OVERVIEW OF FOREST LAW ENFORCEMENT IN …

OVERVIEW OF FOREST LAW ENFORCEMENTIN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Prepared by

Rusli MohdAmat Ramsa Yaman

March 2001

Highlights of this report were presented at a workshop on Illegal Logging in East Asia,

Sponsored by World Bank - WWF Alliance* in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 27-28, 2000

WWF MALAYSIA

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to the Director General of Forestry Department of PeninsularMalaysia and his staffs for their support and comments to this report.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………. iiTable of Contents ………………………………………………………………………………... iiiExecutive Summary ……………………………………………………………………………....iV

PART 1 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………......1Background …………………………………………………………………...................... 1Constitutional Setting …………………………………………………………...................1Forestry Administration ...……………………………………………………....................1Timber Harvesting Rights ...………………………………………………….................... 2Forests and Wood-based Industries in Peninsular Malaysia ………………..................2Status of Forested Area and Log Flow in Peninsular Malaysia ……..............................2Constribution of the Wood-based Industry to the Economy ..………............................ 3

PART 2 PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………....5

PART 3 PREVENTION STRATEGIES ……………………………………………………….... 6Legal Strategies ………………………………………………………………................... 6Forest Policy and Long Term Plan …………………………………………….................6Forest Management Plan ………………………………………………………................7Forest Manual of Peninsular Malaysia 1953 (Revision 1995) …………….....................7Malaysia Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management ……...................7Professional on In-service Training …………………………………………....................8Public Education ……………………………………………………………......................8

PART 4 DETECTION OF FORESTRY OFFENCES ……………………………………….....9Role of the Forestry Department and Other Stakeholders ………………..................... 9Occurrence of Forest Offences …………………………………………….....................9Incidence of Illegal Logging ………………………………………………….....................9Organization for Forest Offences …………………………………………......................10Impacts of Forest Offences …………………………………………………....................11

PART 5 SUPPRESSION STRATEGIES ……………………………………………………......12Government’s Response System to Information on Forest Crimes ……..................... 12Outcomes of Suppression Activities ………………………………………..................... 12Illegal Logging and Criminal Justice System ……………………………........................12

PART 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……………………………………......14Recommendations …………………………………………………………......................15Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………....................15

Reference …………………………………………………………………………………………. 17

The main objective of this report is to discussthe forest law enforcement system in PeninsularMalaysia. It focuses mainly on the roles playedby the State Forestry Department, supported byother government agencies and the public, in theprevention, detection and suppression of forestcrimes. Some data on the incidence of forestcrimes are presented to highlight the trends inthe extent of the problem over the past severalyears.

Forest law enforcement in Peninsular Malaysiais a highly decentralized activity. According tothe Constitution, forest is a state matter and theState governments are responsible for forestpolicy formulation and implementation, includingforest law enforcement. The role of the federalforestry department is very much advisory innature in the sense that it gives forestry technicaladvice to the State governments. Each of theState Forestry Departments has a forest lawenforcement unit that serves as the nucleus foractivities related to the prevention, detection andsuppression of forest crimes. The Unit isresponsible for inspecting logging activities,checking logging licenses, inspecting millpremises, monitoring forest produce in transitand investigating public complaints. Officers inthe District Forest Office help in daily forestenforcement activities.

In Peninsular Malaysia, offenses such as illegallogging and forest encroachment are treatedseriously by the law. The maximumpunishments for such offenses are quite severe.In addition to heavy penalties, the authority haveinstituted other measures to curb the problemsand these include conducting spot checks,helicopter surveillance, regular training programsfor their officers to equip them with the necessaryknowledge and skills on forest law enforcement,and running public awareness campaigns.Realizing the significance of the problems andthe need for combined efforts in eliminating them,the Forestry Departments often work together

with other government agencies, including thepolice and the army, in their enforcementoperations.

Partly due to the strategies mentioned above,the incidence of forest crimes over the lastseveral years shows a declining trend. Theaverage number of illegal logging cases droppedfrom 223 for the period 1987 - 1993 to about 28for the 1994 - 1999 period. There were only fourreported cases of forest encroachment in 1999.Higher number of forest offenses was reportedin the rich forest states of the east coast ofPeninsular Malaysia than in the other states. Noevidence has been shown to indicate that illegallogging is an organized crime in PeninsularMalaysia.

In spite of the decline in the occurrence of forestoffenses, the authorities should institute othermeasures to deter forest offenders, possibly tostop them from committing similar offenses inthe future. In particular the authorities should:

• implement the forest law fully and effectively.Illegal loggers should be punished moreseverely in accordance with the provisionsof the law.

• provide more resources for forest lawenforcement, particularly funds, trained andcommitted manpower

• educate forest communities, private timbercompanies and policy-makers on theimportance of forestry and forest lawenforcement

• promote programs that would provideopportunities for rural communities to earnincome from sources other than the forestlands

• review timber pricing policies that encouragethe occurrence of forest offenses.

Executive Summary

Background

Forest offenses are essentially the acts, or theiromission, which contravene the provisions of theforest laws of the country. Some of theseoffenses, such as illegal logging and forestencroachment, present serious obstacles in theachievement of sustainable forest management.Illegal logging, which involves the felling of treesand/or removal of timber from the forest withouta valid licence, deprives the government ofrevenue from charges imposed on the timber.The main aim of illegal logging is to take timberout from the forest without paying its due chargesto the government. In addition, illegal loggingcan be very disastrous to the forest and itsenvironment, as the activity is not under thecontrol and supervision of the forest authority.Rampant illegal logging activities could alsoupset the planning for sustainable harvestparticularly if it involves large tracts of forest area.Forest encroachment, is another category of actsor activities prohibited which also contribute tothe destruction of flora and fauna and suchactivities include clearing or breaking up any landfor cultivation or any other non-forest purposes.

