(Kuching, 20th) Sarawak has introduced a new forest management method, focusing on forest carbon activities, aimed at protecting and maintaining logged and degraded forest areas.
Deputy Premier of Sarawak and Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah, stated that this initiative will generate tradable carbon credits, providing a new source of revenue for Sarawak.
“As of November 2024, Sarawak has issued one carbon license and seven forest carbon study licenses, covering an area of 183,625 hectares.”
He said this while summarizing the department in the Sarawak Parliament today.
He added that to strengthen Sarawak's forest carbon management, the Sarawak Forestry Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kyushu National University, Japan, on July 23 this year.
“This collaboration aims to conduct research and education on assessing the functions of forest ecosystems, including Sarawak's forest carbon activities. This forest carbon reduction initiative is not only beneficial to the environment but also has a positive impact on local communities through job opportunities and carbon trading.”
He added that the plan is implemented in two phases, with the first phase including forest carbon research, involving studies on assessing carbon stock biomass, field data collection, tree measurement, and soil sampling.
Meanwhile, the second phase will open up more employment opportunities in areas such as nursery preparation, planting, monitoring, boundary marking, data collection, agroforestry, and ecotourism infrastructure development.
