'Pullout from timber scheme for business reasons, not community struggle'

Summary

• Samling Group confirms withdrawing a concession from a sustainable timber scheme.

• However, responding to claims that it is a “landmark victory” for the community, Samling denied it was due to persistent community resistance.

• Instead, it was because the company is now focusing on procuring timber from forest plantations instead of natural forest, Samling says.

Timber giant Samling Group has denied claims that it had withdrawn its timber concession areas from the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) due to persistent community resistance.

Instead, it said, it withdrew from the MTCS, a voluntary sustainable timber scheme, due to a shift in its business priorities, to focus on harvesting timber from forest plantations.

“Since before Covid, Samling has transformed our traditional natural forest business to focus on the forest plantation business in support of the government’s policy of reducing the demand for timber from natural forests with timber from plantations.

“Over the years, we have scaled down our activities in our natural forest concessions and concentrated on building our plantation businesses.

“As a result, it is no longer necessary to maintain the certifications for certain natural forest areas,” it said in response to an email by Malaysiakini.

This comes after the NGO Save Rivers said a Samling representative at a community meeting on Feb 13 said the Gerenai Forest Management Unit (FMU) concession in Baram, Sarawak was withdrawn from the MTCS due to various reasons including persistent community resistance and financial issues.

Strong opposition

The MTCS among others requires certificate holders to obtain free, prior and informed consent from community stakeholders, including the indigenous community who live or depend on the forest for their livelihoods.

The indigenous people in Baram have consistently opposed logging in the forests there.

Responding further to Malaysiakini, Samling said it will also stop logging in areas which have been withdrawn from the sustainable timber scheme.

“We are focusing our forest activities on our certified industrial tree plantation concessions and nature-based solutions,” the firm said.

READ MORE: Loopholes in timber cert scheme raise questions of greenwashing

Save Rivers yesterday lauded the move as a “landmark victory” for the community who have for years been campaigning against logging in what they say is their native customary land.

Checks by Malaysiakini found that Samling still has multiple concessions which are considered certified forests under the MTCS.

This means the timber harvested from these forests are in compliance with the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)’s “internationally accepted Sustainability Benchmarks”.

Forest certification

The PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system, certifying a range of practices and products related to the forest.

This includes consumer goods like tissue paper or diapers, which are made from wood.

The MTCS and PEFC certifications are voluntary but important for producers of products originating from forests, amid global demand for more sustainable practices.

The community was first informed that Samling had withdrawn the Gerenai FMU concession from MTCS at a meeting organised as part of an inspection by PEFC and Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC).

PEFC and TPAC were inspecting complaints against the MTCS.

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