As in many other countries, forest offenses arenot new problems in Malaysia. Studies done bySubramaniam ( 1994), Litinggah (1997) andShahrum (1998) showed that these forestoffenses had repeatedly been occurring duringthe last few decades. Therefore, it is notsurprising that the government introduced higherpenalties for such offenses through theamendments made in the National Forestry Actof 1984. In spite of the introduction of higherpenalties, forest offenses still continue to takeplace and this shows that increasing thepunishment is only one of the factors influencingthe occurrence of forest offenses. A complexrelationship of many factors influences theoccurrence of forest offenses.This part of the report briefly describes theforestry sector of Peninsular Malaysia with themain purpose of giving the context against whichthe rest of the report is based. The constitutionalsetting will be first described followed bydiscussions on forestry administration, the statusof forest resource and the role of the wood-basedindustries in Malaysian economy.

Constitutional SettingUnder the provision of Article 74 Clause (2) ofthe Malaysian Constitution, land and forest aredefined as state matters and are thus within thejurisdiction of the respective State Governments.Clause (3) of Article 76 of the MalaysianConstitution ensures that all Acts related to landand forest shall not come into force in a Stateunless it has been adopted by a law made bythe legislature of the State. As such each Stateis empowered to enact laws on forestry and toformulate forest policy independently. Theexecutive authority of the Federal Governmentonly extends to the provision of advice andtechnical assistance to the States, training andthe conduct of research, and in the maintenanceof experimental and demonstration stations.

Forestry AdministrationForestry administration in Peninsular Malaysiacan be divided into three levels, namely theFederal, State and district levels. Each state ofthe peninsula, with the exception of Malacca, hasits own forestry department headed by the StateDirector of Forestry who is responsible to theChief Minister of the state. At the state level, theState Director of Forestry is usually assisted bytwo Deputy Directors (Forest Development andForest Operation) and other officers, namelyForest Management Officer and SilviculturalOfficer. The District Forest Officer assisted bya deputy and several uniform field staffs’ headsforestry administration at the district level. TheDistrict Forest Officers report directly to the StateDirector of Forestry. The state forestrydepartment is responsible for the implementationof the forest policies of the state, including forestlaw enforcement. Forest law enforcement is theresponsibility of the district office with the adviceof the state forestry office.At the Federal level, the Director General who isanswerable to the Federal Minister of PrimaryIndustry heads the administration. He is assistedby two deputies and several directors. The mainresponsibility of the federal forestry departmentis to give technical advice to the state forestrydepartments as well as policy advice to thefederal government. Professional and sub-professional foresters are appointed by thefederal government and seconded to the stategovernments.

Overview of Forest Law Enforcement in Peninsular Malaysia

PART 1 INTRODUCTION

In order to facilitate the adoption in a coordinatedand common approach to forestry, the NationalForestry Council (NFC) comprising the ChiefMinisters of all the thirteen (13) Malaysian Statesand Ministers of the relevant federal ministries,chaired by the Deputy Minister, was establishedon 20 December 1971 by the National LandCouncil (NLC). The NFC serves as a forum forthe Federal and the State Governments todiscuss and resolve common problems andissues relating to forestry policy, administrationand management. All the decisions of the NFChave to be endorsed by the NLC. Theresponsibility for implementing the decisions ofthe NFC lies with the respective StateGovernments unless it is within the authority ofthe Federal Government.

Timber Harvesting RightsIn Malaysia, logging and associated activities areunder the control of the respective State ForestryDepartments through the District Forest Offices.Logging areas are awarded to loggingcompanies under licenses issued in accordancewith the National Forestry Act 1984, Rules andRegulations. Permission to take forest producefrom a permanent reserved forest or State landby way of license or minor license may begranted by the State Authority through theprocess of invited tenders, negotiated agreementor such other manner or process as it may deemfit in the circumstances of any particular case.In return for getting the timber harvesting rights,the logging operators or contractors are requiredto pay certain fees or charges. These forestcharges are levied by the State Government forthe removal of forest produce. There arebasically three major forms of forest charges,namely, premium, royalty and forest

development cess. Premium is a charge leviedfor the occupation of area and privilege ofharvesting the forest from a specific area grantedunder a license and the rate varies from State toState. Royalty is a charge levied by all Statesbased on the unit of produce actually removedfrom the forest. The forest development cess isan additional charge levied on timber removedand paid into the Forest Development Fund inthe respective State of Peninsular Malaysia forsilvicultural and forest management purposes.

Forests and Wood-based Industries inPeninsular MalaysiaForests still form a dominant physical landscapeof Peninsular Malaysia and the wood-basedindustries have played a significant role in thesocio-economic development of the country. Inaddition to providing timber for the manufactureand export of many products, forests haveassumed an increasing role in providingrecreation opportunities for the people as wellas contribute towards foreign exchange earningsthrough tourism related activities.

Status of Forested Area and Log Flow inPeninsular MalaysiaTable 1 shows the status of forested areas inPeninsular Malaysia in 1996. In 1996, the totalforested area in Peninsular Malaysia was about5.8 million hectares and this represents about44 percent of the total land area of the peninsula.Slightly more than 81 percent of the forests areclassified as reserved forests and these areareas dedicated permanently for production,protection and amenity purposes. Of all thestates, Pahang, Perak and Kelantan are thethree states with the biggest forest areasaccounting for more than 65 percent of the total

