g132-006b eco plantations tlas summary june · pdf filebatangan darat, kg. ladap-gambir, kg....

GLOBAL FORESTRY SERVICES (MALAYSIA) Kuala Lumpur : 31-9-1, Bangsar Heights, Jalan Kaloi, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +603 2201 9003 Fax : +603 2283 5070 Sabah Branch : Block B, Ground Floor, Lot No. 6, Phase IIA, Taman Grandview, 90000 Sandakan, Sabah

Tel : +6089 227 857 Fax: +6089 227 857 Email : [email protected] Website : www.gfsinc.biz

SABAH TLAS REPORT/ CHECKLIST

Document Control Doc #: G100-189a Title: Reporting Checklist TLAS SFMLA Issue: 03 Date: 4 Dec 2011

Summary Report TLAS SFMLA Sabah

Licensee Details

Company : Eco-Plantations Sdn Bhd Ref #: G132-006

Address : KL Office:

Suite 3.03, Floor No.3, Wisma E & C, No. 2, Lorong Dungun Kiri, Damansara Heights, 50490, Kuala Lumpur

Sabah Office:

A030, ABX Express, Tingkat 1, Lot 2, Bangunan Plaza Marudu, 89108 Kota Marudu, Sabah

Contact: Mr. Shein (Timber Manager) Mr. Melvin Ku Kin Kin (Forestry Exec.)

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

Tel: +603 2092 2541 / +6088 632 122 Fax: Fax: + 603 2092 1106 / + 6088 632 123

Assessment Details

Assessment Date : 4-8 June 2012

GFS Lead Assessor Jessie Ooi

GFS Assessor Siti Radiah Mohamad

SFD Staff Hamidah Bujing (FLEGT Officer)

SFD Staff Pius Primus (MCEE Kudat), Jaludin Urubit (PPD Pitas), Kenson Gunting (PPD Pitas), Ahmat Ghanie (ADFO Pitas)

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






Summary Information

Overview of Licensee

• The North Borneo Timbers Corporation Bhd is the signatory to SFMLA 05/97 however they have officially changed their name to The North Borneo Timbers Corporation Sdn Bhd on 03 June 1998. FMU management has been taken over by Eco-Plantations, a wholly owned subsidiary of The North Borneo Timbers Corporation Bhd.

• Eco-Plantations is a Sabah registered company primarily based on logging activities; however at the moment are only concentrating on ITP establishment.

• Tenure is based on SFMLA 05/1997 that starts on 10 September 1997 and expires on 09 September 2097 for all activities within the concession,

• Eco-Plantations use subcontractors to carry out silvicultural work [Kembang Berjaya Enterprise] and ITP plantation [Syarikat Lim Brothers].

Land classification FMP Area (ha) Current (ha) Total Concession Area 94,227 94,227 Production Area - Natural Forest Management Area 45,159 45,159 - Plantation Forest (ITP) 34,302 34,302 Protected Forest & Conservation Areas 12,239 12,239 Social Community & Agriculture 2,527 2,527 Infrastructure, Roads Buildings, etc Silviculture

Environmental context • Eco-Plantations has conducted wildlife survey in 1999 which despite its level of degradation,

identified major species in the field such as orang utan, flying lemur, slow loris, proboscis monkey, pangolin, tembadau, kijang, mouse deer, gibbon, clouded leopard, sun bear, read leaf monkey and binturong.

• Birdlife of hornbills & pheasants and macaque were found present in the FMU. Amphibian species such as crocodile, lizards and snakes commonly found sited in the area.

• The FMU has history of fires due to excessive loggings occurred in year 1983, 1992 and 1998 respectively.

• Eco-Plantations has carried out EIAs prior to ITP and silvicultural activities.






Social context • Eco-Plantations has stated in the FMP there are 13 villages located within the FMU (Kg. Alongai-

Tigawi, Kg. Buang Sayang, Kg. Dalamas, Kg. Kiambalang, Kg. Kaiboton Lama, Kg. Matanggal Baru, Kg. Pantai Boring, Kg. Simpang Tiga, Kg. Sokoon, Kg. Tawanan, Kg. Timpus, Kg. Kaiboton Baru, Kg. Pisang) and another 12 villages living outside the FMU (Kg. Andab, Kg. Batangan Darat, Kg. Ladap-Gambir, Kg. Layang, Kg. Layong Darat, Kg. Layong Pusat, Kg. Pias, Kg. Ranggal, Kg. Sinukab, Kg. Sulit, Kg Telutu).

• Eco-Plantation has designated 15 compartments for community forestry (1,2,3,13,22,36 54,57,164,172,174,185,189,212 and 250) totalling 2,527 ha.

