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SS AABBAAHH MMAAJJUU JJAAYYAA

M A L A Y S I A S U S T A I N A B L E C O M M U N I T Y

FOREST MANAGEMENTI N S A B A H

M A L A Y S I A S U S T A I N A B L E C O M M U N I T Y

FOREST MANAGEMENTI N S A B A H

SS AABBAAHH MMAAJJUU JJAAYYAA

Published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Malaysia.

© UNDP. All rights reserved.

First published January 2008.

ISBN 983-3904-06-8

United Nations Development ProgrammeWisma UN, Block C, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara,Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.www.undp.org.my

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of UNDP.

The contents may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes with attribution to thecopyright holders.Pictures and graphics are courtesy of UNDP.Maps are not authoritative on boundaries.

Design: Thumb-Print Studio Sdn Bhd.

Worldwide, marginalized forest communities, mostly lacking the most elementary trappings of modern

development, are among the most disadvantaged and underprivileged groups of people. Frequently

comprising indigenous people who are outside the mainstream of national economic and social life,

they often live at a subsistence level that would be unacceptable to other rural and urban dwellers alike.

For many such groups, the forests are crucial in enabling them to meet some or all of their basic needs

through hunting-gathering or shifting cultivation.

Although commonly regarded as unproductive, they provide environmental services important in

combating climate change and protecting water sources, biodiversity, and the natural landscapes prized

by the international community. Yet, despite having an important role in the conservation of natural

resources, these groups encounter problems in preserving their lifestyles and maintaining access to the

forests because of logging, clearing of forests for tree-crop plantations and other agricultural uses, as well

as bureaucratic regulations that inhibit their survival. Assessed in terms of assets or incomes they often live

in extreme poverty.

The Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve Project was set up to assist one such group of people living in Sabah,

the Orang Sungai, to make the most of the resources available to them and to establish cash crops and

other activities that would help provide an income to meet the demands of their changing circumstances.

The project is being undertaken jointly by UNDP and the Sabah Forestry Department over a period of 18

months. It is located in and adjacent to the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve in the Tongod District of central

Sabah. This district includes the western catchment of the Upper Kinabatangan River, Sabah’s longest

river, and constitutes an area of high ecological significance.

The project focuses on four kampungs or villages occupied by Orang Sungai who are amongst the

poorest inhabitants in the whole of Malaysia. These villages are extremely isolated, reached by river or

unformed and disused logging tracks, and apart from a school, lacking in most community facilities and

amenities, such as reticulated electricity, water, and sewage. Farming, including shifting cultivation,

constitutes the primary occupation of the households. Most families cultivate upland rice in rotation with a

few other crops. Under the project, upland rice is being complemented by the planting of rubber trees that

in about five or six years’ time will provide a steady financial return. Finding alternative ways of earning an

income is difficult because of the poor roads, lack of other infrastructure and the difficulty of accessing

suitable markets.

The project is promoting the objectives of the Ninth Malaysia Plan, 2006–2010, which aims to eradicate

hardcore poverty and halve overall poverty throughout Malaysia by 2010. Under the Plan, new and

improved institutional mechanisms and welfare programmes are being pursued specifically to eliminate

rural poverty and to generate projects and economic opportunities in disadvantaged areas, such as central

Sabah. This project is setting precedents by its grassroots approach, working directly with the

communities especially women, to establish particular needs, determine aspirations, support agricultural

enterprises, and promote cottage industries.

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F o r e w o r d

iv

The UNDP and the Sabah Department of Forestry are cooperating on the Mangkuwagu

Forest Reserve Project with the aim of bringing the problems encountered by forest

communities to the fore and for them to be addressed in an integrated way as part of the

state’s development agenda. The main objective is to help develop an enabling

environment at the state and district levels to facilitate the implementation of community-

based forestry involving greater participation of local communities in the sustainable

forestry programme. Furthermore, concentration on these groups is providing a

demonstration project for the development of rural impoverished groups in other parts of

Malaysia and elsewhere around the globe.

This volume is the fifth in a series of periodic publications that report on UNDP

Malaysia’s work in its energy and environment practice area. The large range of projects

being undertaken in this portfolio is designed to support Malaysia’s efforts to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals 1 and 7, to eradicate poverty and ensure environmental

sustainability.

I would like to thank the Sabah Forestry Department and the State government of

Sabah, for their support in implementing this project. I would especially like to thank

members of the State Project Steering Committee and the stakeholders from Kg.

Mangkuwagu, Alitang, Sagoun and Tampasak for their commitment to the project. I would

also like to express my sincere appreciation to all project participants and members of the

Project Team as listed on page viii, led by Ms. Ginny Ng, for their commitment to the

success of the project and for putting this publication together. I sincerely hope that it will

be widely read and will increase awareness of the critical importance of community

forestry and its role in providing alternative livelihoods for reducing extreme poverty.

Richard Leete PhD

Resident Representative

United Nations Development Programme

Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam

C o n t e n t s

Foreword

Boxes, Tables, Figures and Map

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Participants

Outstanding Economic Success is Distributed Unevenly Across Malaysia

IntroductionPopulation Growth

A Profile of SabahThe EconomyThe PeopleThe Incidence of PovertySabah’s ForestsForestry is a Major Natural AssetSabah’s Forestry PolicyForest Reserves

Sustainable Forest ManagementThe Deramakot Forest Reserve ProjectDevelopment of the Sabah government’s sustainablemanagement strategy

Community Forestry in SabahProgrammes of the Sabah Forestry DepartmentThe Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve ProjectWhat is the Purpose of the Project?Which Communities are Involved?Life in the Villages

Summary of the Key Issues of the ProjectProgress So FarComplementary Projects

Lessons LearntChallenges

Sources of InformationPublicationsInternet

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vi

vii

viii

1

4

13

16

27

33

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B o x e sBox 1 Forests in Malaysia

Box 2 Classification of Sabah’s forest reserves

Box 3 Planned key outputs of the project

Box 4 Education and literacy

Box 5 Small Grants Programmes

T a b l e sTable 1 Population of Malaysia by region, 1957–2005

Table 2 Ethnic communities in Sabah

Table 3 Poverty rates in states with the highest rates, Malaysia 2004

Table 4 Poverty among ethnic groups in Sabah, 2004

Table 5 Summary of Sabah’s forest reserve classes by area

Table 6 Populations of the villages in the Mangkuwagu Project, March/May 2007

F i g u r e sFigure 1 Mean monthly household income per capita in Malaysia, 1985, 1990, 1999 and 2004

Figure 2 Importance of forest for different groups of people living or near them

M a pMap 1 States and state capitals of Malaysia

Map 2 Forest reserves and other forest land in Sabah

Map 3 Tangkulap-Sg Pinangah forest development project FMU no. 17

Map 4 Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve and villages

B o x e s , Ta b l e s , F i g u r e s a n d M a p

vi

A b b r e v i a t i o n s a n d A c r o n y m s

vii

CBO Community-Based Organization

DANCED Danish Corporation on Development and Environment

DFR Deramakot Forest Reserve

EC European Commission

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

FMP Forest Management Plan

FMU Forest Management Unit

GEF Global Environment Facility

GRID Gana Resettlement and Integrated Development

GTZ Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit German Agency for Technical Cooperation

HCVF High Conservation Value Forest

ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization

JFM Joint Forest Management

KFR Kelawat Forest Reserve

LIGS Lembaga Industri Getah Sabah (Sabah Rubber Industry Board)

NFC National Forestry Council

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NLC National Land Council

PPM Projek Perhutanan Malaysia

SAFODA Sabah Forest Development Authority

SEARCA SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Studyand Research in Agriculture

SFD Sabah Forestry Department

SFM Sustainable Forest Management

SFMLA Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreement

SGP Small Grants Programme

SGP PTF Small Grants Programme for Operations to Promote Tropical Forests

SGS Société Générale de Surveillance(global certification company)

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

I n s t i t u t i o n a l P a r t i c i p a n t sExecuting Agency Natural Resource Office, Chief Minister’s Department,

Sabah

Implementing Agency Sabah Forestry Department

State Project Steering Natural Resource and Environment Section, Committee Economic Planning Unit

U N D P / S F D T e a mNational Project Director Mr Jeflus Sinajin, Head, Sustainable Forest Management

Division, Sabah Forestry Department

Programme Manager Ms Ginny Ng, UNDP

Project Manager Mr Richard Taumas

R e p o r t T e a mMs Ginny Ng UNDP Programme Manager

Mr Richard Taumas Project Manager

Professor Warwick Neville University of Auckland, Consultant

S t a k e h o l d e r sSabah Forestry Department

District Office, Tongod

Sub-district of Telupid

Partners for Community Organisations (PACOS)

Sabah Rubber Industries Board (LIGS)

WWF-Malaysia

Villagers from: Kampung Mangkuwagu, Kampung Alitang, Kampung Saguon, and Kampung Tampasak

P a r t i c i p a n t s

viii

I n t r o d u c t i o nMalaysia celebrated 50 years ofindependence in 2007, by which time it hadachieved an enviable growth performancethat has led to rising prosperity, a growingmiddle class, and high human development(Leete, 2007). At independence, Malaysiahad a number of favourable initial conditionsfor economic growth, including its physicalgeography, natural resources, and strategiclocation in Southeast Asia. Economicgrowth has been driven by high levels ofdomestic savings and investment togetherwith public investment in infrastructure andthe social sectors.

In the decades since independence,Malaysia has experienced a majortransformation of its economy. Up until the1970s, Malaysia was mainly a primaryproducer of agricultural and mineralproducts – the world’s leading exporter ofnatural rubber, tin, and palm oil, and animportant exporter of timber, natural gas,and petroleum. By the late 1980s it had

become a leading global manufacturer ofelectrical and electronic products. Furtherprocessing and manufacture of itsresource-based products had alsoexpanded and the services sector hascontinued to expand and diversify.

However, the benefits of economicgrowth are seldom evenly distributedacross a country, particularly one as largeas Malaysia. The most industrialized andurbanized states, especially those withwell-developed physical infrastructure,have benefited the most. The lessdeveloped states that have remainedlargely rural have lagged behind on alleconomic and social indicators. On thepeninsula, the east coast and northernstates, especially the agricultural, relativelysparsely populated and predominantlyMalay states, have experienced limitedindustrialization and steady out migration.Despite their rich and diverse naturalresources, Sabah and Sarawak havealways been among the country’s least

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O u t s t a n d i n g E c o n o m i c S u c c e s s i sD i s t r i b u t e d U n e v e n l y A c r o s s M a l a y s i a

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developed states. It is hardly surprising,then, that it is in the north and east of thepeninsula and in the states of Sabah andSarawak that substantial pockets of severepoverty continue to be found.