Table 1: Forested Area in Peninsular Malaysia, 1996

Source: Forestry Department of P. Malaysia, 1998∗ Stateland forests and Wildlife Reserves

etatS devreseRtnenamreP)ah(tseroF

*aerAdetseroFrehtO)ah(

aeradetseroflatoT)ah(

erohoJ 378,523 916,88 204,414hadeK 206,243 411,4 617,643

natnaleK 273,626 988,762 172,498akaleM 903,7 002,1 905,8

nalibmeSiregeN 180,961 571,51 652,481gnahaP 199,493,1 454,365 544,859,1

kareP 408,599 273,27 671,860,1silreP 952,01 641,1 504,11

gnaniPualuP 604,6 848 452,7rognaleS 567,742 911,11 488,852

unaggnereT 166,755 705,011 861,866nautukesrePhayaliW 16 0 16

latoT 490,486,4 354,631,1 745,028,5

Rusli Mohd and Amat Ramsa Yaman 2

forest area in the peninsula.The three major forest types found in Peninsu-lar Malaysia are inland forest, mangrove forestand peatswamp forest. Of the three forest types,inland forest accounts for more than 92 percentof the total area. Very little of the lowland forestis still left in the country and timber harvestingoperation is now concentrated in the hill forests.This type of forest is dominated by tree speciesbelonging to the dipterocarpaceae family.Table 2 shows the log flow situation in PeninsularMalaysia for the period 1994 to 1998.Total log production from Peninsular Malaysia,at least for the 1994-1998 period, averaged toabout 8.7 million cubic meters per year andannual log production is declining. The majorlog producers are the East Coast states ofPahang, Kelantan and Terengganu. Average logconsumption amounted to about 8.6 million cubicmeters per annum. Therefore, there is no sub-

stantial difference between the volumes of logproduced and consumed. Data also show thatPeninsular Malaysia has begun importing log ona small scale.According to available information, specieswithin the Medium Hardwood Category are theones, which are logged the most. Some of themajor species logged are Kedondong, RedMeranti, Kelat, Keruing, Kempas and Medang.Rubberwood accounts for quite a significant pro-portion of the total log production and it is mainlyused for the manufacture of furniture.Contributions of the Wood-based Industryto the EconomyThe importance of the wood-based industry canbe seen from its contribution towards foreignexchange earnings, which in 1999 amounted to,about RM 17 billion. These amount forms nearly25 percent of the total foreign exchange earningsgenerated in that year. In terms of export

Table 2: Log Flow in Peninsular Malaysia, 1994 -1998

Source: Forestry Department, P. Malaysia, various years

raeY4991 5991 6991 7991 8991 LATOT

snoitcudorpgoL 233,983,11 258,920,9 299,814,8 354,514,7 073,621,5 414,813,14stropmIgoL 543,462 152,855 469,364 438,694 712,694 116,962,2

LATOT 776,356,11 301,885,9 659,288,8 782,209,7 785,226,5 520,885,34noitpmusnocgoL 481,691,9 894,640,01 386,371,9 329,271,9 576,235,5 369,121,34

-/+ecnalaB 394,754,2 593,854- 727,092- 636,072,1- 219,98 260,664

Table 3: Number of Wood Processing Mills in Peninsular Malaysia, 1997sllimfoepyT rebmuN

llimwaS 117reeneV/doowylP 05

gnidluoM 141draobelcitraP 4

repaPdnapluP 0yrtnepraC&erutinruF 026,2

draobkcolB 21draoBdetanimaL 43

draobtnemeC 4pihcdooW 1

teuqraP 62esuoHdetacirbaferP 01

sehctaM 4licneP 3

gniyrDnliK 221noitavreserP 811

FDM 7latoT 768,3

Source: Forestry Department of P. Malaysia, 1998

3 Overview of Forest Law Enforcement in Peninsular Malaysia

earnings, plywood industry comes first,followedby sawntimber, furniture, panel productsand moulding industries. The wood-based in-dustries taken together generated direct employ-ment opportunities to about 250,000 people.The wood-based industry in Peninsular Malay-sia has been dominated by three main process-ing activities, namely sawmilling, plywood andveneer production. In 1997, the number of woodprocessing mills in Peninsular Malaysia was3,867 and out of these more than 2500 are fur-niture mills, the majority of which are small-scaled family owned backyard mills (Table 3).Only about 500 of the furniture plants are exportoriented. The next biggest number of mills isthe sawmill that stood at more than 700, followed

by moulding at 141 and plywood/veneer at 50.The three main processing mills consume about70 percent of the total log production from theforests of Peninsular Malaysia. The sawmillingindustry, in particular, consumes more than 80percent of the total log consumption of the threetypes of mills.In 1997, the reconstituted panel productsindustry comprises 12 blockboard plants, 11particleboard/chipboard plants, 9 MDF plants and6 wood-cement board plants. Of these, the MDFplants had registered the highest growth andmost of the mills are capital intensive andequipped with the latest technology to optimizeraw material utilization.


The main objective of this report would be todiscuss the system that exists in PeninsularMalaysia that handles and manages the problemof forest offenses, in general, and illegal logging,in particular. In so doing, the report highlightsthe roles played by the Forestry Department,other government agencies, and the public toprevent, detect and suppress the occurrenceof forest offenses. It also describes themechanisms and procedures that have beeninstituted by the Forestry Department, inparticular, to handle the problem of forestoffenses.The report will also present some data to highlightthe extent and occurrence of forest offenses,particularly illegal logging. To date, no specificcase study has been made on illegal logging,although as mentioned earlier, a few studies

have been done to describe the extent of theproblem and identify factors underlying it. Suchstudies do highlight some aspects of forest lawenforcement in the states.Information and data for this report are gatheredfrom two main sources. The first source is therelevant personnel in the Forestry Departmentand the second is the various publications andreports on policies and procedures related toforest law enforcement as well as on theincidence of forest offenses. Brief interviewswere made with experienced enforcementofficers in order to gain better understanding ofthe law enforcement process and to identifyfactors influencing forest offenses. Due to theconfidentiality of some information, the individualsinterviewed would prefer to remain anonymous.

PART 2 PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY


Prevention strategies are measures taken by thegovernment, particularly the forest authority, toreduce or even eliminate the occurrence of forestoffenses. These measures can include thosethat are aimed at deterring likely offenders,strengthening policy and its implementation, andeducating the public on the importance of forestryand forest law implementation. In PeninsularMalaysia, higher penalties were introduced in theforest law in 1993. Consequently, the forestryauthority emphasizes the importance of lawenforcement in policy and planning documents,conducts training programs for its staffs andcarries out campaign programs for the public.

