Checklist Compliance

Transcription

1 Checklist Compliance TLAS SFMLA Sabah Licensee Details Company: KM Hybrid Plantation Sdn. Bhd. Ref #: G Address: Suite # 8, 9 th Floor Wisma Perindustrian Jalan Istiadat, Likas Bay, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Contact: Shigeru Umehara (Director) Yutaka Sato (Manager) Tel: / / Fax: [email protected] [email protected] Assessment Date 2 nd 5 th September 2013 Assessment Details GFS Lead Assessor GFS Assessor SFD Staff SFD Staff Lai Jia Woei Franklin Emang Hamidah Bujing (FLEGT officer) Henry Ladsou (DFO Sook) and Johnny Raymond (RH) OBJECTIVES: The objective of this checklist is to verify compliance to the conditions listed in the Timber Legal Assurance System for Sabah. All issues identified under this standard shall be considered appropriate to the scale and degree of forestry operations undertaken by the parties under the agreement. FMU 11 KM Hybrid Plantations Page 1

2 Overview of Licensee Summary Information - KM Hybrid Plantation Sdn. Bhd. is a joint venture company between Sabah Softwood Bhd; and Koshii & Co. Ltd. through its subsidiary Sabah Reforestation Co. Ltd., a Japanese wood engineering company and Sabah Softwoods Bhd an agency belonging to the State Government of Sabah, are established to focus mainly on the development of fast growing species such as Acacia hybrid, targeting mainly for the production of plywood, complying in accordance with the principles of sustainable forest management agreement. - Tenure is based on SFMLA 01/04 (the Principal Agreement) that starts on 20 December 2004 which expires on 31 December 2054 for all activities within the concession (1,000 ha). - Areas in KM Hybrid Plantation appear to have been severely degraded but no formal inventory was conducted. - The total area of 2, ha, of which licence has been issued to KM Hybrid Plantation; for the development of its plantation area are itemised as follows: Principal agreement: 1,000 ha (Compartments 1-4) in the initial agreement. 1 st Supplemental: Extension of ha in the northern section of the concession (Compartment 5 & 6). 2 nd Supplemental: A separate area ha south of the original concession (Compartment 7), which is severely degraded, based on visual observation by the assessment team. 3 rd Supplemental: Excision of ha from Sook Plain FR, and additional of 2,000 ha of Kuala Tomani FR. Land classification FMP Area (ha) Current (ha) Total Concession Area 1, Production Area - Natural Forest Management Area - - Plantation Forest (ITP) 1, Protected Forest & Conservation Areas Social Community & Agriculture Infrastructure, Roads Buildings, etc - - Note: After the 3 rd Supplemental agreement is signed on 14 th June 2012, the total licensed area within Sook Plain FR has reduced to ha (comprising of C2, partly C3, C5 and C6); and an additional of 2,000 ha of Kuala Tomani FR. This assessment is focusing on the retained area, as the preparation of new FMP is in the progress. FMU 11 KM Hybrid Plantations Page 2

3 Environmental context GLOBAL FORESTRY SERVICES (M) SDN. BHD. The area is classified as an Amenity Class IV Forest Reserve within the Sook Plain Forest Reserve. The project site is only 1, ha of plantation established on forest areas burned in 1983 that resulted in about 90% of the area being turned into grasslands, which later allowed wild Acacia mangium to colonize the area. The rest of the area is left with isolated pockets of natural forest and degraded lands cultivated by the local communities for their subsistence farming activities. There is no proper study on wildlife carried out in the SFMLA area. Thus the faunal diversity of the area is based on observations and response from the local communities through social baseline study. Sambar deer, barking deer, mouse deer and wild boar are animals that are commonly sighted. However, the local communities find it difficult to spot these animals nowadays. Hornbills are occasionally found on the still forested area. There are some pockets of poor forest as well as cultivated areas of rubber by local communities. Proposal for Mitigation Measure (PMM) is in place to serve as guidelines for management. Social context A social survey has been carried out in 2005 during the preparation of FMP 1 st Jan st Dec The revised FMP identified 5 nearest villages from the SFMLA area, which are Kg. Mapila, Kg. Babason, and Kg. Mosusun. Kg. Mapila and Kg. Babason are located outside of the SFMLA area. Kampung Mosusun is located inside in Compartment 4 of KM Hybrid Plantation. KM Hybrid Plantation has identified the village & planted area as Compartment 4b. There are some other plantings of rubber in Compartment 3 that is identified in the FMP as Compartment 3b. The total area occupied by the kampong and plantings (compartment 3b & 4b) is estimated to be 125 ha. The villages have only been established in the area since 1994 thus are not indigenous to the SFMLA area. KM Hybrid Plantation has no formal social forestry projects in place. FMU 11 KM Hybrid Plantations Page 3