In the late 1950s, almost three-quartersof the Malay population and the bulk of theindigenous communities in Sabah andSarawak, earned their living in low-incomeoccupations, through rubber or paddyfarming, or through fishing. These activitieswere associated with small farms, highrents, low yields, and low boat and netownership. Rural poverty tended tomanifest itself in land fragmentation,extreme indebtedness, and chronic landtenancy problems that reinforced the low nutrition, low education, and low

productivity of rural households. Althoughpoverty has been primarily associated withMalays and indigenous groups, ruralChinese and Indians have also beenaffected, but because much largerproportions of both of these groups havebeen urban, the scale and severity havegenerally been less.

M A L A Y S I A S U S T A I N A B L E C O M M U N I T Y F O R E S T M A N A G E M E N T I N S A B A H

KELANTAN

PAHANG

TERENGGANU

MELAKA

SARAWAK

SABAH

LABUAN

INDONESIA

SINGAPORE

THAILAND

NEGERI SEMBILAN

SELANGOR

PULAUPINANG

PERLISKangar

Georgetown

South China Sea

Strait of Malacca

Sulu Sea

Alor Setar

Ipoh

Kuala LumpurPutrajaya Seremban

Kuantan

Kuala Terengganu

Kota Bahru

Johor Bahru

Kuching

Sibu

Bintulu

Miri

Kota KinabaluSandakan

Tawau

JOHOR

PERAK

KEDAH

International boundaryState (negeri) boundaryState CapitalMajor TownNorth-South HighwayEast-Cost Highway

0 100 200 300KM

N

Map 1 States and state capitals of Malaysia

Malaysia’s poverty rate has declineddramatically over the 50 years sinceindependence, and the country is on theverge of eliminating absolute poverty. In1957, more than half of Malaysia’shouseholds were living below the nationalpoverty line, but by 2004, the nationalpoverty rate was below 6 percent. Povertyamong Chinese and Indians has almostbeen eradicated. But a degree of poverty,some of it described as hardcore, remainsamong pockets of rural Malays andespecially among other indigenousgroups, persisting in the same states asbefore, and demanding continuing effortsfor its elimination.

P o p u l a t i o n G r o w t hPopulation growth has been very unevenacross Malaysia in the 50 years sinceindependence, with a steady shift in theproportional distribution from PeninsularMalaysia to East Malaysia. Throughout,population growth rate has been highest inSabah, with numbers increasing from just410,000 in 1960 to more than 3 million in 2005. The share of Malaysia’s populationliving in Sabah doubled from 5.6 percent in 1957 to 11.5 percent in 2005. No otherstate in Malaysia has increased its share by such a magnitude. The relatively highfertility of the indigenous communities hasbeen augmented by very high levels ofinternational labour migration, both legaland illegal, from neighbouring Indonesiaand the Philippines. With the passage oftime, many of these labour migrants whogenerally work on the state’s extensive oilpalm plantations, and to a lesser extent in

the declining timber industry, have becomeMalaysian citizens.

The consequence of these changes, andof similar trends in neighbouring Sarawak,means that these much lesser developedEast Malaysian states, which comprise 60percent of the land area of Malaysia, nowaccount for just over 20 percent of the country’s population, compared with 15 percent 50 years ago.

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O U T S T A N D I N G E C O N O M I C S U C C E S S I S D I S T R I B U T E D U N E V E N L Y A C R O S S M A L A Y S I A

Source: Leete, 2007, Table 2.1

Year Peninsular Sabah Sarawak MalaysiaMalaysia

Number (000)1957 6,278.8 410.5 693.2 7,382.51970 8,809.5 653.6 976.3 10,439.41980 11,426.6 1,011.0 1,307.6 13,745.21991 14,797.6 1,863.7 2,071.5 18,379.72000 18,523.2 2,679.4 2,071.5 23,274.72005 20,799.8 3,015.2 2,312.6 26,127.7

Distribution (percent)1957 85.0 5.6 9.4 1001970 84.4 6.3 9.4 1001980 83.1 7.4 9.5 1001991 80.5 10.1 9.3 1002000 79.6 11.5 8.9 1002005 79.6 11.5 8.9 100

Average annual growth rate (percent)1957–1970 2.6 4.7 2.6 2.71970–1980 2.2 3.8 2.4 2.31980–1991 2.4 5.6 2.5 2.61991–2000 2.5 4.0 2.1 2.62000–2005 2.3 2.4 2.2 2.3

Table 1 Population of Malaysia by region, 1957–2005

T h e e c o n o m ySabah is sparsely populated, heavily forestedover much of its land surface, and wasrelatively neglected until the later decades ofthe twentieth century. For the most part,alluvial plains are succeeded inland byundulating hill country and a sharply risingmountainous interior. The river valley floodplains and coastal plains form only a smallproportion of the total area, but it is here thatmost of the state’s limited settlement, roadand extensive river transport networks, andagriculture are concentrated.

Agricultural production has becomeincreasingly based on oil palm plantationsand logging, and to a lesser extent onrubber and other crops. Significant butconsiderably diminished proportions of thestate remain under tropical forest, parts ofwhich are designated as national parks, andthe state’s outstanding biodiversity attractsecotourism and international scientificattention. Sabah has large oil and gasreserves that are being utilized, but hasattracted only modest levels of investmentbeyond this sector and plantationagriculture. The manufacturing sector isvery small and has tended to concentrateon natural resource-based industries.

Despite remaining significantly lessdeveloped than Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah,like its fellow East Malaysian state, Sarawak,has experienced a modest degree ofdevelopment progress in recent decades.The proportion of persons engaged inagricultural occupations has declined asurban areas have grown. Urbanization on asmall scale has been concentrated in KotaKinabalu and Sandakan.

Nevertheless, compared with the otherstates of Malaysia, poverty and inequality

are by far the most severe in Sabah, whichhas experienced fairly modest growth ratesin GDP compared to the national average,and in relation to its rapid populationgrowth. With the passing of the peak of thetimber boom of the 1970s to early 1990s,lack of effective economic diversification,and low investment, unemployment ratesrose to about 6 percent in 2000–2005.Although Sabah’s oil palm industry isflourishing, it relies heavily on low-costimmigrant labour from Indonesia tomaintain its competitive advantage.Furthermore, especially because of weakgovernance, poverty-reducing programmeshave been limited in outreach.

T h e p e o p l eThe people of Sabah are ethnically morediverse than the population of PeninsularMalaysia. The indigenous people comprisemany distinct groups with differingcharacteristics and settlement patterns.Some groups are similar in appearance to Malays, to whom they are related, but they have different dialects/languages andreligions. Although the indigenous groupsare not Malays, they too are classified asBumiputera, or ‘sons of the soil’.

As on the peninsula, the composition of

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A P r o f i l e o f S a b a h

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A P R O F I L E O F S A B A H

Sabah’s population has also been affectedby immigration from southern China, fromSulawesi and Kalimantan in Indonesia, andfrom the islands of the southern Philippines.While some groups, such as the Chinese,are long established, Sabah’s expandingplantation sector is expected to continue tohave a continuing demand and attractionfor new migrant labour.

The largest indigenous community, theKadazans/Dusuns, are mainly Christians,and are present in significant numbers inthe towns as well as in traditional ruralareas. The Bajaus, a predominantly Muslimcommunity found on Sabah’s east and west coast, predominantly in Kota Belud,Petagas and Putatan, are primarily engagedin fishing and smallholding farming. TheChinese mostly arrived during the period ofBritish colonial rule and are mainly locatedin and around the main urban areas.Although originating from several provinces

in southern China, they are a more homo-genous group than the indigenous population, sharing a common writtenlanguage and culture, as well as similarcustoms. Many of the Chinese, particularly theHakka, the largest dialect group, were initiallyfarmers and estate labourers, but witheconomic development they have increasinglyengaged in commerce, industry and the service sector. The Chinese have longbeen more educationally and economicallyadvanced than the indigenous peoples.

1 The 1980 census categorized all indigenous ethnic communities as Pribumi.2 Before 1991, ‘Others’ included mainly Indians and others, such as Europeans, but from 1991 it also included Filipinos.Source: Leete, 2007, Table 2.4.

Community 1960 1970 1980 1991 2000Malay 0.4 2.8 6.6 12.4Kadazans/Dusuns 32.0 28.1 18.4 18.1Bajaus 13.1 11.9 82.91 11.4 13.0Muruts 4.9 4.7 2.9 3.2Other Indigenous 20.0 23.0 14.5 14.9Indonesians 5.5 6.0 7.6 no dataChinese 23.0 21.3 16.2 11.7 10.1Others2 1.3 2.2 0.9 1.9 4.8Non-Malaysian no data no data no data 24.9 23.5citizensTotal percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0Total numbers 454.4 653.6 1,011.0 1,863.7 2,679.6

Table 2 Ethnic communities in Sabah

T h e i n c i d e n c e o f p o v e r t yMalaysia’s poor are predominantlyconcentrated in the states of Sabah,Terengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak and Kedahwhere 75 percent of Malaysia’s 300,000households living below the nationalpoverty line were located in 2004.

The poor in the states with the highestpoverty rates are relatively less accessibleand more disconnected from markets, less politically powerful, and generally donot even enjoy titled land rights. They lack adequate human capital: adequateeducation, good nutrition and good health,including reproductive health. Child povertyrates are high as a result of relatively high fertility levels among the poor ruralhouseholds, and the poor appear to be locked into an intergenerational cycle of poverty.

The rural indigenous communities inSabah and Sarawak are the country’s most impoverished groups, despite theabundance of natural resource wealth,including oil and gas, in these two states.These communities have not benefitednoticeably from the New Economic Policy’saffirmative action provisions (Leete, 2007).Large public sector investments areneeded, especially in rural electrificationand other physical infrastructure. Suchinvestments, coupled with improvededucation and health facilities, would helpcreate decent employment opportunitiesand contribute towards eradicatingextreme poverty in these communities.Few Chinese households are below thepoverty line in Sabah.

The most striking feature of poverty inSabah is its persistent high level and slow

decline. This can largely be attributed to itsmore unequal income distribution, its higherincidence of hardcore and rural poverty, andthe less developed state of its economy.Poverty levels exceed 20 percent amongvirtually all of Sabah’s indigenous ethnicgroups, and are commonly above 30-40percent (Table 4). With an incidence of over41 percent, the Orang Sungai are amongthe poorest in Sabah, and are stillcharacterised by a large element (over 10percent) of hardcore poverty.

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Source: Leete, 2007, Table 2.1.

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

4002004

1985

200

0

N.Se

mbi

lan

Figure 1Mean monthly gross household income per capita in Malaysia, 1985, 1990,1999 and 2004

Source: Leete, 2007, p.147.

