I was amazed to see from the PEFC press release of the 5th. of May, 2009 that Malaysia had received PEFC certification/endorsement for it’s Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS).
At the Illegal Logging Update and Stakeholder Consultation meeting, held in London on the 19th. & 20th. of January of this year, the presentation of Dato’ Dr. Freezailah Che Yeom on behalf of the Malaya Forest Council, made it clear that it would be almost impossible to meet the EU FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement Governance & Trade) criteria and the Malay government were therefore pursuing their own certification programme, the MTCS. He was given polite attendance by the audience, as was the following presentation of Ms. Ivy Wong Abdullah of WWF Malaysia who spoke of what the FLEGT was and was not, and finally Professor Ramy Bhulan of the University of Malaya, who spoke on behalf of the indigenous peoples and their lack of representation in the consultation process, and the ‘rape’ of their tribal homelands, especially on Sarawak. Prof. Ramy Buhlan’s presentation included heart breaking photographic images of areas currently being destructively logged, as well as vast swathes of land that had been stripped bare of their former, lush, tropical forest.
A question was asked by a member of the audience (me) of both Dr. Freezailah and Ms. Wong as to whether reforestation — and thus sustainability — formed any part of the work that they were doing toward the establishment of the MTCS, and if not, was this not somewhat short-sighted of the Malay Government and a gross dereliction of duty on the part of WWF.
Dr. Freezailah appeared disturbed, almost angered, by the question and yet was adamant in his response that there was NO provision for reforestation as a means of sustainability. Ms. Wong was visibly embarrassed by the question and had to admit that Dr. Freezailah’s answer was true for WWF Malaya as well, adding that they feared being locked-out of the consultation process if they (WWF Malaya) tried to ‘insert’ topics which were outside of the Governments own agenda.
After the meeting Dr. Freezailah openly snubbed me, while Ms. Wong continued to show acute embarrassment, and many of the audience congratulated me, one attendee even remarking that even the EU had assumed that reforestation/sustainability was automatically, nay, naturally, part of any State sponsored certification scheme, and that they, the EU, would therefore have to take a closer look at the situation, now that they knew such was not the case in Malaya.
Have the Malayan Forestry Council re-written their certification process to include re-forestation, sustainability, and the rights of indigenous people, or have the venerated PEFC had the wool pulled over their eyes too?