Legal StrategiesThe key measure taken by the Government toprevent forest crime was by amending theNational Forestry Act, 1984 to incorporate newprovisions to deter the occurrence of forestoffenses. The Act was enacted to update andharmonize forest law in the Peninsula. Prior tothe Act, the various State governments dependon the State Forest Enactment’s, which wereformulated in 1930’s, for legal guidelines onforest management and conservation. The Actalso enables the effective implementation of theNational Forestry Policy passed in 1978. It wasamended in 1993 to further strengthen itsprovisions to curb illegal encroachment of forestsand theft of timber. The Act has been adoptedby all the states in Peninsular Malaysia.The main objectives of amending the Act are asfollows:i) To increase the penalties and tighten the

procedures in compounding forestoffences

ii) To transfer burden of proof from theprosecutor to the defense in the court

iii) To delegate power in writing by StateDirector of Forestry under section 88, 89,90, 92 or 93 to any member of the armedforces not below the rank of LanceCorporal as empowered to the police butshall not include the power ofinvestigation

iv) To add new sections 100A and 100B forrewards and protection of informersrespectively, section 101A for power ofcourt to order revocation anddisqualification, section 110A foroffenses committed by licensee or holderof permit, and New Sixth Schedule forlist of machines, equipment andconveyance”.

PART 3 PREVENTION STRATEGIES

v) To make general amendments in thenational language text, change of namein the national language text and sub-stitute sections 5, 69, 101 and 104

In order to ensure that the amendments are fullyunderstood by the enforcement officers in thestates, the Federal Forestry Departmentprepared and circulated a report that clearlyexplained the various changes made in the law.Members of the public also have access to theoriginal law and its Revised Version because theyare sold in bookstores. The details of the variousamendments are shown in Appendix 1

Forest Policy and Long Term PlanThe National Forest Policy for PeninsularMalaysia of 1978 was revised in 1992 toincorporate several new elements, one of whichis on the importance of forest law enforcement.In this revised policy statements, it wasemphasized that the State Governments throughtheir respective State Director Forestry mustjudicially implement the National Forest Act 1984(Revised 1993) to ensure sustainable forestresource management and conservation.The importance of forest law is alsoacknowledged in the country’s five-yeareconomic development plan. In the SeventhMalaysia Plan (1996 - 2000), for example, it wasstated that the National Forestry Act, 1984 wasamended for the main purpose of enhancing theeffectiveness of forestry enforcement. Sections19-26 of the Plan on Forest Resources read asfollows:

“To enhance the effectivenessin forestry enforcement, theNFA 1984 was amended in1993, and steps were taken toinstitute the preparation of EIAto protect the forestenvironment and biodiversity, inparticular the logging of naturalresources. Reduced ImpactLogging (RIL) was encouraged,and helicopter logging wascarried out in Sarawak”.

In response to the call for more effective forestlaw enforcement, all the states in PeninsularMalaysia incorporate activities that prevent forestcrime through demarcation of external forestboundaries and capacity building in their longterm planning. The Selangor State Government,for example, in its Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996- 2000) invested in the demarcations of external


forest reserves boundaries in order to preventforest crimes, particularly encroachment forillegal agricultural activities and illegal extractionof forest produce.The Selangor State government also invests inprograms aimed at strengthening the manpowercompetency through additional personnel, inservice training and additional vehicles forenforcement activities. For the purpose offacilitating accessibility into forest areas for forestdevelopment works and forest operationactivities existing forest roads were upgraded ofexisting while new ones constructed in strategiclocations in order to help in carrying out forestsurveillance operations.

Forest Management PlanElements of law enforcement are incorporate inthe Forest Management Plan to guide themonitoring of forestry activities. In the latestformat introduced by Forestry Department ofPeninsular Malaysia it is explicitly stated underthe forest protection section (subsectionboundary control) that the department shoulddescribe actions to be taken to controlencroachment, shifting cultivation and illegallogging.In the Forest Management Plan of Johor for the1996 –2005 period, for example, 1,224.7 km ofpermanent forest estate external boundaries willbe demarcated while maintenance works will becarried out on about 2,453.04 km of existingboundaries. The main purpose of such activitiesare essentially to ensure that the boundaries arevisible and easily identified by the public as wellas forestry personnel. Other measures includethe maintenance of about 3,791.9 km ofcompartment boundaries.Other than boundary control, however, there isno requirement in the plan to describe theenforcement operations that need to be carriedout by the forestry personnel. No surveillancestrategies need to be stated, so are thefrequency, time and type of personnel involvesin the patrolling and logistics support. In addition,it is noted that there is no provision on educationand extension activities to create publicawareness towards the existence and theimportance of the forestry law and regulations.Without such awareness the department will notbe able to get the necessary support from thepublic in helping its law enforcement activities.

Forest Manual Of Peninsular Malaysia1953 (Revision 1995)In her effort to improve the efficiency andeffectiveness of the administration and

management of the forest resources, the For-estry Department had revised the Forest Manualin 1995 which was originally formulated duringBritish administration in the year 1935. Themanual documents in detail all the processesand procedures of administration, managementand services provided by the Department.Chapter 14 of the Manual describes in detail theprocesses and procedures in forest lawenforcement activities. The various aspectscovered include: classification of forest andwood industry offenses; detection of offenses inthe forest; inspection of logging areas, wood-based industries premises, and forest producein transit; as well as handling public complaints.The Manual also gives detail guidelines on howto take action when forest offenses occur,confiscation and seizure of illegal forestproduce, and procedures and techniques on howto make arrest. It also describes the proceduresin making a police report and how to write aninvestigation paper and finally, how to prosecutein court.