• Total of 27 villages have been identified located within and adjacent to the FMU up to date. A list has been prepared accordingly. However Kg. Layong Darat [N06° 35’ 33.3” E117° 09’ 32.5”] was observed further encroached into FMU 2 during the 3rd TLAS audit.

• In 2010, Eco Plantation has conducted pre social baseline survey for 23 villages [inside forest reserve: Kg. Matanggal Baru Kg. Kaiboton Lama, Kg. Kaiboton Baru, Kg.Pinangkau, Kg. Simpang Tiga, , Kg. Pias, Kg. Botung, Kg. Ranggal, Kg. Andab, Kg. Alongai, Kg. Layung darat, Kg. Timpus Paitan, Kg. Buang Sayang, Kg. Tawanan, Kg. Dalamas, , Kg. Kimbalang outside forest reserve: Kg. Kadayan, Kg. Golong Beluran, Kg. Kubambamgan, Kg. Pinampadan, Kg. Layung Pusat, Kg. Kaindangan Paitan, Kg. Sinukab and Kg. Sulit Paitan].

• Social assessment identified in the FMP was carried out by Eco-Plantation to identify potential impact between the 27 villages referred and FMU operations.

Scope of Assessment

• The scope of the evaluation is to verify compliance of Eco Plantations Sdn Bhd to the terms within the Sabah Forest Management License Agreement (SFMLA 05/97) for FMU # 02.

• 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 Eco Plantations Sdn Bhd to the standard in respect to each of the criteria within this report.

• Level of compliance is full compliance with no gaps in performance or elements of the standard that are not applicable; partial compliance with minor gaps in compliance & non-compliance that identifies inadequate compliance to the criteria.

Itinerary of Assessment

04 June 2012 : Travel to Base Camp in Pitas, Opening meeting (overnight in base camp) 05 June 2012: Site visit to silviculture compartment 40 and 41, ITP compartment 48 & 64 (planted), compartment boundaries, riparian reserve compartment 63, nursery, contractor camp 64 06 June 2012: Site Visit to Kg. Pinangkau, FMU boundaries, Kg. Ranggal, Gates Records, Gate # 33, nurseries, campsites






Itinerary of Assessment

07 June 2012: Document review FMP, PDP, EIA, OP, procedures, Prepartion closing meeting (overnight at Kota Marudu) 08 June 2012: Closing meeting at Pitas District Office, Travel back to KL / Sandakan

Highlight of Assessment

Eco-Plantations has made significant progress in improving their management system since the last TLAS audit as the company has comply all the applicable critical criteria and passed June 2012 TLAS audit. Two of the major issues from the previous assessment regarding prevention of encroachment and to set up a formal dialogue within the associate villages with FMU 2 were addressed. Eco Plantations has set up a patrolling system to monitor and curb encroachment within the FMU areas and started to have formal dialogues with 2 communities (Kg. Ranggal and Kg. Pinangkau). Two new gaps were issued during this TLAS assessment for Eco Plantation:

1. No approved EIA or EIA compliance report presented during the assessment, although Eco Plantation have the approved EPD letter in place for the EIA implemented;

2. Oil tanks at camps does not have shade, fire extinguisher and oil trap There were still outstanding issues that were carried forward from the previous assessment; the current approved Forest Management Plan and Plantation Development Plan does not adequately reflect the current forest stand on the ground. Eco-Plantations existing Forest Management Plan (FMP) for FMU 2 does not reflect the current situation on the ground, highlighted as below:

1. The existing maps for the FMU contradicts between maps of forest stratum (Appendix 4) & area plan for ITP (Appendix 7) and the forest stand on the ground;

2. No inventory of FMU 2 current forest stand; 3. No silvicultural plan for Natural Forest Management (NFM) areas; 4. Road maps do not identify potential access points into the FMU via road system, and; 5. Inadequate identification of all the local communities residing inside or outside the FMU. Another

2 villages, Kg. Kadayan and Kg. Pinangkau not identified inside FMP community map. The current approved Plantation Development Plan does not have inventory data to support the forest condition prior to conversion. For example; compartment # 66 area that is planned for ITP in the FMP falls in Stratum 2- Good Forest Stand as verified on the ground by the assessor in the first TLAS audit. Besides that, there was no identification of areas between 15-25 degrees. According to the SFMLA 49. (ii) (b), timber plantations are established at areas below 15 degrees slopes or degraded forest land having no exploitable volume of trees greater the 60 cm dbh and insufficient regeneration. This remains as outstanding issues although Eco Plantations agreed to address this issue during the mid term review of FMP. Several observations were also made during this assessment:

i. The guardhouse at the main gate does not have reference of permitted vehicle numbers, a gate