State Poverty rate (%)Sabah 23Terengganu 15Kelantan 11Sarawak 8Kedah 7Malaysia 5.7

Table 3Poverty rates in states with the highestrates, Malaysia 2004

S a b a h ’ s F o r e s t sAbout 4.45 million hectares or 60 percentof Sabah is currently under forest cover. Inrecent decades, forests have provided animportant source of revenue for the state,contributing in excess of 50 percent of thestate total from the 1970s through to theearly 1990s. This heavy reliance on foreststo contribute to the welfare anddevelopment of the state has resulted inabout 93 percent of the production forestreserves now being cutover or undersecondary forest. Timber production, themain source of revenue from the forest,plummeted from a high of about 12 millioncubic metres (m3) in the early 1980s toabout 5.9 million m3 in 2006: 5.3 million m3

from natural forest and 0.6 million m3 fromplantation forest. In 2006, total forestrevenue was RM505 million, contributing22.3 percent of Sabah’s total revenue, andgenerating about 47,200 jobs. Continueddeclines in timber production areanticipated over the next five years, furtherreducing the contribution of forest revenueto the expanding development needs ofthe state.

While the state government is currentlyundertaking measures to developalternative sources of revenue, it is alsocommitted to rectifying this deterioratingforestry situation, and returning the forest to

greater profitability through sustainableforest management practices. This isconsistent with the national commitment toachieve the International Tropical TimberOrganization’s Objective ‘to implement astrategy for achieving exports of tropicaltimber and timber products fromsustainably managed sources’.

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There is a long tradition of measuring and monitoring absolute poverty inMalaysia. This is defined by reference to a threshold poverty line income (PLI)based on the minimum standard of living a household ought to enjoy in termsof an index based on (1) food and (2) non-food components. The proportion ofhouseholds living below this threshold PLI determines the poverty rate.Households are deemed to be living in hardcore poverty if their total income isbelow the food component of the PLI. Hardcore poverty is acute in rural Sabah.

P o v e r t y d e f i n e d

Source: Kwok, 2007, Table 2.18.

Rungus 58.2 1.6 8.8 19.3Orang Sungai 41.1 6.5 5.2 10.2Sulu/Suluk 35.3 4.8 4.7 9.0Murut 34.3 3.3 6.7 14.3Bajau 33.7 19.2 4.4 9.7Other Bumiputera 31.7 10.7 4.1 7.4Tidong 30.6 1.8 4.0 10.0Kadazan/Dusun 27.7 24.1 4.0 9.2Malay 20.1 13.3 1.5 2.6Other 20.1 0.9 2.7 5.7Bisaya 17.5 0.8 1.0 0Chinese 3.1 2.2 0.2 0.3

Table 4 Poverty among ethnic groups in Sabah, 2004

Ethnic group Incidence Share of Poverty Incidence of poor severity of hardcore

poverty households index poverty(%) (%) (%) (%)

F o r e s t r y i s a M a j o rN a t u r a l A s s e tMalaysia, as a federation of states, hasthree main levels of government: federal,state and local authority, and each of thesehas specified areas of jurisdiction. Two ofthe important matters in which the stateshave a high degree of autonomy are landand forestry. Article 74 (2) of the FederalConstitution confers on each stategovernment the authority to independentlyenact laws or to formulate forest policy.Federal departments have authority onlyover such matters as forestry research,training and allocation of technicalassistance to the states. To optimizestandardization in the formulation andimplementation of national policies onforestry, a National Forestry Council (NFC) was established by the National Land Council (NLC). The NLC had beenestablished under Article 91 of theConstitution to formulate national policiesfor the promotion and control of theutilization of land throughout the country formining, agriculture, forestry and other land uses.

The objective of the NFC is to coordinatethe planning, management and develop-ment of forest resources and to guideprogrammes for management, production,industrial development, utilization andconservation of Malaysia’s forests. It alsoserves as a forum for the federal and stategovernments to discuss and resolve issues pertaining to forestry policies,administration and management. Apartfrom its policies and administrative role, theNFC also sets the annual allowable cut for

each state. However, since 1992, the NLChas taken a more direct, if limited,interventionist interest in forestry matters.

A National Forestry Act had beengazetted in 1984 and adopted forimplementation by the states of PeninsularMalaysia, providing for the establishmentand protection of Permanent ForestEstates. This Act was amended in 1993, in an effort to curb the rising incidence of offences against forestry regulations.However, the states of Sabah and Sarawak had their own, independentlegislation, and have followed autonomouspaths, differing from each other and from Peninsular Malaysia in many respects.

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The official definition of‘forest’ adopted in Malaysiadiffers from the Food andAgriculture Organization(FAO) definition whichexcludes areas underagricultural crops (such asrubber and oil palm). InMalaysia, however, theareas under rubber andother tree crops arefrequently regarded as‘plantation forest’.

D e f i n i n g ‘ f o r e s t s ’

S a b a h ’ s F o r e s t r y P o l i c yForestry policy in Sabah has beenformulated to cater for the needs of allstakeholders in Sabah, and is in conformitywith the internationally accepted practicesof sustainable forest resource managementand development.

The goal of this policy is to achievesustainable management of the state’sforest resources. The strategies, adopted in2005 to achieve this aim, are to:• declare sufficient land, strategically

located throughout Sabah, as PermanentForest Reserve in accordance with theconcept of rational land use;

• manage the Permanent Forest Reservesso as to maximize social, economic andenvironmental benefits for the state and its people in accordance with the principles of sustainable forestmanagement;

• pursue forest development programmesthrough forest conservation andrehabilitation operations in accordancewith approved silvicultural practices tooptimize productivity of the PermanentForest Reserves;

• ensure proper utilisation of forestresources from land that is not classifiedas Permanent Forest Reserves throughcareful planning and in cooperation withland development agencies before theland is alienated, in order to maximize thereturns by means of suitable harvestingand processing methods;

• promote efficient harvesting and utilisationof all types of forests and to stimulate thedevelopment of appropriate forest-basedindustries so as to maximize resourceutilization, create employment opportunitiesand generate foreign exchange earnings;

• encourage the development of trade inforest products;

• encourage Bumiputera participation inforest and wood-based industries;

• undertake and support intensive researchprogrammes in forestry developmentaimed at achieving optimum yield andreturns from harvesting and utilisation ofthe Permanent Forest Reserves, as wellas maximising the return of investmentfrom forestry development activities;

• undertake and support comprehensivetraining programmes in forestry at alllevels to provide adequate trainedpersonnel to meet the needs of theforestry sector;

• encourage private sector participation atall levels of forestry research and trainingwith a view to enhancing professionalismin forestry and forest industries;

• foster better understanding among thegeneral public of the multiple values of the

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Nearly sixty per cent of Malaysia’s land area remains in forest

• in 2005, 19.5 million hectares, or 59.5 percent of Malaysia’s land area, wasunder forest cover;

• of this total, 14.4 million hectares were permanent reserved forest and 3.2 million hectares were totally protected areas;

• of the permanent reserved forest, about three-quarters are production forestsand one quarter protection forests;

• in addition, 310,550 hectares of plantation forest have been established:75,800 hectares in Peninsular Malaysia, 174,750 hectares in Sabah, and60,000 hectares in Sarawak;

• the forest reserves are managed with the objective of maintaining the forestecosystem in perpetuity while allowing for the use of forest products andservices.

Box 1 Forests in Malaysia

Source of statistics: Ninth Malaysia Plan, 2006-2010.

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forest through education and publicawareness programmes;

• utilise information and communicationtechnology for the efficient managementof the state’s forest resources;

• foster close relationships and cooperationat the international level to enhance forestdevelopment and management of thestate’s forest resources.

F o r e s t R e s e r v e sFollowing earlier legislation, the ParksEnvironment Enactment (1984) repealedthe National Parks Enactment (1977) and allfive ‘national parks’ existing at the time werereconstituted as ‘state parks’ to ensure thatthey remained under state jurisdiction. Suchareas are intended for both natureconservation and recreation and may

PERMANENT FOREST ESTATES

INDUSTRIAL TIMBER PLANTATION

Class I – Protection Forest ReserveClass II – Commercial Forest ReserveClass III – Domestic Forest ReserveClass IV – Amenity Forest Reserve

Sabah Forest Industries (Sipitang Forest Reserve)KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd (Segaliud-Lukan Forest Reserve)SAFODASSSB

118,000 Ha.57,240 Ha.61,109 Ha.60,700 Ha.

Class V – Mangrove Forest Reserve

PLANTATIONFELDASLDB (Borneo Samudera)Permanent Forest BoundariesMain RoadsGrid Line

Class VI – Virgin Jungle ReserveClass VII – Wildlife ReserveWildlife ParksParks

2,686,119 Ha.342,216 Ha.

7,355 Ha.20,767 Ha.

316,024 Ha.90,382 Ha.

132,653 Ha.30,708 Ha.

245,172 Ha.FMU 17 82,105 Ha.

TEAK PLANTATION F.R.

Scale 1:1,270,000N

KARAKIT F.R.

1

1

2

3

4 5

1312

11

10

9

GUM-GUM F.R.

SIBUGA F.R.

QUOIN HILL F.R.

BALD HILL F.R.

7

8

9

BARADAYA F.R.

BABANGA F.R.

MILLI NONUM F.R.KUKUSAN F.R.

10

11

1213

MESAPOL F.R.

SOSOPODON F.R.

TATAHAN F.R.

TAMPARULI F.R.

6

5

4

3

2

6

7 8

Map 2 Forest reserves and other forest land in Sabah

Source: Sabah Forestry Department.

11


Classification of reserves

Class I – Protection Forest: Forest conserved for the protection of watersheds and maintenanceof stability of soil, water conservation, and other environmental factors. Logging is not permittedin these areas. There are 342,848 ha of Protection Forest in 44 locations throughout Sabah.

Class II –Production Forest: Forest allocated for logging to supply timber and other producecontributing to the state’s economy. Logging is to be carried out according to Sustainable ForestManagement principles. Collectively there are 2,683,480 hectares of Production (sometimesknown as Commercial) Forest Reserves in 31 locations throughout Sabah.

Class III – Domestic Forest: The produce from this forest, including small amounts of timber,is for the consumption of local communities only and commercial use is discouraged. In totalthere are 7,355 hectares of Domestic Forest Reserve in 10 locations throughout Sabah.

Class IV – Amenity Forest: Forest providing amenity and recreational potential for localinhabitants. Recreational facilities may be provided in attractive sites, notably along roadsides,within these reserves. Exotic tree species are sometimes planted to enhance the amenity value of these areas. Small areas are often used for trials and research plots. Many such areas havebeen logged in the past. Collectively there are 21,092 hectares of amenity Forest Reserves in 14 locations in Sabah.