Malaysian Criteria and Indicators forSustainable Forest Management

The importance of forest law enforcement is alsospelled out in the criteria and indicators forsustainable forest management recentlyformulated in the country. Among the criteriaand indicators that either relate directly orindirectly to the prevention of illegal forestactivities are as follows:I. Criteria 1: Enabling conditions for sustainable forest management

Indicators: 1.1 Existence of a framework oflaws, policies, and regulation govern:e) the control of forest harvestingf) the control of encroachmenti) the participation of local communities

II. Criteria 2: Forest resource securityIndicators: 2.2. Length and percentage ofexternal boundaries of the permanentforest estate demarcated or clearly defined

III. Criteria 6: Economic, Social and Cultural Aspects

Indicators: 6.1. Ratio of domestic logproduction to processing capacity of wood-based industriesIndicators: 7.10. Extent to which tenureand user rights over the forest aredocumented and recognized

Indicators: 7.11. Extent to which forestplanning and management practicesand processes consider legal or customaryrights with to indigenous and localcommunities, forest dwellers and otherforest dependent communities


Professional or In-service TrainingThe Forestry Department conducts regulartraining programs on forest law enforcement toenhance the skills, leadership ability andknowledge of its personnel. Training on theNational Forestry Act, 1984, forest lawenforcement, investigation and prosecution, andlaw and court procedure is given to seniorofficers, forest rangers and foresters. The seniorofficers were given training in law enforcementaspects that include the techniques of lawenforcement, investigation and court proceeding.In running the course, the Forestry Departmentwas assisted by personnel from the MalaysianRoyal Police College, and the Training Instituteof Law and Judiciary of the Prime MinistersDepartment.

Public EducationPrior to the amendments of the National ForestryAct, 1984, very little effort has been done by theForestry Department to educate the public onthe importance of forest law enforcement.However, since the revision in 1993, nation wideseminar and dialogs were conducted with theobjective of informing loggers, sawmillers andthe general public on the importance of forestsand forest industries, including forest law.However, such seminars and dialogs are notconducted on a regular basis. Some districtforest offices do conduct briefings to loggers andtheir workers about forest law, rules andregulations prior to the commencement oflogging operations but this is not a standardpractice.


Role of the Forestry Department andOther StakeholdersAmong others, the prevention and control ofillegal logging and encroachment are carried outthrough air surveillance using helicopter, ifrequired, as well as spot checks. TheEnforcement Unit both at the Federal and Statelevels could step up efforts to prevent andinvestigate encroachment, fire, grazing andillegal exploitation of forests and collaborate withthe police and the armed forces to enhancesurveillance of forestry activities, especially incurbing illegal logging, encroachment of forestareas and timber theft, as provided for undersection 5 of the National Forestry Act 1984.The enforcement of sections 15 and 40 of theNational Forestry Act, 1984 with regard to amaximum fine of RM 500,000 and animprisonment for a term of not less than one (1)year but not exceeding 20 years for commissionof a forest offense would serve as a deterrentpenalty. With the enforcement of sections 100Aand 100B public involvement and participationin curbing such illegal activities and reducingtheir incidences in the forest areas is enhanced.The development of Geographical InformationSystem (GIS) and remote-sensing technologywould further strengthen the monitoring capacityon the implementation of detection techniquesof forest resource changes due to occurrencesof illegal logging and encroachment as well asfire.

Occurrence of Forest OffensesAvailable data show that the occurrence of alltypes of forest offenses in Peninsular Malaysia

PART 4 DETECTION OF FOREST OFFENSES

is, of late, considerably low. The total number ofreported cases for the period 1996-1999 is 374cases and this gives an average occurrence of93.5 cases per year (Table 3). There is not muchvariation in the occurrence of forest offensesbetween the years. Of all the states, forest of-fenses occurred much more in Kelantan thanthe other states. Forest offenses occurred threetimes more in that state than in Pahang, wherethe next highest incidence of forest offensesoccurred.The east coast states of Pahang, Terengganuand Kelantan still have large areas of forests andharvesting activities are more active in this regionthan the other three regions of PeninsularMalaysia. It could be to this factor that theoccurrence of forest offenses is highest in theEast Coast region (Table 4).The various forest offenses, as prescribed bythe National Forestry Act, 1984 can be generallycategorized into three classes (Table 5). Datashow that category III offenses recorded thehighest number of cases and the number isincreasing. Offenses in this category can beconsidered as minor offenses. The most seriousof the offenses would be in category I, whichessentially are illegal logging cases. The rate ofoccurrence of offenses in this category has beenquite consistent averaging about 20 cases peryear. On the other hand, forest encroachmentactivities for agricultural purposes seem to bedeclining during the last few years. In 1996, therewere 86 cases and it dropped to only 6 cases in1999.

Incidence of Illegal LoggingData in Table 6 show the occurrence of illegal

Table 4: Number of Forest Offenses by Region, 1996-1999noigeR 6991 7991 8991 9991 LATOTnoigeRnrehtroN silreP 0 5 1 0 6

hadeK 1 81 01 8 73gnaniP.P 0 0 1 0 1

kareP 31 91 7 8 74noigeRlartneC rognaleS 31 7 9 01 93

nalibmeS.N 7 0 5 2 41noigeRnrehtuoS akaleM 1 0 0 0 1

rohoJ 5 6 5 1 71noigeRtsaoCtsaE natnaleK 24 72 71 65 241

unaggnereT 9 5 4 4 22gnahaP 01 9 61 31 84

LATOT 101 69 57 201 473Source: Forestry Department P. Malaysia, unpublished


logging activities in permanent reserved forestin Peninsular Malaysia for the period 1987 to1999.The total number of illegal logging cases re-corded for the period is 1725 and the averagecase per year is 133. The highest number ofcases was recorded in 1991 at 512 while thelowest was 14 recorded in 1996. The numberof cases fluctuates from 1987 to 1993 but dras-tically reduced starting in 1994. The averagenumber of cases per year for the period 1987 to1993 is 223 and this is eight times more thanthe annual average for the 1994 – 1999 period.Of all the states, Kelantan, and Pahang recordedrelatively higher number of cases than the otherstates.The drastic reduction in the number of illegallogging cases could be due to the introductionof higher penalties as specified in theamendments of the National Forestry Act, 1984.The amendments were made in 1993 and wereadopted by the states progressively beginningin 1994. One of the main changes made in theAct is the increase in penalty for “illegal logging”from a maximum fine of RM 10,000 to RM500,000. The maximum length of imprisonmentwas increased from 3 years to 20 years.

