International forest-related agreements and sustainable forest management with reference to Peninsular Malaysia

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Conference on the Management and Conservation of Forest Biodiversity in Malaysia: Forest Biodiversity for Better Life pp. 185 - 205
• Main Authors: Mohd Yunus, Z, Nazir, N.K, Mohd Paiz, K, Rahimi, O, Mohd Yusoff, B, Zahari, I
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia 2007
• Subjects: AMENAGEMENT FORESTIER; DESARROLLO FORESTAL; DEVELOPPEMENT FORESTIER; DURABILITE; FOREST MANAGEMENT; FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT; FORESTRY POLICIES; MALAISIE; MALAISIE PENINSULAIRE; MALASIA; MALASIA PENINSULAR; MALAYSIA; ORDENACION FORESTAL; PENINSULAR MALAYSIA; POLITICA FORESTAL; POLITIQUE FORESTIERE; SOSTENIBILIDAD; SUSTAINABILITY
• ISBN: 9789839269567; 9839269569

Malaysia is parties to the various international forest-related agreements among others are United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) and The International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA). All these international agreements or processes either directly or indirectly elaborated matters concerning sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation. Other fundamental elements embedded in these international processes include trade interests, economic development and environmental protection. This paper elaborates the influences of the various agreements on the forest management system and practices and forest biodiversity conservation with reference to Peninsular Malaysia. It will also highlight some of the Malaysia`s International commitments and implementations progress. The sustainable forest management definition adopted in this paper is "the process of managing permanent forest land to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regards to continuous flow of desired forest products and services without undue reduction in its inherent values and future productivity and desirable effects in the physical and social environment". In the context of biodiversity, the definition used is "the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystem`. in addition, it should be noted that the focus on biodiversity in this paper would only be confined to forest biodiversity.