Class V – Mangrove Forest: Forest supplying mangrove timber and other produce to meetgeneral trade demands. There are a number of varieties but the Rhizophora species is the most commonly harvested, and products utilizing mangrove wood range from fishing stakes tofirewood and charcoal. Collectively, there are 315,874 hectares of Mangrove Forest Reserves in 17 locations scattered throughout Sabah.

Class VI – Virgin Jungle Forest: Forest conserved intact strictly for forestry research purposesincluding biodiversity and genetic conservation. Logging is strictly prohibited in this type of forestreserve although, in practice, some logging has taken place illegally. The Sepilok Virgin JungleReserve in Sandakan covers 4,000 hectares and is one of the largest tracts of undisturbedlowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah. There are 91,914 hectares of Virgin Forest Reserves in 50 locations scattered throughout Sabah.

Class VII – Wildlife Reserve: Forest conserved primarily for the protection and research ofwildlife. The Sumatran Rhinoceros is one of the endangered wild animals living in the WildlifeReserves. There are two Wildlife Reserves together totalling 132,653 hectares: the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and the Kulamba Wildlife Reserve, both located on the Dent Peninsula on the east coast of Sabah.

Production forest can be selectively logged under licence, but other areas cannot be loggedlegally without state authority.

Box 2 Classification of Sabah’s forest reserves

include marine areas not covered by thefederal Fisheries Act (1985).

The total area of forests gazetted asforest reserves in Sabah is about 3.59million hectares. Under the Forests(Amendment) Enactment (1984), whichamended the Forest Enactment (1968),forest reserves are classified into categorieson a seven-point scale to facilitate optimalforest management and control.

12

Source: Sabah Forestry Department, 2006.

Class

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

Protection

Production

Domestic

Amenity

Mangrove

Virgin Jungle

Wildlife

Total

342,848

2,683,480

7,355

21,092

315,874

91,914

132,653

3,595,216

Type of Reserve Area (hectares)

Table 5Summary of Sabah’s forest reserveclasses by area


Efforts to place Sabah’s forest underSustainable Forest Management (SFM) had started in 1986 when an FAO/UNDP Forest Sector Planning Projectwas commissioned. An SFM modelwas developed as an output of theMalaysian/German Sustainable ForestManagement Project undertaken from 1989 to 2000, known as the Deramakotmodel for sustainable management.

T h e D e r a m a k o t F o r e s tR e s e r v e p r o j e c tIn 1989, acknowledging the reality ofserious forest depletion, the Sabah Forestry Department, with technicalsupport from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), developed amanagement system aimed at sustainableproduction of timber from local forests. Thesystem required substantial investment inforest planning, infrastructure, low-impactharvesting equipment, and training offoresters, managers and forest workers in new techniques.

The objective was to begin theapplication of ecologically and scientificallyacceptable forest management for Sabah’scutover (Class II) Production ForestReserves. The intent was to manage theproduction forest reserves in a way thatmimics natural processes in order toachieve production of low volume, highquality, high value timber products. For thispurpose, sustainability was defined in termsof balanced nutrient cycles, forest structure,biodiversity, forest function and socio-economic needs. Deramakot ForestReserve was chosen as the experimentalsite for achieving a model, sustainablymanaged forest.

Deramakot Forest Reserve comprises55,083 hectares of mixed Dipterocarpforest. The forest has been logged at leastonce with subsequent silvicultural treatment(namely poison girdling) before thecommencement of the SFM measures.Past forest management practices hadresulted in a very heterogeneous stand oftree types and a patchwork of differentstocking qualities and conditions. Only 20 percent of the area was considered wellstocked and more than 30 percent wascovered by very poor forest with virtually nomature growing stock left. The forest was uninhabited apart from a few smallhuman settlements located at the fringes ofthe Reserve.

13

S u s t a i n a b l e F o r e s t M a n a g e m e n t

The process of managing forests to achieve one or more clearly specifiedobjectives of management with regard to the production of a continuous flowof desired forest products and services, without undue reduction of its inherentvalue and future productivity, and without undue undesirable effects on thephysical and social environments.

International Tropical Timber Organization

S u s t a i n a b l e f o r e s t m a n a g e m e n t

14


These characteristics made the DeramakotForest Reserve an ideal site for thedevelopment of an SFM model. Under the Comprehensive Forest Management Plan, about 51,000 hectares weredesignated for log production and theremaining 4,000 hectares for conservation.

The Deramakot Forest Reservecollaborative project continued until 2000when the applicability of the principles ofsustainable management had been clearly established and management washanded over entirely to the Sabah Forestry Department. The concept thatwas developed takes cognisance of themultiple functions and uses of forests, withstrong emphasis on future productivity,environmental impact, and the economicsof forest operation. A comprehensiveplanning procedure implementing guide-lines and monitoring management atvarious levels was introduced to resolve thenumerous economic, social, environmentaland technical challenges of sustainableforest management.

In 1997, the scheme was audited bySGS Forestry Malaysia and certified as

complying with the requirements of theMalaysian Criteria and Indicators and theForestry Stewardship Council’s Standardsfor Sustainable Forest Management.Deramakot Forest Reserve was the firstnatural tropical rainforest in Southeast Asiato be recognized for best managementpractice in accordance with sustainableforestry principles.

D e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e S a b a hg o v e r n m e n t ’ s s u s t a i n a b l em a n a g e m e n t s t r a t e g ySustainable forest management (SFM)having been successfully implemented inDeramakot Forest Reserve, the aims andmeasures undertaken there were adoptedas the basis for the Sabah stategovernment’s SFM strategy announced in1997, as follows:• all measures within the state’s means will

be taken to ensure healthy forests arepassed on to future generations;

• forests will be managed on an integratedbasis, supporting a full range of uses andvalues including timber production,habitat for wildlife, and wilderness areas;

15

S U S T A I N A B L E F O R E S T M A N A G E M E N T

• a multitude of economic benefits will begenerated from various forest productsand services; and ecotourism andrecreation will be supported within aframework of sound ecological and socialprinciples and practices;

• advanced training, skills and educationwill be provided to those employed inforest-related activities, and stable,fulfilling employment opportunities willadd to their quality of life;

• through consultation, mutual respect,sharing of information and clear andharmonious relationships among allstakeholders of forests, trust andagreement will be brought about and theeffectiveness of forest conservation,management and industrial developmentwill be improved; and continuousresearch programmes will be carried outto improve SFM techniques.

Given the appropriate policy framework,and the success of the Deramakot ForestReserve project, the Sabah stategovernment extended the model by invitingthe private sector to participate. This wasimplemented in 1997 when the stategovernment entered into an agreement withten private companies, issuing them withlong-term sustainable forest licences underthe Sustainable Forest ManagementLicence Agreement (SFMLA) for access tothe Forest Management Units (FMUs). Thisis a unique example of a government/private sector partnership working towardsa common goal to practise sustainableforestry. Such a partnership is also seen asa vehicle for expediting further SFMadaptation and implementation.

Currently there are 16 such licence

agreements involving 22 Forest Manage-ment Units and covering about 2.3 millionhectares of the state’s production forestreserves. These private companies, inconjunction with the Sabah ForestryDepartment, are required to manage theproduction forest reserves within theirrespective FMUs in accordance with theaccepted principles of sustainable forestmanagement. These agreements give theSFMLA holders the right to manage theirrespective SFMLA areas for a period of 100 years. This was done to ensure that thefuture development of the state’s forestwould be optimized economically,environmentally and socially.

Despite the major advances made in developing and implementing thesesustainable management principles, severalconstraints remain. These include:• the high cost of undertaking sustainable

forest management; • lack of trained and skilled human

resources; • the presence of local communities in the

sustainable forest management licenceareas;

• continued demand from the woodprocessing industries.

16

C o m m u n i t y F o r e s t r y i n S a b a h

P r o g r a m m e s o f t h e S a b a hF o r e s t r y D e p a r t m e n tOne of the key challenges to be addressedin the course of implementing SFM is theissue of local communities living within andadjacent to the forest reserves. In Sabah,there are about 20,000 people living withinforest reserves state wide, and anundetermined number on the fringes of theforest reserves that also exert pressure onthe forest resources. Most of these peopleare defined as ‘hardcore poor’, having littleor no access to facilities or amenitiesgenerally regarded as basic and essential todaily living, and experiencing below averagehealth and educational standards. Many arestill practising shifting cultivation orrudimentary cultivation methods to meettheir daily needs. For people in thesecircumstances, the forests offer anattractive resource, but this places theforests under threat of encroachment anddegradation. If left unchecked this may leadto further forest damage and reducedeconomic options for the communitiesconcerned.

Government agencies play a crucial rolein community forestry programmes byproviding technical support, education,regulation and services. The Sabah ForestryDepartment has undertaken a variety ofmeasures to safeguard the forests fromfurther degradation while simultaneouslyproviding opportunities for the affectedcommunities to improve their livingconditions and livelihoods. One of thesemeasures is the introduction of communityforestry projects – a concept beingimplemented in several key areas in Sabah.The community forestry project entails theprovision of housing and basic amenities for

the affected community together with theintroduction of agroforestry.

Indigenous forest-based communitiesFor many indigenous communities, theforests they have traditionally lived in or nearare still crucial in meeting their basic needsthrough hunting and gathering. Significantnumbers still practise traditional swiddenagriculture (shifting cultivation), fishing andother subsistence-based activities forsurvival. In addition, where feasible, somederive a modest income from forestproducts such as durian, bamboo, rattanand other flora. The creation of state forestreserves and the consequent non-recognition of forest rights and legitimacy ofaccess for everyone has a serious impacton the lives of such forest-dependentcommunities, especially their daily liveli-hoods, but also on their health, education,mobility, security and collective identity.

“Participatory or Joint Forest Manage-ment” is a term used to describe acollaborative approach in which peopleparticipate in conserving the biodiversity inthe remaining natural forest and restoringbiodiversity in degraded areas, commonlythrough the adoption of an agroforestrysystem. The local communities are involvedin planning, establishing, protecting,managing and utilising the forest resourcesthrough collective action, with the role ofthe Forestry Department being primarilythat of facilitator. Agroforestry involves theplanting of multiple varieties of crops andtrees on the same pieces of land in order toaddress the basic subsistence needs of local communities while concurrentlyconserving and restoring biodiversity.

‘…any situation whichintimately involves localpeople in a forestryactivity. It embraces aspectrum of situationsranging from woodlots inareas which are short ofwood and other forestproducts for local needs,through the growing oftrees at the farm level toprovide cash crops and theprocessing of forestproducts at the household,artisan or small industrylevel to generate income,to the activities of forestdwelling communities.’

