FDS Share Results From Gap Assessment Study on The Harmonized RIL Guidelines
About 60 stakeholders attended the Gap Assessment Study on the Harmonized Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) Guidelines in Support of Sustainable Forest Management in Sarawak workshop, hosted by FDS.
Abg Ahmad, Deputy Director of FDS said in his welcoming speech, “Forestry in Sarawak is always in the eyes of international communities, and that the state strives to be on par with international standards.”
“This gap assessment is a step towards improving the RIL and also the forestry sector in Sarawak to achieve greater sustainability, as well as minimizing impacts on the environment,” he added.
He also mentioned that through this consultation workshop, opinions obtained from stakeholders will be reviewed against the recommendations made by the consultant, to determine the practicality of implementation. FDS will compile the feedback received and present them to the Forest Management Certification Committee for deliberation, followed by a field testing. A final draft of a revised RIL Guideline will be produced next year.
About 60 participants from various sectors comprising of government agencies, industry players, civil societies and non-governmental organisation participated in this consultation.
In March, FDS signed a Letter of Agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to carry out the RIL gap assessment. This is made possible through a project supported by the FAO-EU Forest Law Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programmme. FDS is working together with WWF-Malaysia to implement this project.
Both FDS and WWF-Malaysia express their appreciation to the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme for supporting this project, and to all participants who actively participated in this workshop.
About 60 stakeholders attended the Gap Assessment Study on the Harmonized Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) Guidelines in Support of Sustainable Forest Management in Sarawak workshop, hosted by FDS.