4 Scope of Assessment The scope of the evaluation is to verify compliance of KM Hybrid Plantation Sdn. Bhd. to the terms within the Sabah Forest Management License Agreement (SFMLA 01/04) for FMU # 11. The assessment is in accordance on the terms of the agreement for the Sabah Independent Auditing of SFMLA based on the agreed checklist approved by SFD, MTC, GTZ & EU FLEGT representative for Malaysia. Site evaluation to verify and report the level of compliance by KM Hybrid Plantation and contractors to the standard in respect to each of the criteria within this report. Level of compliance is full compliant with no gaps in performance or elements of the standard that are not applicable; partial compliant with minor gaps in compliant & non-compliant that identifies inadequate compliance to the criteria. Itinerary of Assessment 2 nd Sep 2013: Travel from Sandakan to Keningau (overnight in Keningau). 3 rd Sep 2013: Opening meeting, field visit to KM Hybrid Plantation (overnight in Keningau). 4 th Sep 2013: Document review and report writing (overnight in Keningau). 5 th Sep 2013: Closing meeting and Travel back to Sandakan. Highlight of Assessment When the 3 rd Supplemental Agreement was signed on 14 th June 2012, ha of KM Hybrid Plantation licensed area, which was burnt in August 2009 and March 2010, has been excised (C1, C4, and partly C3) from the Sook Plain Forest Reserve and an area of ha (C2, C5, C6 and partly C3) is retained. In the same time, a total of 2,000 ha in Kuala Tomani Forest Reserve are as a replacement area for the compartments above. Since then, the licensee has dismantled gates located at the excised area, and erected a new gate at C2, demarcating and marking the new licensed boundary area within Sook Plan Forest Reserve and Kuala Tomani Forest Reserve. Km Hybrid is preparing a new FMP to include the new licensed area. To date, limited activities are being carried out at the retained area; ITP maintenance work is progress until 2 nd quarter only, as KM Hybrid Plantation has temporary ceased its activities in early June 2013 due to lack of funds from the company. Currently, no workers are residing within the licensed area. The current assessment of KM Hybrid Plantation has identified with the following highlights: 1. It is observed that the marking of new licensed boundary at C3 was not identifiable because of overgrown weeds. 2. Inconsistency of recording after carrying out forest security patrolling at the retained area, although no ITP activities. FMU 11 KM Hybrid Plantations Page 4

5 Results: During September 2013 TLAS assessment, the percentage of indicators showing full or partial compliant for KM Hybrid Plantation Sdn Bhd was 100% and has complied with the Sabah TLAS to be classified as Verified Legal Compliant (VLC). The following table displays a breakdown of the various levels of compliance. Compliance Level Compliant Partial Non- Not Total Applicable (1) (0.5) Compliant Applicable Criteria Criteria Critical 7 NA Non-Critical Sub-Total 16 0 Total No GAP was raised for partial and non-compliant indicators during the September 2013 assessment. GAP Checklist Compliance Level Description Recommendations: The following recommendations are made as follows; 1. Maintenance of licensed boundary should be carried out on a regular basis. This is to ensure that it is visible and clear. 2. Forest Security Patrolling record book should be updated on a regular basis after boundary patrolling is conducted. End of Summary Report FMU 11 KM Hybrid Plantations Page 5