Highlight of Assessment pass system and/ or adequate communication system to convey message to timber manager in the main office. In 30th May 2012, the guard recorded few intruders [4 people] with weapon walked through the main gate without authorization and have not inform the management about it during the assessment period (Criterion 1.4).

ii. The patrolling record only recorded encroachment / issues occurred within the FMU, does not have reference to the patrolling conducted (without issues). Besides that, there was no reference of the patrolling team or patrolling schedule (Criterion 1.4).

iii. No internal training of fire suppression or regular check up of fire suppression equipment was conducted by Eco-Plantations (Criterion 4.4)

iv. One out of 6 camps visited does not have first aid tool kit (Contractor Camp compartment 66) (Criterion 10.1)

(Major Gaps=0; Minor Gaps=8; Observations=4) Results: For the June 2012 TLAS assessment, the percentage of indicators showing full or partial compliance for Eco Plantations (FMU 2) was 79.55%. The following table displays a breakdown of the various levels of compliance.

Compliance Level Compliant (1)

Partial (0.5)

Non-Compliant

Not Applicable

Total Criteria

Applicable Criteria

Critical 7 NA 0 5 12 7 Non-Critical 6 9 0 3 18 15 Sub-Total 13 4.5 0 0 30 Total 17.5 22

The following GAPS were raised for partial and non-compliant indicators during the June 2012 assessment.

GAP Checklist Compliance Level

Description

001 1.3 Partial (Outstanding)

No progress of revising existing FMP in regards of map discrepancies between Appendix 7: forest quality map and Appendix 11: forest stratum map. Community Forestry areas have been identified and mapped accordingly in the FMP, however it is not up to date. A new village, Kg. Layung Darat inside the FMU [N06° 35’ 23.8” E117° 07’ 32.5”] has been found on the ground but does not included in the current list. The map shown location of villages made available is inaccurate, improper scale and lack of GPS coordinates.

002 2.2 Partial There were no EIA and quarterly EIA compliance report presented during the assessment for compartment 42, 47, 48, and 64 (1,466 Ha).

003 3.2 Partial The current approved FMP does not contain inventory






GAP Checklist Compliance Level

Description

(Outstanding) documentation on the current stand conditions as prescribed in the SFMLA (part 2: 45 iii). Sustainable yield, & AAC has not been addressed using ground inventory; only through SPOT satellite image. Lack of silvicultural plan mentioned for NFM area in the FMP.

004 3.8, 4.3 Partial The current approved PDP does not have inventory data in place to indicate the forest condition prior to conversion and no protection for NFM areas that can contain HCV within the planned ITP area. There is poor identification of areas for planting and protection in land use map related to ITP zoned areas within the PDP.


Oil tank at contractor camp compartment 64 and oil drum storage area does not have proper oil trap. Temporary nursery / campsite does not have, fire extinguisher

006 12.1 Partial The social assessment covers 13 villages that are situated inside of the FMU and 12 villagers situated outside of the FMU. The assessment does not include 2 villages identified during the second TLAS assessment. There were no mitigation measures indicated in the social assessment to minimize the negative impact identified.


Outstanding land claims (rubber trees) inside the FMU by the villages [Kg. Matanggal Baru Kg. Kaiboton Lama, Kg. Kaiboton Baru, Kg. Simpang Tiga, Kg. Pias, Kg. Botung, Kg. Andab, Kg. Alongai, Kg. Layung darat, Kg. Timpus Paitan, Kg. Buang Sayang, Kg. Tawanan, Kg. Dalamas, Kg. Kimbalang] that are poorly defined in the FMP.


Eco-Plantations has not established a formal communication system with all villages adjacent or inside FMU 2.

Conclusions & Recommendations: Eco-Plantations has made significant progress in improving their management system since the last TLAS audit as the company has comply all the applicable critical criteria and passed June 2012 TLAS audit. Eco-Plantations is eligible for a GFS Statement of Compliance to the Sabah TLAS Standard v03 Dec 2011. Two of the major issues from the previous assessment regarding prevention of encroachment and to set up a formal dialogue within the associate villages with FMU 2 were addressed. It is recommended that Eco Plantations address all the areas of non-conformance within the next 12 months. The company must demonstrate improvement in management of the FMU in revising the maps, inventories, social communication and dispute resolution systems and EIA compliance reporting.

End Summary Report

g132-006b eco plantations tlas summary june · pdf filebatangan darat, kg. ladap-gambir, kg....

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