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

C o m m u n i t yf o r e s t r y i s

17

Kelawat Forest ReserveA Joint Forest Management Project in forestrestoration and management.When the Joint Forest Management Projectin the Kelawat Forest Reserve began in theearly 1980s, approximately 70 percent ofthe land was degraded and devoid of forestcover, largely as a result of attempts by localcommunities in the late 1970s to cultivatehill paddy. Much of the biodiversity hadbeen lost, and the illegal presence of thecommunities within the reserve threatenedthe remaining natural forests. Efforts by theSabah Forestry Department to evict thesettlers or at least halt their land clearingactivities failed.

In 1992, it was agreed that the SFDwould involve local communities aspartners in the management of the reservethrough a joint management initiative. Theresults have been encouraging. Thebiodiversity in the undisturbed natural foresthas been successfully protected andconserved by the local communities. Therestoration of biodiversity in the degradedareas through natural as well as assistedregeneration has also shown positiveresults. The basic subsistence needs of thecommunities have been addressed and theproject has demonstrated that there is acommitment from the participants to makethe project succeed.

More than 20,000 trees comprisingmixed indigenous species have beenplanted and silvicultural measures havebeen carried out to encourage the newlyplanted Dipterocarps and to protect thenaturally regenerating trees and medicinalplants that are competing against lianasand shrubs. Many varieties of fruit tree havealso been planted in various cropping

patterns, including durian, terap, rambutan,cempedak, coconut, langsat, and mango.In addition to the woody perennials, otherfood crops planted included bananas,pineapples, and vegetables such as sweetpotatoes.

C O M M U N I T Y F O R E S T R Y I N S A B A H

Urban dwellers

Permanent field farmers

Forest in-migrants

Swidden farmers

Hunter gatherers

Source: Colfer et al., 2006.

Figure 2 Importance of forest for different groups of people living in or near them

Community forest enterprises engage more than 110 million people worldwide,among then indigenous peoples and other forest dwellers. Such enterprisesharvest wood and collect bamboo, rattan, fibres, nuts, resins, medicinal herbs,honey, wood for charcoal and other natural products to increase local wealth.Estimates suggest that forest communities are responsible for themanagement of about 370 million hectares of natural forest worldwide.

In so doing, they provide environmental services important in combatingclimate change and protecting water sources, biodiversity, and the naturallandscapes prized by the international community. Yet, despite having animportant impact on the conservation of natural resources, these enterprisesmust carry on a daily battle against bureaucratic and other barriers.Inflexible regulations, high taxes, and exceedingly slow approval rates are inhibiting survival.

Molnar et al., Community-Based Forest Enterprises in Tropical Forest Countries

C o m m u n i t y f o r e s t e n t e r p r i s e s i n p o o rc o m m u n i t i e s w o r l d w i d e

Gana Resettlement and IntegratedDevelopment (GRID)A pilot community forestry model project.The concept of community forestry, assuch, was introduced to Sabah when thepioneer model initiative, Gana Resettlementand Integrated Development (GRID) project, was introduced in Kampung Gana,Kota Marudu, in 1997 to meet the needsand aspirations of the local communities.The development, while ensuring theconservation and protection of theLingkabau Forest Reserve, also achievedphysical, economic and social improvementsfor these communities at a cost ofRM8,765,000.

The project consisted of two phases.Phase 1 involved an infrastructuredevelopment programme, and Phase 2focused on an integrated socio-economicdevelopment programme. These weresupported by socio-economic studies andcollaborative planning.

The GRID project focused on thefollowing issues:• promoting organizational empowerment

at the community level;• establishing a closer rapport at all levels

through involvement and integration;• developing socio-economic activities;• increasing productivity and ensuring

equitable distribution;• achieving environmental protection.

The success of the project dependedheavily on effective information transfer tothe local community, and capacity-buildingmeasures that promoted and enhancedrequisite skills. The GRID master plan hasbeen prepared and is currently beingimplemented.

Participation of other agencies in communityforestryA number of forest related agencies areparticipating to varying degrees in theimplementation of some form ofcommunity-based activities. They include:Sabah Forest Industries, Sabah ForestDevelopment Authority, and the SabahFoundation. Similarly the SFMLA licenseholders, under the SFMLA framework, arerequired to set aside some areas, withintheir licence area, for community use. Thedesignation of these areas is indicated intheir Forest Management Plans.

T h e M a n g k u w a g u F o r e s tR e s e r v e P r o j e c tThe Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve Projectis being undertaken jointly by UNDP andthe Sabah Forestry Department over aperiod of 18 months. The official title of theproject is: Promoting Sustainable Use andConservation of Forest Resources inMangkuwagu Forest Reserve throughCapacity Building and Community Forestry.

18


Infrastructure development

~ Housing project~ Road construction~ School construction~ Village library~ Rural clinic~ Water supply~ Electricity supply~ Social facilities (especially for

religious, sports and othercommunity purposes)

Socio-economic development

~ Cattle rearing~ Chicken/duck rearing~ Rubber planting~ Maize planting~ Agroforestry~ Tree nursery~ Rattan and furniture/craft industry~ Conversion of peat swamps into paddy

and fish ponds~ Education and training

The project commenced in mid-2006 andruns until December 2007.

The project is located in and around theMangkuwagu Forest Reserve which is partof Forestry Management Unit (FMU) 17located in the Tongod District of centralSabah. Unit 17 forms the western catchmentof the Upper Kinabatangan River, Sabah’slongest river, and constitutes an area of highecological importance. FMU 17 comprisesthree forest reserves: Mangkuwagu ForestReserve, Pinangah Forest Reserve, andTangkulap Forest Reserve, and is currentlyunder the management of the SabahForestry Department. The MangkuwaguForest Reserve is a relatively small reservelocated between the townships of Telupidand Keningau. It comprises 8,335 hectaresof secondary forest classified as Class IIProductive Forest Reserve.

19


• These two projects have provided opportunities for the local communities to

address their basic subsistence needs.

• The significant degree of success achieved by the projects has been possible

because of the improved communication and trust between the Sabah

Forestry Department and the local communities whereby the traditional

adversarial relationship has been replaced by partnership and a shared

vision that encompasses both conservation and development.

• The JFM modality in the Kelawat Forest Reserve has demonstrated that

it is both practical and capable of providing a viable alternative livelihood

for the local communities, as well as establishing an avenue for dialogue

with the Sabah Forestry Department.

• The GRID modality, while achieving some success in its early goals of

information transfer and capacity building, requires further monitoring

and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the project in providing an

alternative system of livelihood for the village.

T h e K e l a w a t a n d G a n a p r o j e c t s

Main Road Rivers

Secondary Road Forest Reserve Boundary

Telupid

PP Tongod

LEGEND

Tingkulap Forest Reserve 27,550 Ha.Sg. Pinangah Forest Reserve 36,070 Ha.Gunung Tinkar Forest Reserve 27,550 Ha.Sg. Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve 8,335 Ha.

Map 3 Tangkulap-Sg Pinangah forest development project FMU no. 17


W h a t i s t h e P u r p o s e o ft h e P r o j e c t ?The Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve Project isutilising the principles identified by the jointmanagement initiatives in the KelawatForest Reserve Project in particular, andexpanding them to develop a new modelcovering a larger area and a greater numberof local community participants. Theexpansion of the joint forest managementmodel from Kelawat Forest Reserve to theMangkuwagu Forest Reserve is providingthe Sabah Forestry Department with theknowledge necessary to integratecommunity forestry practices into thebroader development agenda of the state.

This project is working towards a modelthat will allow co-management under theJoint Forest Management modality of theforest area between the local communities,the forest managers from the SabahForestry Department, and the SFMLAholders throughout Sabah.

Previous community-based projects andinitiatives have commonly been regarded asa forestry matter, and there has beenrelatively little effort to address the broaderissues with other relevant sectors andagencies in an integrated manner. Mostsignificantly, despite best efforts, theprojects have failed to address the welfareof the local communities adequately. Forthe most part, the solutions lie outside the normal area of activity of the SabahForestry Department. This project aims toprovide the extension and development ofthe forestry staff in understanding thecommunities located within and around theforest reserves and to support initiativesthat will lead to the empowerment of thecommunities.

The Sabah Department of Forestry andUNDP are cooperating on the MangkuwaguForest Reserve Project with the aim ofbringing the problems encountered byforest communities to the fore and for themto be addressed in an integrated way aspart of the state’s development agenda.The main objective is to help develop a fully functional enabling environment at thestate and district levels to facilitate theimplementation of a community-basedforestry programme involving greaterparticipation of local communities in thecommunity forestry programme.

20


21


The UNDP/SFD Mangkuwagu Project aims to produce six key outputs.

1. Zonation and protection of multiple use areas within FMU 17 in the Forest ManagementPlan based on a current database of the communities.Three studies are being made to collect and integrate more information on the communitiesliving within and around the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve into the Forest Management Plan(FMP). The first is a social baseline survey being conducted to collect the necessary baselineinformation on the villages located in or near the forest reserve. In the second study, SFD isidentifying High Conservation Value Forest attributes around the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserveand will incorporate that information in the FMP. The third study is a social impactassessment being conducted to determine the impact of the forestry activities of the localcommunities in and around the forest reserve, and to recommend mitigation measures fortheir alleviation.

The information obtained from the three studies will incorporate data on each of thecommunities, including demographic structure and the economic and social character of thevillage populations. SFD will then be able to delineate differing zones and be able to prescribethe appropriate management approaches for the differing land-use areas within FMU 17 atlarge, and in Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve in particular.

2. Forest Management and Certification Committee established to ensure communityparticipation.

The establishment of the Forest Management and Certification Committee is being led jointly by SFD and WWF-Malaysia through their Forest Management and CertificationAwareness Project. The establishment of this Committee provides the mechanism enablingthe communities to provide feedback to the SFD especially in relation to the management ofMangkuwagu Forest Reserve.

One important activity being conducted in this part of the project is to create awarenessamong communities regarding forest management and certification, including its impact ontheir livelihood. This is to ensure that the communities are aware of the importance andbenefits of participating in the process. A second activity phase is to establish the ForestManagement and Certification Committee and get the villagers involved in order to ensurecommunity participation in the long term. The activities to enhance capacity and skills toencourage continued participation of the community in the Committee are being undertakenas part of the WWF-Malaysia project in collaboration with SFD.

3. Institutional arrangements and the study of the legal framework and options forcommunities in forest reserves.As noted earlier, there are about 20,000 people living within the forest reserves in Sabah.Under current regulations, communities located within the forest reserves do not have a legalright to land and are, in fact, illegal settlers under the current Sabah Forest Enactment, 1968.However, many of these communities occupied their present locations before thesuperimposition of forest reserve status.

Box 3 Planned key outputs of the project

22


A study is being undertaken to analyze the situation and present possible short andlong-term solutions that will enable the communities to maintain their livelihood in asustainable manner.

