By Wani Abdul Gapar
Jerudong - Brunei Darussalam must address institutional and human resource issues in its endeavour to maintain sustainable forestry management, despite the generally favourable outcome from the Peer Consultation Framework (PCF) on Forestry, the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources' Deputy Minister pointed out.
Dato Paduka Awg Hj Hamdillah Hj Abdul Wahab said that the "non-existence of an institutionalised mechanism or national level advisory body to coordinate and achieve consensus on forestry issues" is a major obstacle for the sultanate.
"My challenge to our auditing colleagues would be for you to provide a more quantitative benchmark ... to enable us to establish the magnitude of the gap and to offer us specific guidance on how to narrow it," said Dato Hj Hamdillah.
He added that "the area of capacity building and availability of human resources to deliver results in response to challenges and forestry needs also must be further expanded upon during the PCF meeting."
The deputy minister made the remarks to delegates attending the Brunei Peer Consultation Framework (PCF) Plenary Meeting at the Empire Hotel & Country Club yesterday.
In his speech Dato Hj Hamdillah mentioned some critical points that need to be addressed in order to further enhance forest governance.
His observations included the commendation of Brunei's Policy of a Fell to replant ratio whereby the country practices planting four trees to every one cut down.
He also indicated that the Heart of Borneo initiative, which was signed by the Forestry Ministers of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in February this year, can create many economic benefits such as eco-tourism while garnering public awareness and support for sustainable forestry management.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
Source : http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/June07/210607/nite26.htm
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