Organization for Forest OffensesThere is no detail information on how forestcrimes are organized. However, there isevidence to indicate that some forest encroach-ment activities are organized by those who wantto make quick profits. These individuals will hireforeign workers to fell the forest area as largeas 20-50 hectares and then sell them to any in-terested party. Such activities normally take placein easily accessible forest areas.There are two other types of encroachment. Thefirst involves the villagers who need land for thecultivation of crops, especially fruit trees. Suchencroachment is normally done on small scaleinvolving an area of one to two hectares. Itnormally happens near forest fringes. Thesecond type involves the aboriginal people thatpractices shifting cultivation. They normally cutin remotely located areas, often close to theirvillages.There is also no information whether or not thereis organized market for illegally cut timber.Based on discussions with forestry departmentpersonnel, it can be generally concluded that theillegal timber is disposed locally and probablybeing utilized by illegal wood-based industries.

Table 5: Number of offenses by category, 1996-1999raeY IyrogetaC IIyrogetaC IIIyrogetaC6991 41 68 17991 22 63 838991 32 8 449991 62 4 27LATOT 58 431 551

Category I – logging without license, logging outside boundary, construction of infrastructure and forest roads without permission.Category II – forest encroachment for agriculture activities and settlement.Category III – felling of unmarked trees, unlicensed workers, unregistered machinery and other breaches of rules and regulations.

etatS 78‘ 88‘ 98‘ 09‘ 19‘ 29‘ 39‘ 49‘ 59‘ 69‘ 79‘ 89‘ 99‘ latoTrohoJ 9 01 22 21 32 21 71 9 5 - 1 2 1 321hadeK 9 5 03 81 01 01 - 3 3 1 - 3 3 59natnaleK 52 62 53 43 651 51 62 7 21 6 9 2 01 363nalib’S.N 61 11 61 81 11 74 21 1 2 2 - 4 2 241

gnahaP 31 6 52 92 731 13 24 7 4 3 3 4 7 113kareP 73 21 12 62 801 82 01 1 3 - 5 3 2 652silreP 2 - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 2rognaleS 65 65 86 71 93 32 8 1 3 - 3 3 1 872unaggnereT 5 01 41 81 82 52 43 21 4 - 1 2 - 351

latoT 271 631 332 271 215 191 941 14 63 41 22 32 62 5271

Table 6: Illegal logging in Permanent Reserved Forest, 1987 – 1999

Source: Forestry Department P. Malaysia, unpublished.


There is little possibility that the illegal timberbeing mixed with the legal ones since each loghas to be tagged before passed through the for-est checking stations for inspection. Licensedwood-based industries are not likely to purchaseillegal timber because it will jeopardize their im-age. Records are kept on all logs received andstored in the mill premises, including the datesof processing. Forest officers on regular basisinspect these records and cases of discrepancywill be reported to the higher authority. Illegaltimber can also be processed for rough timberby the local community using chainsaw only andlater sell them to local people for construction oftheir own houses.

Impacts of Forest OffensesImpacts of forest crimes can be classified intotwo categories, namely direct and indirect im-pact. Direct impacts relate to lost of revenue tothe state government in the form of premium,royalty and cess. Indirect impacts are those as-

sociated with damage to forests and wildlife. Nostudies have been conducted to estimate boththe direct and indirect impacts of forest offenses.In terms of impact per unit area of forest, en-croachment activities are most costly becauserevenues are not collected from the felled tim-ber while the damage done to the environmentis very substantial since forests are cleared andconverted to agriculture. In addition, the indus-try will also suffer due to decreasing log supply.Some estimates on the lost in revenue can bejudged by looking at the amount ofcompensation paid by illegal loggers to theForestry Departments. From 1996 to 1999, thetotal amount of compensation collected by theforest department was about RM 7 million, givingan average of about RM 20,000 per offense. Thetotal lost is a lot more when damage tobiodiversity and the environment is taken intocalculation. The loss in biodiversity will take avery long time to be recovered.


Government’s Response System toInformation on Forest CrimesInformation on forest crimes is either reportedindirectly through the media or directly to theForestry Department. Almost all the StateForestry Departments in Peninsular Malaysia hasEnforcement Units that are responsible to followup on reports of forest crimes. In line with theClient’s Charter, the Enforcement Units areobliged to respond to the information almostimmediately. The statement in the Charter statesthat whatever complaints received from thepublic/informer, media and other agencies mustbe attended to immediately. The Client’sCharters states:

“ Information and feedbackreceived from the public will beacknowledged. All complaintspertaining to forest offencesshall be acted upon within aperiod of not more than three (3)days.”