4. Four demonstration sites on community-related forestry projects established to improvelivelihood in the four villages in/adjacent to Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve.As the project progresses the four selected villages will constitute community-related forestryand agroforestry demonstration sites. Each household is being allocated about 1–2 acres ofland for planting both short and long-term crops. The short-term crops include maize,peanuts ginger and pumpkins; rubber is the selected long-term crop and, within about fiveyears, the production of latex is expected to contribute significantly to the economicdevelopment of the villages. LIGS (Lembaga Industri Getah Sabah: Sabah Rubber IndustryBoard) is being consulted on soil suitability for rubber in the vicinity of the villages todetermine the most suitable sites for planting young rubber trees.

Households are being made responsible for the management of the crops planted ontheir allocated plots of land. Seedlings for planting of food crops and rubber are beingobtained from SFD and LIGS. SFD is organizing capacity-building activities and providingtraining on best agroforestry practice and management to ensure sustainability of productionand livelihood for the local communities.

5. Identification of types of cottage industries for women.The women in the villages have shown an interest in developing local cottage industries as analternative source of income for their families. A feasibility study is being conducted to identifypotential types of cottage industries and the market links that would provide the best returns.Activities that have already been identified include honey beekeeping, herbal gardens, and theproduction of handicrafts. Under the PPM initiative, several of these cottage industries will be developed further. Meantime, the UNDP/SFD project is working on building the capacity of the villagers in skills specifically related to financial and business management.

6. Knowledge product development and dissemination of lessons learnt and best practices.The lessons learnt and the best practices developed in the course of undertaking theUNDP/SFD project will be documented and widely disseminated in order to consolidate thecomponents of the model and enhance the knowledge and understanding of communityforestry. The target audience will include the forest management licence holders, other forestmanagers and the general public, as well as the local communities themselves. A plan formedia and public outreach is being implemented through the full duration of the project tocreate greater awareness, understanding and support.

Box 3 Planned key outputs of the project (cont’d)

23


W h i c h C o m m u n i t i e s a r eI n v o l v e d ?The project has identified four villages(kampungs) as demonstration sites in theMangkuwagu Forest Reserve for specificand targeted intervention, although thereare a number of others in close proximitywith similar characteristics and concerns.The demonstration sites are KampungMangkuwagu, Kampung Alitang, KampungTampasak, and Kampung Saguon.Kampung Tampasak occupies two distinctlocalities, referred to as Tampasak Daratand Tampasak Laut, but in this discussionthe two are combined simply as ‘KampungTampasak’. About 260 households live inthese four villages, all of which lack formedroads; reticulated water, electricity, andsewage; and other basic amenities and services. Kampung Mangkuwagu issituated within the Mangkuwagu ForestReserve, while the other three villages arelocated on the fringe of the reserve.

The people of the Upper Kinabatangan,where the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve is located, are officially known as Orang Sungai. However, based on theirlanguages, people and villages can beseparated into more specific sub-groups:the people of Kampung Alitang considerthemselves to be Kalabuan; people from Kampung Saguan and KampungTampasak are Makiang; and people fromKampung Mangkuwagu, are Rumanau.

All four villages claim customary rights tosome areas inside the reserve and utilizethe reserve for traditional swiddenagricultural practices, collection of non-timber products, hunting, and selectedextraction of timber. For most villages theseactivities are the only means to sustain their

Pejabat MukimMangkuwagu

Kampung Namakan

KampungMinusah

KampungTampasak Darat

KampungTampasak Laut

KampungSaguan

KampungMangkuwagu

KampungMasaum

KampungAlitang Kampung

DuwarahKampungPinangah

Sg.MangkuwaguForest Reserve

Sg. PinangahForest Reserve

LEGENDForest Reserve Boundary

Main Road Secondary Road

Rivers FMU Boundary

Pejabat Mukim MangkuwaguKampung

VEGETATION BASED ON 5 DATAStratum 3

Stratum 4

Local Community Activities

Jala

nPi

nang

ah-

Telup

id

N

88.00 Ha.

6,400.00 Ha.

6,400.00 Ha.

Map 4 Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve and villages


1 Working outside; Source: Gassner and Mohamed, 2007a.

Kampung Families Adults Children Total

Present Absent1

Alitang 57 168 56 129 353

Mangkuwagu 53 166 54 150 370

Saguan 88 244 38 190 472

Tampasak 67 191 55 169 415

Total 265 769 203 638 1,610

Table 6 Population of the villages in the Mangkuwagu Project, March/May 2007

24


livelihood. At present neither a forestmanagement plan nor any legal agreementexists between the community and SFD for use of the reserve, so that all suchactivities are technically illegal and suchencroachment is construed as endangeringthe ecological integrity of the reserve.

The people of the Tongod District sufferfrom some of the most severe extremes ofpoverty in Sabah. Swidden agriculture,which involves planting of subsistencecrops such as upland rice and tapioca inthe areas where the open forest canopyallows adequate light, does not provide anycash income. Such income is generallyobtainable only from employment on rubberand oil palm plantations or, as in earliertimes, from working for the loggingcompanies. Combined with isolation,difficulty of access to markets, and lack ofinfrastructure, such limited options haveresulted in widespread, hardcore poverty,and, as Table 4 shows, the Orang Sungaiare among the poorest groups in the state.

L i f e i n t h e V i l l a g e sIsolation and distance are major issuesAs the maps show, these villages are deepin the heart of Sabah, in the forested areasthat for several decades proved soattractive to the large logging companies.There are still significant areas of pristineforest, but large swathes of secondarygrowth and cutover land remain asmonuments to the severe impact of thatlarge-scale, extractive industry. Local plotsof land are now being brought back intoproduction through such measures asagroforestry which is part of this project,and significant social changes are occurringas people strive to adapt to their changing

circumstances and past economic andenvironmental impacts on the land.

The most daunting feature for people inthese isolated localities seeking to improvetheir lifestyle and create better opportunitiesfor their children, is the tyranny of distanceexacerbated by the poor quality of theroads: when even the most suitablevehicles can average only 15–20 km anhour, travel is measured in time rather thandistance; accessing distant governmentagencies is too difficult so that people canbe seriously disadvantaged because birthsare not registered or identity cardsprocured; children are not attending schoolregularly because schools are too far orrecruitment of teachers too difficult;suppliers or distributors are reluctant toattempt to deliver goods; and gettingproducts to market in a timely fashionbecomes all but impossible.

Roads are rough but attract settlementThe indigenous people in this part of Sabahare surprisingly mobile, not only day-to-dayas they access the forest and work sites and

A major thrust of Malaysia’s development planning following the introduction ofNEP in 1970, has been to• reduce and eventually eradicate absolute poverty irrespective of race;• restructure society to remove the identification of race with economic

function.

Despite these objectives and the decades that have elapsed, the indigenouscommunities of Sabah have not benefited noticeably from the New EconomicPolicy’s affirmative action provisions.

H a r d c o r e p o v e r t y e r a d i c a t i o n i s s t i l l t o b e a c h i e v e d

25


temporarily as they look for outsideemployment, but also in the medium term,as households or even most of a villagerelocates. It is not uncommon for somepeople to own two houses in differentlocalities. Historically, these small villages ofmainly stilted houses were scatteredthrough the forest along or near the rivers,the main means of transportation andcommunication. The incursion of loggingroads substantially modified that pattern.Clusters of households relocated,sometimes taking the village name withthem, sometimes duplicating it. Thesenewer settlements are commonly locatedalong or near the roads that have becomethe preferred network for moving around thedistrict between villages and for accessingcultivated land and forest resources.

But logging trucks no longer travel theseroads that, for the most part, were nevermuch more than graded earth tracks. Thetimber companies no longer maintain theroads or the bridges, and even the mostusable have deteriorated to the point ofbeing virtually impassable much of thetime, especially in wet weather. Wherebridges have collapsed, rivers must beforded, a possibility only if there has beenlittle recent rainfall. Furthermore, thelogging roads were developed solely for the

purpose of timber extraction, taking littleaccount of terrain or local communities,carving out the most direct routes fromlumber sites to timber mills, and largelyignoring forest reserves. So there is a needfor properly constructed, surfaced roadsthat avoid the forestry reserves and arerealigned to meet the needs of the villagersand enable them to access markets andmake a living that surpasses thesubsistence levels of the past.

Subsistence work is hard and cash income isdifficult to come byFarming is the primary occupation in thesevillages and constitutes the main source ofincome for the majority of the population.Most families cultivate upland rice, usingtraditional swidden agriculture techniques,in rotation with sweet potato, tapioca(cassava) and cucumbers, and have a fewfruit trees adjacent to the house. Womencommonly take responsibility for gardenslocated near the house, and may tradesurplus vegetables with neighbours. As wellas looking after the younger children, theyalso take responsibility for firewoodcollection. But the low population densitiesand ample availability of land and forest thatallowed a healthy balance betweenresource utilization and natural regenerationhave gone and these communities are nolonger self sufficient in food. Cash income isbecoming increasingly necessary to pay forfood and other goods that were previouslyself-produced or traded by bartering, andfor items such as secondary schooling thatentails boarding away from home. For mosthouseholds, the possibilities for cashincome are limited to the commercialindustries already in the district: logging (for

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timber), cultivating oil palm (for fresh fruitbunches) or rubber (for latex).

Although most households are now partof the cash economy, few villagers havevehicles—which need to be four-wheeldrive—so that considerable amounts oftime are spent walking to their allocatedland holdings or hunting and gathering inthe forests. Under the project, one favouredmethod of planting and cultivation,especially for the planting of rubberseedlings and upland rice, is gotong royong(mutual help) in which small groups of familyor neighbours work cooperatively to get thejob completed. Young and old, men andwomen participate, often accompanied bychildren (who should be in primary school –but distance and other priorities oftenpreclude regular attendance). The work ishard, the tropical temperatures andhumidity very high, and by late morningwork usually slows or stops. Some resumeby mid-afternoon, but in this culture wherehunting and gathering are an integral part of life style, fishing or collecting products inthe forest are often more attractive optionsthan planting and cultivating.

Amenities are fewOther elements of the physical infra-structure also constrain the lifestyle of thevillagers: there is no reticulated network forelectricity, water, sewage or telephonelandlines, and mobile phone reception isunreliable. Some households can afford,usually communally, to run a generator forup to 12 hours overnight, but this meansmost equipment, such as school amenities,must be motor or battery powered; and forsome families, kerosene still provideslighting. Some houses have Astro satellite

dishes – the one possible way, other thanradio, of accessing the outside world fromthe village, but few have working televisionsets and the electricity supply is a seriousconstraint. Water, once drawn from nowcontaminated rivers, is mainly collected for drinking and cooking purposes inpolyurethane tanks (supplied by the stategovernment) as runoff from the roof of eachhouse. Sewage disposal constitutes ahealth hazard and is largely reliant on theingenuity of individual households. Anoccasional small shop sells a limited rangeof household needs, but retail and otherservices are few, and such simple tasks asrefuelling a vehicle may entail a trip of anhour or more.

