MALAYSIAN TIMBER Doc. Number: AD 34-02 CERTIFICATION SCHEME : Version Date: 01 February 2013 MC&I (NATURAL FOREST) (ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS) Page: 1 of 16 MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME PUBLIC SUMMARY OF SURVEILLANCE 01 AUDIT OF PAHANG FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT AGAINST THE REQUIREMENTS OF MC&I(NATURAL FOREST) Public Summary Date: 12 May 2014 Project Nr: MY02274 Client: Pahang State Forestry Department Web Page: www.pahangforestry.gov.my Pengarah Perhutanan Negeri Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Pahang Address: Tingkat 5, Kompleks Tun Razak, Bandar Indera Mahkota 25990 Kuantan Country: Malaysia Certificate Type: Malaysian Timber Certification Certificate Nr. SGS-MTCS/FM-0104 Scheme Date of Issue: 1 June 2013 Date of expiry: 31 May 2016 Forest Zone: Tropical Scope: Forest Management of 1,524,827 ha of permanent reserve forest in Pahang State for the production of timber Total Certified Area: 1,524,827 ha of natural forest in the PRF of Pahang FMU (excluding the PRF area planted or planned to be planted with forest plantations covering 38,075 ha) Contact Person: Dato’ Hj Paiz Kamaruzzaman – State Director of Forestry Tel: +6(09)-573 2911 Fax +6(09)-573 3355 Email: [email protected] Surveillance 01 Audit 07-11 October 2013 Date: Audit Team: Abdul Haye Semail (Lead Auditor) Dr. Savinder Kaur (Auditor) Mohd Faisal Jaafar (Auditor) SGS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., No.26, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla 31/93, Kota Kemuning, 40460 Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA CONTACT PERSON: ABDUL HAYE SEMAIL - Tel: +6 (03)5121 2320 - Fax: +6 (03)5122 5927 AD 32-A-01 Page 2 of 16 INTRODUCTION The Pahang Forest Management Unit (FMU) has been certified under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) since 2001; first under the Malaysian Criteria, Indicators, Activities and Standards of Performance (MC&I) for Forest Management Certification or in short MC&I(2001) and thereafter under the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification or in short [ MC&I(2002) ]. The Pahang Forest Management Unit (FMU) managed by the Pahang State Forestry Department was issued with a Forest Management Certificate (SGS-MTCS/FM-0104) under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) for meeting the requirements of the MC&I(2002) standard after a Stage 2 audit conducted in November 2009. Subsequently, Surveillance 01 and 02 Audits were conducted on 4 – 8 October 2010 and 31 October to 4 November 2011 respectively to ensure the continued compliance of the Pahang FMU to the requirements of the MC&I(2002) . In 2012, the FMU was due for a recertification audit which was conducted on 15 – 22 October 2012. In line with the implementation of the transition plan from the use of the MC&I(2002) to MC&I(Natural Forest) under the MTCS, the recertification audit also included the MC&I(Natural Forest) in its audit scope. However any deviation from the new aspects in the MC&I(Natural Forest) as compared to the MC&I(2002) were raised as “observations” and not “non- conformity”. These observations were subsequently evaluated and classified as “minor or major non- compliances” by the CB on 1 February 2013 based on evidences submitted by the FMU manager to address the various observations raised. The Pahang FMU was re-certified based on the requirement of the MC&I(Natural Forest) and granted a new certificate on 1 June 2013. The Surveillance 01 Audit for the FMU under the new MC&I (Natural Forest) was conducted on 07-11 October 2013 and resulted in the issuance of three Minor CARs. As there was no Major CAR issued, SGS (Malaysia) has agreed to maintain its certification against the MC&I(Natural Forest). This public summary provides the findings of the said Surveillance 01 Audit. With a total land area of 3,596,585 ha, Pahang is the largest state in Peninsular Malaysia. There has been no change in the area of forest cover compared to the previous audit. Based on Surveillance 01 Audit Report, about 57.5 % or 2,069,253 ha of the Pahang State was under forest cover (see Annex 2), of which 1,562,902 ha (or 75.5%) are classified as PRF. The PRF has been classified into 11 functional classes as stipulated under Section 10 (1) of the National Forestry Act, 1984. Only areas classified as production forest can be harvested, while the other forest categories are for protection and conservation purposes. By forest types, , there are a total of 1,381,571 ha of Dry Inland Forest, 140,830 ha of Peat Swamp Forest and 2,416 ha of Mangrove Forest totalling to 1,524,827 ha that form the certified area of the FMU. An area amounting to 105,963 ha designated as a stateland. Operations within such area carried out by the Pahang State Forestry Department were also not included in the scope of this audit. Logs produced from these areas are not certified and hence cannot enter the PEFC Chain of Custody system for forest products. Operations within the following PRFs were also excluded