Tema Conference kali ini adalah " Addressing Global Demands and Expection in Forestry. Empat hari persidangan telah menghasilkan 12 Resolution yang akan memberi hala tuju kepada sektor Perhutanan di Malaysia.
Majlis penutupan telah dihadiri oleh Setiausaha kerajaan negeri Sarawak. Beliau ada melahirkan kesangsian bagaimana sektor perhutanan dapat memainkan peranan yang penting Koridor Pembanguanan di Malaysia. Beliau juga menyarankan supaya satu perbincangan perlu di adakan untuk mengkaji Tema-tema Persidangan yang terdahulu dari segi pencapaian yang telah dicapai oleh sektor ini. Beliau juga mencadangkan supaya maklumat dari persidangan ini boleh di ekses melalui internet.
Salah satu kertas kerja yang paling menarik saya adalah tentang Biodiversity credit yang telah di buat oleh Jabatan Hutan Sabah di Ulu Segma Malua. Konsep ini secara ringkasnya pihak luar akan membayar kerajaan sesuatu nilai untuk mengekalkan hutan. Kawasan tersebut adalah kawasan yang berdekat dengan lembah Danum yang kaya dengan flora dan founa. Ia merukan zon pemampan. Terdapat banyak Orang Utan. Saya melihat konsep ini adalah konsep zakat dalam Islam. Ia telah di bawa oleh firma dari Australia. Pengarah Hutan Sabah menyatakan "It's is about Love, Love to nature".
Two firms in biodiversity credit venture
An Australian based forestry investment firm has partnered with the Sabah state government in Malaysia to create financial instruments that will allow palm oil producers to participate in forest conservation.
The agreement between Sydney-based New Forests Pty Ltd and the state in east Malaysia will help protect about a 34,000 hectares in the Malua Forest Reserve, which is home to orangutans, Sumatran rhinos and clouded leopards.
In return for an estimated $US10 million ($A11.4 million) investment to create a "conservation bank", New Forests will sell so-called biodiversity credits in the protected site on the island of Borneo, with the Malaysian government retaining ownership of the forest.
Similar to carbon credits, which create a financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gases, biodiversity credits are tradeable securities that reward activities supporting conservation and the sustainable use of native ecosystems.
It is the first time any Malaysian government has entered into an agreement to deliver wildlife conservation on a commercial basis, New Forests said.
New Forests managing director David Brand said the biodiversity credits will be sold to palm oil producers, energy companies and other businesses involved in the production of biodiesel - a clean burning fuel made from renewable sources such as palm oil.
Mr Brand said the initiative was modelled on the US endangered species banking market, that allows the sale and purchase of endangered species credits to offset the negative impact on those species and their habitats of certain activities.
"Palm oil companies can help protect rainforests, private investment can make a return from rainforest rehabilitation and conservation and the government can offer a solution to current concerns around oil palm plantations," he said.
"We hope that via a commercial approach to conservation, we may be able to contribute to a sustainable landscape on Borneo, that includes palm oil, timber production and wildlife conservation, all being managed on a commercial basis in harmony."
Neighbouring Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil.
Malaysia is expanding rapidly into the palm oil market, but most of the development has occurred in tropical rainforests areas drawing the ire of environmental groups which claim it is contributing to global deforestation.
The Malua Forest Reserve is an integral part of the Ulu Segama-Malua Forest Reserves, one of the largest and most ecologically diverse blocks of natural forest in Sabah.
The Malaysian government plans to terminate logging in the forest by the end of this year and support the future conservation management of the area for wildlife.
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