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PUBLIC SUMMARY OF SECOND SURVEILLANCE AUDIT OF KELANTAN FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION Certificate No : FMC 005 Date of Second Surveillance Audit: 20 - 23 May 2012 Certification Body: SIRIM QAS International Sdn Bhd Block 4, SIRIM Complex 1, Persiaran Dato’ Menteri Section 2, P. O. Box 7035 40700 Shah Alam Selangor, MALAYSIA Tel: +60 3 5544 6400 +60 3 5544 6448 Fax: +60 3 5544 6763 Email: [email protected] Page 1 of 12 1. INTRODUCTION The Kelantan Forest Management Unit (hereafter referred to as ‘the Kelantan FMU’) was awarded the Certificate for Forest Management against the MC&I (2002) following the Stage 2 Audit that was conducted on 30 November – 7 December 2009 and 26-28 January 2010, and the first surveillance audit was conducted on 20-23 June 2011. The second surveillance audit on the Kelantan FMU was conducted from 20 - 23 May 2012. This was an audit to assess the continued compliance of the Kelantan State Forestry Department (KSFD)’s forest management system and practices of the Permanent Reserved Forests (PRFs) within the Kelantan FMU against the requirements of the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification [MC&I (2002)]. In line with the transition plan from the use of MC&I (2002) to MC&I (Natural Forest), the second surveillance audit also included the MC&I (Natural Forest) in its audit scope. This second surveillance audit was conducted by a three-member team comprising Dr. Samsudin Musa (Forester), Dr. Zahid Emby (Sociologist) and Mr. Khairul Najwan Ahmad Jahari ( Forester). The audit commenced with an opening meeting on 20 May 2012 at the KSFD’s Head Office in Kota Bharu. The scope of the audit was limited to the forest management system and practices of the natural forest within the PRFs of the FMU. In addition to assessing the FMU’s compliance to the certification standard, the audit team also verified the corrective actions taken by the KSFD to close the minor Non-Conformity Reports (NCRs) and Opportunity for Improvements (OFIs) which had been raised during the first surveillance audit. The KSFD had taken the appropriate corrective actions to address the three (3) minor NCRs and three (3) OFIs raised in the first surveillance audit. The audit team were satisfied with the corrective actions taken by the KSFD and had consequently agreed to close all the NCRs and OFIs raised. In general, this second surveillance audit has found that the KSFD has continued to comply with the requirements of the MC&I(2002) and the MC&I(Natural Forest). However, lapses were noted which resulted in the raising of two (2) minor NCRs and five (5) OFIs. As no major NCR was raised, it was recommended that the Certificate for Forest Management awarded to KSFD be renewed upon the acceptance of the proposed corrective actions from the KSFD by SIRIM QAS International to address the minor NCRs and OFIs within a month from the last day of the second surveillance audit. 2. GENERAL SUMMARY 2.1 Name of FMU Kelantan FMU Page 2 of 12 2.2 Contact Person and Address Shashiah Bt Abdul Karim Director of Forestry Kelantan State Forestry Department Kota Bharu, Kelantan Phone : 09-748 2140 Fax : 09-748 2140 E-mail : [email protected] 2.3 Date of Second Surveillance Audit 20-23 May 2012 (12 auditor days) 2.4 Audit Team Dr. Samsudin Musa (Forester -Lead Auditor) Dr. Zahid Emby (Sociologist) Mr. Khairul Najwan Ahmad Jahari (Forester) 2.5 Standards Used Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification [MC&I (2002)] and Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification [MC&I (Natural Forest)] 2.6 Stakeholder Consultation A stakeholder consultation was conducted in May 2012 for a period of one month. The comments by the stakeholders and responses from the audit team are shown in Attachment 1. 3. Kelantan Forest Management Unit The Kelantan FMU managed by the KSFD comprises of 424,497 ha of PRFs of the state’s total land area of 1,493,181 ha. There was no change in the figure of the FMU in this second surveillance from first surveillance audit in 2011. The PRFs within the FMU comprise mainly inland Dipterocarp forests covering an area of 424,497 ha. The inland PRF consists mainly of Hill and Upper Hill Dipterocarp Forests. The administration of the FMU is divided into three forest districts namely the East (Machang), West (Tanah Merah) and South (Gua Musang) Forest Districts. The map of the FMU is shown as Attachment 2. A Forest Management Plan (FMP) covering the period from 2006 to 2015 was presented during the audit. The Kelantan FMU continues to be managed on a sustainable basis with the inland PRFs under a Selective Management System (SMS) over on a 30-year rotation period. Page 3 of 12 4. SUMMARY OF SECOND SURVEILLANCE AUDIT FINDINGS The overall findings of the second surveillance audit indicated that the Kelantan FMU