from the scope of audit despite being part of the PRF: • Timber Plantation Forests – 24,043 ha (Kemasul FR) • Areas allocated for timber plantation – 14,032 ha (within Lesong and Remen Chereh FRs) The process and mechanism for public or local stakeholder participation in forest management are in place. Overall, there are no claims or disputes with regard to land tenure within the PRF in Pahang FMU either orally or by writing . The Pahang State Forestry Department continues to collaborate with relevant parties in ensuring positive solution to any problem that may arise. As a government department, the State FD participates in inter-departmental discussions ( Majlis Bersama Jabatan ) pertaining to any community rights issues. The process was found to be undertaken systematically through the various arrays of committees from the local village level right up to the State Government. AD 32-A-01 Page 3 of 16 A one-month stakeholder consultation commenced in September 2013 where several feedbacks/responses were received from the various stakeholders consulted during the consultation period. The audit team has gathered evidence and verified the issues raised during the audit in October 2013. Details of the issues raised and findings gathered during the audit are as in Annex 3 . AD 32-A-01 Page 4 of 16 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS OF SURVEILLANCE 01 AUDIT The Surveillance 01 Audit evaluated the continued compliance of the forest management practices in the Pahang FMU against the requirements of the MC&I(Natural Forest). The summary of the outstanding CARs closed-out is as shown in Annex I below: SURVEILLANCE 01 AUDIT Issues that were difficult to Nil assess Number of CARs closed Five (5) Minor CARs issued during Recertification Audit are closed Number of Observation closed Three (3) Observations issued during Recertification Audit are closed Number of Observations Three (3) Observations remained outstanding outstanding Number of New CARs raised Three (3) New Minor CARs raised Number of new Observation Six (6) Observations are raised raised Certification Decision The forest management unit of the Pahang State Forestry Department to maintain its certificate as: The management system is capable of ensuring that all of the requirements of the applicable standard(s) are met in the forest area covered by the scope of the evaluation; and The certificate holder has demonstrated, subject to the specified corrective actions, that the described system of management is being implemented consistently over the whole forest area covered by the scope of the certificate. The issues highlighted as Minor CARs must be adequately addressed and the adequacy of the actions taken need to be verified during the second surveillance visit to be conducted within 12 months from the date of assessment. MALAYSIAN TIMBER Doc. Number: AD 34-02 CERTIFICATION SCHEME : Version Date: 01 February 2013 MC&I (NATURAL FOREST) (ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS) Page: 5 of 16 Annex 1 SUMMARY OF CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS (CARS) AND OBSERVATIONS Summary of CARs Closed out (issued during Recertification Audit) CAR No. Indicator Non-conformance Objective Evidence Status 02 4.2.2 The Health and Safety OSHA (1994) (Section 29) requires the Safety Section 29 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994 Officer at the State Forestry Officer to have completed a training course in requires the Safety Officer to have completed a training Department is not trained occupational safety and health and passed the course in occupational safety and health and passed the as per OSHA 1994. minimum examination conducted by NIOSH minimum examination conducted by NIOSH (Occupational based on (Occupational Safety and Health)- Safety and Health)-Safety and Health Officer (Regulations Safety and Health Officer (Regulations 1997). 1997). Safety and Health Officer has been officially appointed. The appointment letter [Ref. No.: PHN.PHG.400- 61 (80)] dated 08 October 2012 signed by the State Director of Forestry is available. It was also observed during the audit that the appointed SHO had undergone training organized by NIOSH. Evidence of training dated 07 January – 07 February 2013 is available during the audit. Minor CAR 02 closed 03 5.1.2 Lack of provisions to Rancangan Tebangan Tahunan for 2011 is not Annual Forestry Plan for 2013 was available at all visited maintain, restore or available at the Jerantut District Forest Office. districts i.e. Kuantan/Pekan/Maran District and enhance the productive Temerloh/Bera District that includes all management capacity and ecological prescriptions for both timber and non-timber forest products integrity to ensure its covering all forest management operations within the FMU economic viability. such as Pre-F, Harvesting, Post-F etc. In addition, the plan also includes the management prescription for human resources of the FD, community forest covering recreational forest and educational forest as well as research conducted such as CFI and growth plot.