Information on forest crimes can come to theoffice of the State Director of Forestry or to theDistrict Office. Subsequently, either theenforcement unit at the state office or officers inthe operation section of the District Forest Officewill take the necessary steps to investigate thereports. According to subsection 88 (3) of theNational Forestry Act 1984, any forest officer notbelow the rank of Assistant District ForestOfficer, any police officer not below the rank ofSergeant and any officer in charge of a policestation, may in relation to any investigation inrespect of any forest offense, without order ofthe Public Prosecutor, exercise the specialpowers in relations to police investigations givenby the Criminal Procedure Code in any seizablecase. However, under the provision of section 5of the Act, these powers of investigation cannotbe delegated, even in writing, to any member ofthe armed forces.The Enforcement Unit at the State ForestryDepartment has a bigger responsibility than justto response to reports on forest crimes. Of theeleven states in Peninsular Malaysia, four statesdo not have enforcement units in theirorganization. These states are categorized assmall in terms of the size of their PermanentReserved Forest. The unit inspects loggingactivities, checks logging licenses, inspects millpremises, monitors forest produce in transit, andinvestigates public complaints. In some cases,at the request of the district forest office, the unit

PART 5 SUPPRESSION STRATEGIES

also assists in the investigation of forest offencesdetected at the forest district. Under theprovisions of section 103 of the Act, the StateDirector of Forestry may prosecute any forestoffense, or institute any action, suit or otherproceeding relating to any matter, under this Act.In any prosecution, action, suit or otherproceeding, the State Director of Forestry mayappear personally, or may be represented by anyFederal Counsel, Legal Adviser, advocate andsolicitor or forest officer.The Forestry Department cooperates with otherstate departments in the enforcement of forestlaw. The Department usually gets the assistanceof the police, District Land Office, and Land andMines Office when conducting large-scaleenforcement operations. The main purpose ofinvolving other agencies is to attack the problemwith a multi-prong strategy. The ultimate aim isto charge the offender with bigger crimes, andnot just forest crimes. With this cooperativestrategy, the likelihood that the offender getsaway will be minimized. The police officers areempowered under section 88, 89, 90, 91, 92 and93 of the Act to exercise powers of arrest,search, seizure and investigation but membersof the armed forces may only be delegated inwriting by the State Director of Forestry to conferor imposed such duty except that the powersdelegated to the members of armed forces shallnot include the power of investigation.Outcomes of Suppression ActivitiesNo detail information is available on the recentsuppression activities. In response to a questionon illegal logging raised in the Lower House ofthe Parliament in 1998, the Minister of PrimaryIndustry commented that the problem hasimproved because offenders have been takento court and lost and had to pay bigger amountof fines in addition to imprisonment. In oneparticular case, an illegal logger was fined RM50,000 and sentenced to one-year jail. However,he failed to pay his fine and as a result hereceived a longer jail sentence for one-half years.Jail sentences are beginning to become morecommon in Peninsular Malaysia lately than in thepast.

Illegal Logging and Criminal Justice SystemIllegal logging are criminal acts and this meansthat the manner by which suspects are handledor treated is governed by the provisions of thecountry’s law on crimes, namely the Penal Codeand the Criminal Procedure Code. These lawsalso outline the procedure for the disposal of


confiscated materials. Sections 89 and 93 ofthe National Forestry Act, 1984 also provideguidelines on how confiscated materials arehandled.Current laws on “white collar crimes” or otherforms of crimes are, theoretically, applicable toinstigators of illegal logging. Nevertheless, theforest law itself has provisions on this subject.Section 110 of the Act provides that the employerwould have been liable to any penalty for any-thing done or committed by his partner, agent orservant.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the same courts andjudges are used for handling forest crimes aswell as other crimes. There are no specializedcourts and judges to hear cases on illegallogging. Forest offences are prosecuted eitherin the Magistrate Court or the Session Court. Thejudges are not specifically trained in forest lawbut are familiar with the National forestry(Amendment) Act 1993”.


Like any other crimes, it is almost impossible tostop the occurrence of forest offenses,particularly illegal logging. Many factors aredriving the occurrence of such offenses. Thebottom line is, it definitely pays to commit crimesin the forests. It is true that the penalties forcommitting forest offenses are much higher nowthan before but the expected penalties are stilllow. Logging operations are now located inremote areas, therefore the probability ofdetection and arrest for forest offenses is low.In addition to remoteness of timber harvestingoperations, the forestry departments are shortof field staffs to monitor these operations. Also,the compensations imposed and collected forforest offenses are very low compared with themaximum penalties prescribed in the legislation.The deterrent factor for not committing forestoffenses is truly not visible.Government policy sometimes has tended toencourage illegal logging. Some stategovernments have charged very high tenderprice for timber harvesting rights and this hascaused timber companies to log areas that arenot allocated to them in order to recover as muchcost as possible from timber harvestingoperations. It was reported that some statescharge price for timber very much above theexpected stumpage value of the standing timber.A steady, if not increasing, demand for logs isdefinitely a strong factor that influences forestoffenses, particularly illegal logging. Demand fortimber in the country both for domesticconsumption and export is still good. However,the supply of timber is limited because the sizeof forest areas is decreasing day by day. As aresult, the price for logs and timber products isstill high. Under such a scenario and coupledwith the fact that the probability of arrest is low, itis very difficult to eliminate the occurrence ofillegal logging. Greed and craze for short-termand quick profits have always driven humanbeings to commit many different forms ofcrimes. Poverty and land hunger could have astrong influence on forest encroachment foragricultural activities.One of the immediate steps that can be taken tominimize the occurrence of forest offenses is tomake the deterrent factor visible and real.Offenders must be made to realize andexperience that “crime does not pay.” Illegalloggers must be punished as severely aspossible and such offenses should not becompounded but dealt with in court. Judges mustnot symphatise with these loggers and should

