Forest Management Unit No.14 - Industrial Tree Plantation Management

Industrial Tree Plantation (ITP).

Under the recent PDP, the ITP areas of 21,970 ha are wholly managed with BASIL planting.

Forest Management Unit No.14 - Natural Forest Management

Sapulut Forest Development SB (FMU 14) ; Natural Forest Management

Based on the current area, total production area for NFM is 52,552 ha. The NFM areas are further divided into 3 management regimes as follow:-

No.	Production	Gross Area (Ha)	Management Regimes
(a)	NFM West	7,957	Full RIL
(b)	NFM East	9,905	MOSAIC under RIL
(c)	NFM Central	34,690	Conventional

Socio-Economic

Sapulut actively sought the participation of the local community for its activities conducted in the SFMLA. Through the direct employment of the local communities living adjacent to the SFMLA, Sapulut had a direct impact on the economic well-being of the local communtities as Sapulut provides job opportunities, training, donations, promote and purchase of local handicarfts. Currently approximately 40% of camp staff/workers are from the vicinity of SFMLA. 

Forest Health and Functionality

To monitor forest health and overall functionality of the existing forested area, tree enumeration through the establishment and maintenance of Permanent Sample Plots (PSPs) is a scientific approach for documenting detailed changes in forest structure and composition. The output of the plot could provide baseline information on distributions of species and habitats of a particular site. The long-term monitoring activities, such as assessment of the standing trees of these plots would provide valuable information on the changes in plant diversity and richness, growth, mortality, regeneration and dynamics of sampled forest. This information on forest changes is an indicator of forest health and functionality.

At present, 50 PSPs are actively been monitored by Kitayama et al from Kyoto University and Sabah Forestry Department's Research and Development team.

10 additional plots established by Sapulut  and will be maintained continuously according to developed procedure.

Second (2nd) Forest Management Plan : Management Objectives

The specific management objectives over the 10-year planning period of the FMP are as follows:-

i. To ensure that the Licensed Area is managed sustainably in order to provide optimum continuous        supply of high quality timber and other wood products based on application of Environmental-Friendly practices;

ii. To maintain and enhance the growth of commercial timber species of commercial timber species and health of the forest ecosystems through active intervention management such as, enrichment planting, silvicultural treatment, monitoring, prevention, and suppression of destructive forest agents especially fires, pests, etc.

iii. To enhance and restore the ecological connectivity for potential support (habitats) of viable wildlife populations, biodiversity conservation and associated ecosystem services;

v. To provide employment opportunities to the local communities especially those living adjacent to the Licensed Area through forestry related activities; and

vi. To support Government policy to manage forest reserves based on SFM principles, as well as, the Sabah Tourism Policy to enable tourism to be developed, which generate long-term sustainable benefits.

vii. It is envisaged that the Licensed Area will be certified in by 2015.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) 2015

A comprehensive SIA was conducted early this year with a report had been produced. This report re-assesses the socio-economic impacts of Sapulut's operations on the livelihood of all the villages of Sapulut concession area.

Overall, the impacts identified through the interviewed process were congruent with the current socio-economic issues. The findings covering positive and negative impacts are listed below;-

a) Positive Impacts.

    i) Creation of employment opportunities.

   ii) Reduction in bush fires.

  iii) More disciplined land management.

b) Negative Impacts.

    i) Land uses.

   ii) Water use.

  iii) Safety and health risks.

Of all the impacts identified,effective mitigation measures and monitoring had been plan. Monitoring the progress of each mitigation measure is included as part of the organization mitigation management plan.

Flora

A. Flora Density.

From the collections (herbarium and voucher specimens) made during the recent High Conservation Value (HCV) survey and additional data retrieved from plant database (BRAHMS) and other research plots, a total of 442 taxa (identified to specific and infra specific level) were recorded from the reserve. These are represented by 2 lycophyte family, 6 ferns, 10 angiosperms (Monocotyledon) and 73 angiosperms (Dicotyledon).

No. of plant taxa according to plant groups from Sapulut FR.

Plant group	No. of families	No. of taxa
Lycopyhtes	2	7
Ferns	6	12
Gymnosperm	0	0
Angiosperm	-	-
Monocotyledon	10	34
Dicotyledon	73	389
Total:	91	442

The 10 most speciose families are;-

a) Diperocarpaceae (36)            h) Phyllanthaceae (16)

b) Euphorbiaceae (30)               i) Meliaceae (13), and 

c) Lauraceae (18)                       j) Myrtaceae (13)

d) Annonaceae (17)

e) Fabaceae (17)

f) Orchidaceae (16)

g) Rubiaceae (16)

From the 442 plant taxa recorded from Sapulut FR, 112 plant species are endemic to Borneo, including 23 to Sabah but none is endemic to Sapulut FR.

B. Inventory.

Field inventory was carried out over a period of several month in 2013, to determine the current timber stocks under the various forest quality cover within FMU 14. Result of the inventory is achievable in Sapulut 2nd FMP.