Enrolment rates in sparsely populated low-income rural areas of Sabahlag far behind the improving national rates for Malaysia. Low-incomeparents are often unable to afford the opportunity costs of sending theirchildren to school, and their children often drop out of school to helpsupplement the family income.

The remote areas where indigenous people live, commonly presentspecial challenges in terms of building schools and hostels, retainingqualified teachers, and offering courses that maintain their languages and history. Expanding educational access for the hard-to-reach groupsand improving their attainment pose challenges in relation to both thestrategies required and the costs involved. These strategies may also need to overcome household environments that may not place a highvalue on education or provide a conducive setting for learning.

Nevertheless, education of children living in these areas offers themost effective long-term solution to poverty in general, and to hardcorepoverty in particular. As has long been recognized, there is a strong linkbetween literacy and poverty, and this is clearly apparent in Sabah.As literacy levels rise and basic skills increase, income levels tend to rise and poverty can be expected to decline.

Box 4 Education and literacy

In the process of project development, aWorkshop was jointly organised by severalstakeholders including UNDP and SFD.About 70 participants – leaders, adult men,adult women, youths, school teachers andlocal agencies, were invited from the fourvillages to discuss potential activities for theproject. The Workshop identified key issuesaffecting all four villages and identifiedmeasures that would be advantageouswhen implemented.

Agricultural land for cultivation as aprimary economic activity; agroforestry inareas adjacent to the villages wouldenhance family incomes.

Based on this feedback, SFD agreed, forthe purposes of the project, to allocateeach household at least 1–2 hectares ofland for cultivation of short-term and long-term crops.

Land status in relation to the villages.As previously noted, KampungMangkuwagu is entirely within theboundaries of the forest reserve, and theother villages have schools and somehouses within the reserve. This situation is not an isolated example in Sabah,and the project aims to study and produce recommendations on legislativearrangements that, in appropriate circum-stances, will accommodate the presenceof villages within the forest reserves. Thisrecognizes the concern that some villageson reserves pre-date the creation of thereserves.

Development of cottage-industry skillsby village women that will allow them to supplement their family incomes.

The women are involved in subsistencefarming and childcare, and there are somesingle mother households. Development of viable cottage industries specifically forthe women could permit additional forms of economic activity.

Infrastructure that will permit successfulimplementation of development projectsand help raise the standard of living.

The fundamental infrastructure issues arereadily identifiable from the precedingdiscussion:• Accessibility: all four villages were

previously accessible by logging roads.When the logging operations ceased, theroads and bridges were not maintained,resulting in bad road surfaces and brokenbridges. These difficult conditions arecompounded during the rainy seasonwhen roads become impassable evenwith the use of four-wheel drive vehicles.This severely restricts the villagers’access to essential supplies includingpetrol and diesel to power generatorsand boats. Difficult access also restrictsthe ability of the villagers to engage in anysustained economic activity.

• Potable water supply: the villages also facethe problem of accessing clean water fordrinking, cooking and other essentialuses. Previously, water was drawn fromthe river, but the quality of river water hasdeteriorated over the years because ofupstream activities. This also has serioushealth implications, cholera occurringfrequently and going untreated becauseof the difficulty of accessing medicationor health officers.

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S u m m a r y o f t h e K e y I s s u e s o f t h e P r o j e c t

The Mangkuwagu ForestReserve Project will helpachieve several of theMDGs in this part ofSabah, notably:~ eradicate extreme

poverty and hunger;~ achieve universal

primary education;~ promote gender equality

and empower women;~ ensure environmental

sustainability.Less directly, it will alsohelp improve people’shealth, especially that of young children andmothers.

M i l l e n n i u mD e v e l o p m e n t

G o a l s ( M D G s )

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• Reticulated electricity supply: generatorsprovide the only electricity available, butthis is costly and limited, and its useconfined to lighting. However, manyfamilies continue to use kerosene lampsfor lighting.

Land issues: livelihoods of the villagers arealso compromised by uncertainty over landrights, land titles and access to land, anessential consideration for subsistence aswell as any economic development. This isparticularly problematic for KampungMangkuwagu because of its location insidethe Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve. Thisseverely constrains land use and collectionof forest products.

Residents of all four villages are yet toreceive their long-term land tenure titles thatwould allocate larger areas of land aroundthe villages for development projects.However, even when this occurs there willstill be a problem because the villagepopulations are growing but the villageboundaries within which the land titles are

to be granted remain fixed reducing theland area available for cultivation and othereconomic activities. Pressure by large-scaledevelopers on surrounding land areasoutside the forest reserve are also resultingin the villages becoming increasinglyisolated.

Related access problems that are centralto the well-being of the village communitiesinclude:• lack of access to medical and health care

services;• lack of access to educational services,

including lack of teaching staff and properschool buildings;

• lack of access to markets that wouldsupport economic activity;

• lack of requisite identification documentsbecause of remoteness from registrationoffices.

High Conservation Value Forests are those that possess one or more of thefollowing attributes:• globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity

value (e.g., endemism, endangered species, refugia) and/or largelandscape-level forests contained within or containing a management unitwhere viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species existin natural patterns of distribution and abundance;

• forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangeredecosystems;

• forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations (e.g., watershed protection, erosion control);

• forest areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities (e.g., subsistence, health) and/or critical to local communities’ traditionalcultural identity (areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religioussignificance, identified in cooperation with local communities).

H i g h C o n s e r v a t i o n V a l u e F o r e s t

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S U M M A R Y O F T H E K E Y I S S U E S O F T H E P R O J E C T

The Small Grants Programme for Operations to Promote Tropical Forests (EC-UNDP SGP PTF) 2004 – 2007

SGP PTF is an eight-country regional initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), financed by the European Commission (EC) and executed through the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). The SGP PTF envisages contributing to overall sustainable development, thereby enablingindividuals and communities dealing with forests and forestry, and society at large, to benefit in an equitable way from forest-related products and services that are produced on a socially acceptable, economically viable, andenvironmentally sound basis.

SGP PTF has been operating in Malaysia since 2004. It supports initiatives that fall under the broad category ofcommunity-led sustainable forest management. There are 20 SGP PTF sponsored community projects in Malaysiamainly focused on indigenous communities: eight are located in Sarawak; seven in Sabah; and five in PeninsularMalaysia. The 20 communities receiving SGP PTF grants are planning, designing, and implementing activities toimprove their socio-economic conditions, while conserving the surrounding forest areas that provide valuableresources.

The mission of the SGP PTF is to utilize existing indigenous knowledge, systems and practices combined withforest technologies to empower and build capacities of local communities, NGOs and CBOs as PTF partners inpreventing, arresting and ultimately reversing forest degradation and consequently promoting sustainable forest use and management. The long-term development objective of SGP PTF Malaysia is to alleviate the hardships of the livelihoods of the poor communities dependent on the forests, by strengthening the link between economic enterprise and sustainable forest use and management.

The Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Facility (GEF SGP)

The Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme supports efforts to conserve biodiversity, reduce the risksof climate change, stop land degradation and reduce water pollution. In conjunction with other partners, GEF commitssubstantial funding to national NGOs and CBOs, supporting them in addressing global environmental problems. Byraising public awareness, building partnerships and promoting policy dialogue, SGP seeks to promote an enablingenvironment within countries for achieving sustainable development and addressing global environmental issues.

The principal objectives of SGP are to develop community-level strategies and implement technologies that canreduce threats to the global environment if they are implemented in time; to gather lessons from community levelexperience and initiate the sharing of community-level strategies and innovations among NGOs and CBOs, hostgovernments, development aid agencies, and others working on a regional or global scale; to build partnerships and networks of stakeholders to support and strengthen community, NGO and national capacities to address globalenvironmental problems and promote sustainable development; and to ensure that conservation and sustainabledevelopment strategies and projects that protect the global environment are understood and practised by communities and other key stakeholders.

The programme is administered by UNDP and has disbursed a large number of grants, up to US$50,000 each,for projects that reconcile global environmental benefits with sustainable livelihoods for local people. In this way,SGP recognizes and supports the essential role that households and communities, applying locally appropriatesolutions, can play in protecting the global environment.

Box 5 Small grants programmes

P r o g r e s s S o F a rLand allocationPlots of 2.5 hectares have been designatedfor families in the villages, but in the firstphase, a smaller area of one hectare hasbeen allocated for rubber planting. As thereare about 85 participants in each kampung,a total area of about 340 hectares has beenallocated for this first phase.

Security of land tenure is an ongoingissue that influences people’s attitudes todeveloping and working blocks of land thatthey may be forced to forfeit at some time inthe future. Greater access to state land isan issue that concerns many of theparticipants.

PlantingThe three planned small-scale plantnurseries have been constructed, but thethird, to be shared by KampungsMangkuwagu and Alitang, was seriouslydelayed by difficulty in transporting theconstruction materials because the supplierrefused delivery due to the poor quality ofthe road, a problem that also increasescosts. Similar issues arose over supplyingthe rubber seedlings but, after considerabledelay and inconvenience, these haveeventually been overcome.

Site preparation has been proceeding,using parangs to clear the underbrush,employing chainsaws to fell the small treesthat were left by the loggers, and applyingweed killers and herbicides to get rid ofunwanted grasses and small shrubs. Thetools and other materials had to bepurchased together with tools such asaugurs for planting the rubber seedlings.

Some of the householders haveexpressed concern that they are unable to

seek employment and ensure an incomeduring the period that they are plantingrubber seedlings. There has been aproposal that they should receive paymentthat could be recovered when latexproduction begins in about five years time,as practised on some other project sites.

Food securityCurrently, upland rice, a staple for thevillagers, has been planted on the landcleared for rubber. This is a good alternativeto producing rice by practising shiftingcultivation, but in three or four years time, asthe rubber-tree canopy shades the ground,there is unlikely to be sufficient light forground crops such as rice. This is anotherreason for seeking additional land in areasowned by the state. To date, there has beensome success with growing yams, and thisis being considered as a crop that might begrown under the shade of the rubber trees.

Cottage industrySome progress has been made indiscussing the potential for expandingpresent production of vegetables but

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31

training is needed to improve productivityand improvement of market access.Although the people are farmers, theirknowledge of sedentary agriculture and soiland fertility maintenance is very limited astheir experience is based on shiftingcultivation in the forest.

Some women have already visited otherlocalities to see examples of potentialcottage industries such as handicrafts,beekeeping, gong making and other typesof gardening or farming. Another study tourthat is being proposed would teach themabout organic farming options especially inthe growing of vegetables for dried orpickled food production. This would notonly save on the cost of herbicides but alsoreduce exposure of the villagers to toxicchemicals.