PART 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

sentence them with the maximum fine and jailsentence. The probability of arrest for illegalloggers would be increased with increase in spotchecks, particularly by using aerial surveillance.The Forestry Department could send someofficers for training on the latest techniques offorest crimes surveillance.Forest encroachment activities are more drivenby land hunger and poverty than other factors.Such being the case, the government should tryto help these people by giving them land to planttheir crops to earn their living. Giving them landthrough the FELDA or FELCRA settlementschemes might be the shortest solution to theproblem of encroachment.Forest offenses, particularly illegal logging, havebeen a “thorn in the flesh” to the forestry authorityand will continue to haunt them in the future. Theauthority should be given credits for taking somepositive steps to curb the problems. Increasingthe penalties for forest offenses was a crediblemove and so was the implementation of timbertagging system. Currently, the ForestryDepartment is actively implementing thesustainable forest management initiative throughthe application of criteria and indicators that haveincorporated the element of forest lawenforcement. The Department is also in theprocess of getting certification from ISO and thisshould further improve the law enforcementsystem in the country. The bottom line is theauthority is not keeping quite on the problem offorest crimes.It is very difficult to say that the increase inpenalties for forest offenses have contributedsignificantly to the reduction in forest offenses.A detailed study should be done to determinewhether or not that is so. However, from thedata shown earlier, the incidence of forestoffenses has reduced drastically since theimplementation of the amended forest act. Thismay mean that the increase in penalties hashelped to reduce offenses.Effective forest law enforcement is one of thekey pre-requisites towards achieving theobjective of sustainable forest management.Resource sustainability, ecosystem health andstability, environmental enhancement andprotection, sustained growth of the wood-basedindustries are influenced by effective forest lawenforcement. On the other hand, as wasstressed earlier, forest law enforcement will bemore effective if there is a good communicationsystem and clear boundary demarcation.


Indirectly, law enforcement encourages goodmanagement practices and facilities.The current legislative framework in PeninsularMalaysia does provide adequate support foreffective forest law enforcement. As mentionedearlier, current legislation views forest offensesseriously by incorporating heavy penalties forthem and, at the same time, it gives sufficientauthority to the forest officers for its enforcement.What is required is for more resources to be putin the enforcement of the law, particularly morefunds and trained and committed personnel.Also, the provisions of the law must beimplemented fully.There is also now a stronger political will andsupport than before for more effective forest lawenforcement. Judging by comments made by anumber of heads of the state governments innewspapers, there is now greaterconsciousness on the importance of forests andthe environment to the society. Many statepoliticians have made strong comments in thepress against illegal logging and forestencroachment and have called on the forestryauthorities to deal with the problems urgently.However, there is no clear evidence on theposition of the private sector with regard to forestlaw enforcement. There is an urgent need tostudy the perception of private timber companieson the issue of forest offenses so that strategiescan be developed to educate them, if necessary.The bottom line is, the private sector has torealize that committing forest offenses,particularly illegal logging, would not bring anylong-term benefit either to themselves or thesociety at large.

Recommendations1. Implement the National Forestry Act, 1984,

fully and effectively, particularly in mattersdealing with forest offenses. Illegal loggers,in particular, should be punished moreseverely in accordance with the provisionsof the Act.

2. Provide more resources for forest lawenforcement, particularly funds, trained andcommitted manpower, and appropriatetechnology.

3. Educate forest communities, private timbercompanies and certain politicians on theimportance of forest law and its effectiveenforcement.

4. Promote programs that would provideopportunities for rural communities to earnincome from sources other than from theforest lands.

5. Review timber-pricing policies that encourage

the occurrence of forest offenses.

Conclusion

Like any other crimes, there are many factorsdriving the occurrence of forest offenses.Remoteness of timber harvesting operations,short of the forestry departments field staffs aswell as low compensations imposed andcollected for forest offenses has reduced theprobability of detection and arrest for forestoffenses. In addition, very high tender price fortimber harvesting rights in some states hascaused timber companies to commit illegallogging in order to recover cost. Under such ascenario and coupled with the fact that thedemand for timber in the county is high, it is verydifficult to eliminate the occurrence of forestoffenses in particular illegal logging.The authority, particularly the ForestryDepartment should be given credits for takingsome positive steps to curb the problems.Increasing the penalties for forest offenses,application of criteria and indicators forsustainable forest management that haveincorporated the element of forest lawenforcement as well as getting certification fromISO should further improve the law enforcementsystem in the country. Available data show thatthe incidence of forest offenses has reduceddrastically since the implementation of thesemeasures.

The current legislative framework coupled witha stronger political will does provide adequatesupport for effective forest law enforcement.What is required is for more resources to be putin the enforcement of the law, particularly morefunds and trained and committed personnel. Inaddition, the provisions of the law must beimplemented fully. One of the immediate stepsthat can be taken to minimize the occurrence offorest offenses is to make the deterrent factorvisible and real. Illegal loggers must be punishedas severely as possible with the maximum fineand jail sentence. The probability of arrest forillegal loggers would be increased with increasein spot checks, particularly by using aerialsurveillance. The Forestry Department couldsend some officers for training on the latesttechniques of forest crimes surveillance. Sincethere is no clear evidence on the position of theprivate sector with regard to forest lawenforcement, there is an urgent need to study


the perception of private timber companies onthe issue of forest offenses so that strategiescan be developed to educate them, if necessary.


Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia. 1998.Forestry Statistics Peninsular Malaysia.1998. Percetakan Haji Jantan Sdn. Bhd.

Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia. 1998.Perkhidmatan Perhutanan KearahKecemerlangan. 1998. Ampang PressSdn Bhd.

Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia.National Forestry Policy 1978 (Revised1992). Forestry Department PeninsularMalaysia

Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia. 1995.Forest Manual 1935 (Amendment) 1995.Forestry Department

Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia. 1999.Malaysian Criteria, Indicators, Activitiesand Standard Performance (MC&I) forForest Management Certification (ForestManagement Unit level). PeninsularMalaysia (Malaysia - The Netherlands Ad-Hoc Working Group. 1999. Unpublished

References

Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia.Annual reports. 1994 to 1998. ForestryDepartment

Law of Malaysia, Act A864, National Forestry(Amendment) Act 1993. PercetakanNegara.

New Straits Times, various years.Subramanium, S. 1994. A study on forest

offenses in Selangor. B.S. ProjectReport, Faculty of Forestry, UniversitiPutra Malaysia.

Shahrum, A.F. 1998. A study on forest offensesin Kedah. B.S. Project Report, Facultyof Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Litanngah, W. 1997. A study on forest offensesin Sabah. B.S. Project Report, Facultyof Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia.


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