have been undertaken to ensure that the nomadic livelihood of the Penans in Sarawak and of some Orang Asli communities in peninsular Malaysia is not overlooked or compromised vis-à-vis the timber industry. Prudent steps adopted by the Malaysian government include setting aside vast areas (44 percent of total land area) as PFE, as well as the designation of some 2.12 million hectares as national parks and wildlife and bird sanctuaries. Malaysia has actively supported organizations such as the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) with its ITTO Year 2000 Objective, and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Malaysia wholly subscribed to the Statement of Principles on Forest under Agenda 21 of UNCED. Furthermore, Malaysia is undertaking bilateral-cooperation forest projects with Denmark, Germany, and Japan to enhance sustainable forest development further.

The Malaysian timber industry contributed 5.3 percent of total export earnings of some RM 17.1 billion in 1999 and steadily increasing to RM 17.7 billion in 2000.

Source: www.bookrags.com