PUBLIC SUMMARY SURVEILLANCE 1 AUDIT (2020) ON PAHANG FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION Certificate number: FMC-NF 00008 Date of First Certification: 1st June 2010 Audit Date: 24th – 28th February 2020 Date of Public Summary: 23rd October 2020 Certification Body: SIRIM QAS International Sdn. Bhd. Block 4, SIRIM Complex No. 1, Persiaran Dato’ Menteri Section 2, 40700 Shah Alam Selangor MALAYSIA Tel : 60-3-5544 6400/5544 6448 Fax : 60-3 5544 6763 Website: www.sirim-qas.com.my SQAS/MSC/FOR/30-27a Issue 1 Rev 0 Page 1 of 39 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Name of FMU ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Organizational Information/Contact Person ................................................................................................. 4 1.3 General Background of the Forest Management Unit .................................................................................... 4 1.4 Date of First Certified ................................................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Location of the FMU ................................................................................................................................... 4 1.6 Forest Management System ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.7 Annual Allowable Cut / Annual Harvest under the FMP ................................................................................. 5 1.8 Environmental and Socioeconomic Context .................................................................................................. 5 2.0 AUDIT PROCESS.......................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Audit date.................................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Audit Team ................................................................................................................................................ 5 2.3 Standard Used ........................................................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Stakeholder Consultations .......................................................................................................................... 6 2.5 Audit Process ............................................................................................................................................. 6 3.0 SUMMARY OF AUDIT FINDINGS ................................................................................................................... 7 Map of Pahang Forest Management Unit ........................................................................................................ 25 Details of Auditors and Qualification ............................................................................................................... 26 Comments by Stakeholders and Responses from Audit Team ............................................................................ 28 Surveillance 1 Audit Plan ................................................................................................................................ 31 Surveillance 1 Audit Findings and Corrective Action Taken ................................................................................ 34 SQAS/MSC/FOR/30-27a Issue 1 Rev 0 Page 2 of 39 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Surveillance 1 Audit for forest management certification on the Pahang State Forestry Department – Pahang FMU was conducted from 24 to 28 February 2020. This was an audit on the overall forest management system and practices of the FMU against the requirements of the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification [MC&I (Natural Forest)] using the verifiers stipulated for Peninsular, Malaysia. The audit was conducted with the full cooperation of the Pahang State Forestry Department by a three (3) member team comprising Hj Roslee Jamaludin (Lead Auditor), Mohd Razman Salim, Puteri Arlydia Abdul and Khairul Najwan Ahmad Jahari (Observer). The Forest Management Unit (FMU) managed by Pahang Forestry Department covers an area of 1,504,407.35 Hectares of the Permanent Reserved Forest (PRF) area within the Pahang State. The audit involved the verification of documentations and field visits and inspections. There were also consultations being held with the Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JKOA), Wildlife Department (PERHILITAN), Department of Agriculture (DOA) and relevant local and Orang Asli settlements in FMU In general, the findings of this Surveillance 1 audit have indicated that the FMU had continue to complied with most of the requirements of the MC&I (Natural Forest) despite the issuance of total six (6) Minor Non-Conformance Report (NCRs) and three (3) Opportunities for Improvement (OFIs) on the Pahang FMU, against the requirements of the MC&I (Natural Forest). The audit team had also verified on the findings taken by the FMU to address all the finding raised during the last recertification audit (2019). Pahang FMU had submitted a proposed corrective action plans to address the Minor NCRs raised during this surveillance 1 audit via email on 25th March 2020 and additional corrective action on 31st March 2020 which has been accepted by the audit team leader and the audit team. The effectiveness of the corrective actions taken by the FMU to address the Minor NCRs shall be verified by the audit team during the next surveillance audit. SQAS/MSC/FOR/30-27a Issue 1 Rev 0 Page 3 of 39 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Name of FMU Pahang Forest Management Unit - Pahang FMU 1.2 Organizational Information/Contact Person Name: Dato Dr Mohd Hizamri bin Mohd Designation: Director Address: Pahang State Forestry Department, Tingkat 5 Kompleks Tun Razak, Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25990 Kuantan, Pahang. Phone #: +609-5732911 Fax #: +609-5736152 1.3 General Background of the Forest Management Unit Pahang Forest Management Unit (FMU) is managed by Pahang State Forestry Department. As refer to Forest Management Plan 2016-2025 for Pahang State Forestry Department, the total permanent reserved forest (PRF) area under management of the Pahang State Forestry Department (PSFD) is 1,504,407.35 ha of the State’s total land area of 3,596,500 ha. The FMU consists of a total of 998,671.32 ha of production forests and 561,603.3 ha of protection forests (includes water catchment, soil protection, soil reclamation, etc.). The FMU has all the three major forest types of Peninsular Malaysia namely inland forest, peat swamps and mangroves. In addition to the PRFs, Pahang State has also a national park and wildlife reserves covering an area of 399,740 ha. The administration of the FMU had been divided into 7 forest districts of Bentong, Raub/Cameron Highland, Jerantut, Kuantan/Pekan/Maran, Lipis, Rompin and Temerloh/Bera. The map of the FMU is attached as Attachment 1. The PSFD had identified and maintained records of Orang Asli settlements in the PRFs. The PSFD had respected the Orang Asli villagers’ claim that they had been living in the area for generations even though there was no documentation of their legal right on the forest land. The PSFD had made no attempt to move the Orang Asli from the PRFs. There were no communities with legal or customary or use rights in the FMU. There were rural villagers, who were still dependent to some extent on the forest for construction materials, food sources, medicinal plants and water sources. 1.4 Date of First Certified 1 June 2010 1.5 Location of the FMU The administration of the Pahang FMU was divided into seven (7) Forest Districts namely the Bentong, Raub/Cameron Highland, Jerantut, Kuantan/Pekan/Maran, Lipis, Rompin and Temerloh/Bera. The FMU lies between latitudes 20 27’ 21.34’’ and 40 27’ 21.34’’ N, and longitudes 1010 21’ 54.54’’ and 1030 37’ 29.21’’ E. The map of the FMU showing the locations of the PRFs is attached in Appendix 3. SQAS/MSC/FOR/30-27a Issue 1 Rev 0 Page 4 of 39 1.6 Forest Management System A Forest Management Plan (FMP) covering the period from 2016 to 2025 had been written and presented during the audit. The Pahang FMU continues to be managed on a sustainable basis with the inland forest area under a Selective Management System (SMS) on a 30-year rotation period. 1.7 Annual Allowable Cut / Annual Harvest under the FMP Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) for the FMU had been set at 13,687 ha/year, as stated in Forest Management Plan (FMP) covering the period 2016-2025. 1.8 Environmental and Socioeconomic Context The existing macro-EIA developed is still relevant since there were no significant changes on the forest management system and harvesting system (SMS). The FMP 2016-2025 has adopted the mitigation measures as recommended in the macro-EIA (PHN. PHG. (PEM)118/107). The mitigation measures were verified in the FMP 2016-2025 in Chapter 6: Preskripsi Pengurusan Hutan. The EIA was found adequate to address the impacts on endangered, rare and threatened (ERT) species of flora and fauna.