KUCHING: The state government will make it mandatory for all timber concessions in Sarawak to obtain forest management certification in order to enhance sustainable forest management.
Deputy Chief Minister and Second Minister of Urban Development & Natural Resources, Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah Ali Hasan revealed this in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Global Timber Conference 2017 at Pullman Hotel Kuching here yesterday.
Tengah, who represented Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg at the event, explained that the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) was one of the 37 certified endorsed schemes under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Scheme (PEFC).
MTCS, he added, was an internationally recognised scheme and the first in the Asian Pacific region to be accorded international recognition through its initial five-year endorsement by the PEFC Council in 2009.