Improvement of roadsVirtually every effort at improving theeconomic and social well-being of the fourvillage communities is seriously constrainedby the inadequacy of the roads. While roadconstruction is not part of the project, it maybe noted that contractors are currentlyworking on roads that will eventually provideaccess to the Mangkuwagu area, butconstruction sites are far away, deploymentof road-building equipment very limited, andat present rates of construction significantimprovement in this specific locality isunlikely to be experienced for several years.

C o m p l e m e n t a r y P r o j e c t sThe Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve Project isbeing undertaken concurrently with twoother projects managed by the Sabah state government and WWF-Malaysiarespectively.

1. Projek Perhutanan Malaysia – SabahForestry Department

The Projek Perhutanan Malaysia (PPM) isbeing carried out under the stategovernment’s jurisdiction for the purpose ofdeveloping the required forest developmentplan for FMU 17. Part of the funds allocatedby the federal and state governments to theSabah Forestry Department (an amount ofabout RM6 million) is specifically to addressthe three major development issues of thelocal communities in the MangkuwaguForest Reserve Project, namely:infrastructure, economic and socialdevelopment.

The UNDP/SFD Mangkuwagu ForestReserve Project is providing the initial steptowards the larger PPM Project. Some ofthe PPM activities have commenced duringthe UNDP project period and will continueafter the UNDP project phases out. ThePPM activities running concurrently relate tothe infrastructural development of thevillages. This component is vital in order to provide the villagers with the access that is needed to ensure the success of all three projects.

S U M M A R Y O F T H E K E Y I S S U E S O F T H E P R O J E C T

32

The PPM is upgrading and repairingroads to the villages in order to improvelocal mobility and to make it easier forvillagers to travel to other towns. In addition,bridges, culverts and drains are beingrepaired or constructed where necessary.The allocation under infrastructuredevelopment is also providing for themaintenance and repair of houses,construction of kindergartens, and agravity-feed water system for KampungMangkuwagu.

The second part of the PPM fundingallocation, which will be activated after thecompletion of the UNDP/SFD project, aimsat promoting the economic and socialdevelopment of the four villages. The largerpart of this allocation will be dedicated tocontinuing and expanding the initiatives ofthe UNDP project in such activities as forestrestoration and agroforestry practices. Asmaller proportion will be allocated toestablishing activities that are outside theUNDP mandate, such as a honeybeekeeping project and the implementationof cottage-industry ambitions identified by stakeholders attending the projectdevelopment Workshop.

2. Forest Management and CertificationCommittee Project – WWF-Malaysia

The UNDP/SFD project will also be runningconcurrently with this WWF-Malaysiaproject which aims to establish a ForestManagement and Certification Committeefor the four villages. Forest Managementand Certification Committees function as feedback mechanisms to the SFD on matters relating to the management of reserves—in this instance, theMangkuwagu Forest Reserve. The

operation of this Committee is providingadditional feedback to both UNDP and SFDon matters relating to the UNDP/SFDproject. In addition, WWF-Malaysia isintervening to educate and inform thecommunities on the elements of sustainableforest management and forest certification.

Coordinated contribution of the three projectsThe PPM and the WWF-Malaysia projects,running concurrently with the UNDP/SFD project on the Mangkuwagu ForestReserve, are providing additional supportfor community and infrastructuredevelopment. The UNDP/SFD project isattempting to assist SFD to integrateinformation from all three of the projects intoits planning process to improve sustainablemanagement, to build the capacity of SFD staff in managing community-basedforestry, and to develop alternative sourcesof livelihood for isolated forest communities.The four villages in the project will serve as demonstration sites in developingcommunity-based forestry in the context of sustainable forest management andpoverty alleviation.


In the short period that the Mangkuwagu Forest ReserveProject has been running, difficulties are still beingconfronted and obstacles overcome. Some major lessonsto be learnt are still likely to emerge. The lessons learnt sofar indicate that the success of community-based projectsand initiatives depends on:• carrying out a full-scale Social Impact Assessment (SIA)

on the ground before beginning the project. Secondarymaterials and reports prepared for other purposes maynot identify critical elements or may be too abbreviatedin their coverage of the area and the issues needing tobe addressed to provide the requisite contextual orbaseline information;

• addressing social issues and determining a people-based budget requires detailed information of a type thatis not routinely collected by government agenciesdealing with such matters as forestry and agriculture;

• ensuring the availability of a practical and viablealternative livelihood for the communities concerned;

• achieving the acceptance and active involvement of themembers of the participant community;

• securing the commitment, capacity and resources of the various relevant local agencies to supportimplementation;

• establishing a formal committee to facilitate cooperation,coordination and monitoring;

• mainstreaming the projects or activities into thedevelopment agenda of the state and its relevantagencies.

C h a l l e n g e sAmong the challenges that have emerged in theimplementation of the project, have been the need to:• establish baseline information against which

achievements can be measured;• deploy people and resources to ensure the efficient and

effective implementation of the project recommendations;• provide the necessary catalyst to persuade the villagers

to engage in projects that will achieve economic benefitsfor them;

• construct the physical infrastructure needed to permitprofitable, income-earning economic activities to beundertaken and commodities traded;

• resolve the issue of illegal burning to clear undergrowthand avoid stacking branches and other light timber, sothat the benefits of sterilizing the soil surface andminimizing use of pesticides and herbicides can still be achieved;

• bridge the income gap by planting crops that willproduce a return until the rubber trees can be tapped in5–6 years time;

• resolve land issues relating to ownership in order toprovide security of tenure for the villages and for thevillagers’ allotted landholdings;

• persuade households to cultivate their landholdings at alevel approaching capacity, not just a limited proportionof them;

• realign logging tracks so that the permanent network ofroads connecting villages to each other and the regionno longer passes through forest reserves;

• identify potential markets that match the land andproduction capability of the villagers and their land;

• build capacity for an independent monitoring agency todetermine the scale and quality of progress, and theauthority to ensure action;

• motivate parents to send their children to primary schoolon a regular basis, and encourage retention throughsecondary school in order to create career options forthe next generation of villagers;

• develop sufficient momentum during the period of theproject that achievements are consolidated andprogress continued once it concludes;

• encourage a spirit of engagement and enterprise amongthe participating households that avoids, or overcomes,ongoing expectations of handouts or the creation oflong-term dependency on official or other agencies.

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L e s s o n s L e a r n t

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P u b l i c a t i o n s

Colfer, CJP, D Sheil, D Kaimowitz and M Kishi (2006) Forests and human health in thetropics: some important connections, unasylva, FAO, 224, pp.3–10.

EC-UNDP (2007) Guidelines for Facilitators of Community Forestry Projects in Malaysia,Small Grants Programme for Operations to Promote Tropical Forests, Malaysia.

Gassner, A. and Mohamed Faisal Mohd Noor (2007a) Agroforestry Based ManagementPlan for the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve, Tongod, Consultancy Report to the SabahForestry Department, October.

Gassner, A. and Mohamed Faisal Mohd Noor (2007b) Framework for an AgroforestryBased Management Plan for the Mangkuwagu Forest Reserve, Report to the SabahForestry Department, April.

Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (n.d.) Hands-on Action forSustainable Development, 1992-2002.

Jones, T and P Maundu (2006) Forest Biodiversity, nutrition and population health inmarket-oriented food systems, unasylva, FAO, 224, pp.34–40.

Kwok Kwan Kit (2007) Poverty, Inequality and Welfare in Sabah, Study to IdentifyStrategies and Programmes to Eradicate Poverty and Improve Employment and EquityRestructuring in Sabah and Sarawak, UNDP Malaysia, unpublished.

Leete, R (2007) Malaysia: from Kampung to Twin Towers: 50 Years of Economic andSocial Development, Oxford Fajar, Shah Alam, Malaysia.

Malaysia Economic Planning Unit (2001) Eighth Malaysia Plan 2001–2005, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.

Malaysia Economic Planning Unit (2006) Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006–2010, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.

Ng Siew Ling, G (2000) The Certification Process in Malaysia: A Case Study, WWF,unpublished.

UNDP (2005) Malaysia: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Successes andChallenges, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

UNDP (2006) Promoting Sustainable Use and Conservation of Forest Resources inMangkuwagu Forest Reserve through Capacity Building and Community Forestry, ProjectDocument, unpublished.

S O U R C E S O F I N F O R M A T I O N

UNDP (2006-2007) Promoting Sustainable Use and Conservation of Forest Resources inMangkuwagu Forest Reserve through Capacity Building and Community Forestry,Progress Reports, unpublished.

WWF, IWGIA, KULU, Nepenthes and DIIS (2005) Integrating Indigenous and GenderAspects in Natural Resource Management - Guidelines for Practitioners.

I n t e r n e t

Delegation of the European Commission to Malaysia (2007) The Small Grants Programmefor Operations to Promote Tropical Forests (SGP PTF) – Malaysia.http://www.delmys.cec.eu.int/en/eu_malaysia_relations/eu_malaysia_cooperation/InformationSGPPTF1.htm

Government of Sabah (2007) Forestry Industry in Sabah.http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my

International Tropical Timber Organization Website.http://www.itto.or.jp/live/index.jsp

JOANGOHutan (2006) Forest Governance in Malaysia: An NGO Perspective, FERN.http://www.fern.org

Malaysian Timber Council Website.http://www.mtc.co.my.publication/library/formal/content.html

Molnar, A, M Liddle, C Bracer, A Khare, A White and J Bull (2007) Community-Based Forest Enterprises in Tropical Forest Countries: Status and Potential, ITTO, RRI and ForestTrends Conference in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil.http://www.itto.or.jp

Sabah Forestry Department Official Website.http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my

World Conservation Monitoring Centre in collaboration with the IUCN Commission onNational Parks and Protected Areas (1992), Protected Areas of the World: A Review ofNational Systems, for the IVth World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas,Volume I, book preview.http://books.google.com

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S O U R C E S O F I N F O R M A T I O N

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P R E V I O U S R E P O R T S I N T H I S U N D P S E R I E S

E a r l i e r R e p o r t s i n S e r i e s1 Malaysia’s Peat Swamp Forests: Conservation and Sustainable Use,

Kuala Lumpur, 2006.

2 Achieving Industrial Energy Efficiency in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 2006.

3 Protecting the Ozone Layer: Malaysia Implementing the MontrealProtocol, Kuala Lumpur, 2007.

4 Malaysia Generating Renewable Energy from Palm Oil Wastes,Kuala Lumpur, 2007.

Copies of this current report, as well as earlier reports in this series, can be obtainedby writing to:

Ginny NgProgramme Manager (Energy & Environment)Wisma UN, Block C,Kompleks Pejabat Damansara,Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights,50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Email: [email protected]

United Nations Development ProgrammeWisma UN, Block C, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03 2095 9122 Fax: 03 2095 2870 www.undp.org.my

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