continues to fulfill the requirements of the MC&I(2002) and the MC&I (Natural Forest). A total of two (2) new Minor NCRs and 5 OFIs were raised during the second surveillance audit. The audit team also verified the corrective actions taken by the KSFD to address all the three (3) Minor NCRs and three (3) OFIs raised during the first surveillance audit in 2011. The audit team has verified that the corrective actions taken by the KSFD are appropriate and adequate to address the NCRs and OFIs raised. As such, the audit team closed out the minor NCRs and OFIs raised during the first surveillance audit. Details of the status of the NCRs and OFIs raised during the first surveillance audit as well as those raised during the second surveillance audit are shown in Attachment 3. On indigenous people rights (Clause 3.1), Orang Asli were respected in forest management planning. The communities were allowed to use the forest produces for their subsistence needs. In addition, KSFD had assessed any conflict issues between forest activities and Orang Asli through informal discussions and survey form. Based on the findings during the audit , there were no issues raised on forest activities impact to the Orang Asli community. During the second surveillance audit, the audit team found that there was no evidence of forest conversion to plantation or non-forest land uses (Clause 6.10) established within the KSFD FMU after September 2009 whereby , a portion of PRF’s areas totaling 199,352 ha had been excluded from the scope of certification of the FMU as the area had been approved by Kelantan State Government to be zoned as potential land for planting TLC rubber trees . The KSFD had submitted a corrective action plan on 16 August 2012 to address the Minor NCRs and OFIs that was accepted by the audit team leader. The proposed corrective actions to address the Minor NCRs and OFIs shall be verified by the audit team during the recertification audit. As there was no major NCR raised and all the NCRs raised during the first surveillance audit had been satisfactorily closed out, it is therefore recommended that the Certificate for Forest Management which was awarded to the KSFD be maintained. Page 4 of 12 Attachment 1 Comments by Stakeholders and Responses from Audit Team No. Stakeholder Comments/Issues Raised Response by Audit Team 1 Stakeholder 1 The Human Rights Commission of The protest by the Temiar referred to by Malaysia (Suhakam) Tuesday urged SUHAKAM was not against specific logging Kelantan's PAS-led government to adopt concessions in the PRF area. It was more of immediate measures to resolve a general protest against encroachment problems pertaining to the orang asli into what they claim to be their ancestral community in the state. Suhakam area which the state does not recognize. chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said the The protest was against the state and not Kelantan government should protect specifically against logging under control of the rights of the orang asli in the state, the FMU. especially on the aspects of their right to ancestral land and right of living. Hasmy was commenting on the police arrest of 13 orang asli of the Temiar community for allegedly leading a gathering of 800 of their people in Kampung Parik, Gua Musang, last Tuesday in protest against encroachment of their ancestral land for logging and opening of plantations. 2 Stakeholder 2 Villagers and members of a non- The auditors did not find any evidence of governmental organisation (NGO) illegal logging in the area. On inspection of yesterday held a peaceful the nearby villages and consultation with demonstration to protest against illegal the village head, there was also no evidence logging activities alleged to have been that logging activities affected local water carried out at the Hulu Sat Forest supply, worsening of agricultural yield (rice Reserve here since three years ago. fields in the area are not affected) or road They claimed that as a result of the damage at the Bukit Bakar tourist centre. activities, residents suffered loss of their The village headman stated that he did not source of water, worsening agricultural believe encroachment of elephants into the yield, encroachment of elephants and area is solely the result of logging. road damage at the Bukit Bakar tourist centre. 3 Stakeholder 3 Logging in the Ulu Sat forest reserve A village headman interviewed believed near Bukit Bakar here is believed to that elephants encroached into village areas have driven elephants to smallholdings in search of food and not due solely to in several villages here. Kelantan logging. Wildlife and National Parks Department director Rahmat Topani said the elephants were believed to have left the Page 5 of 12 jungle during the night for the smallholdings where they would destroy crops.

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