MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME : MC&I(NATURAL FOREST) (ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS) MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME

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1 MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME : MC&I(NATURAL FOREST) (ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS) Doc. Number: AD Version Date: 01 February 2013 Page: 1 of 11 MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME PUBLIC SUMMARY OF RECERTIFICATION AUDIT OF JOHOR FOREST MANAGEMENT UNIT AGAINST THE REQUIREMENTS OF MC&I(NATURAL FOREST) Public Summary Date: 27 May 2016 Project Number: MY02118 Client: Johor State Forestry Department Web Page: Address: Country: Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Johor Level 2, Bangunan Dato' Mohamad Ibrahim Munsyi, Pusat Pentadbiran Baru Kerajaan Negeri Johor Nusajaya, JOHOR DARUL TA'ZIM Malaysia Certificate Number. SGS-MTCS/FM Certificate Type: Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme Date of Issue: 1 st April 2013 Date of expiry: 31 st March 2016 Forest Zone: Scope: Total Certified Area: FMU Contact Person: Tropical Forest Management of 321, ha of permanent reserved forest in Johor State for the production of timber. 321, ha (excluding the PRF area planted with forest plantations covering 43,859 ha) En. Mohd Ridza Awang, State Director of Forestry En Jeffri Abd Rasid, Deputy State Director of Forestry Tel: ; / Fax ; Recertification Audit Date: Audit Team: ridza@forestry.gov.my / jeffri@forestry.gov.my May 2015 Abdul Haye S (Lead Auditor) Dr. Savinder Kaur (Auditor) Mohd Faisal Jaafar (Auditor) Mohd Saifuddin Rozlan (Auditor) SGS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., No.26, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla 31/93, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA CONTACT PERSON: Abdul Haye S - Tel: +6 (03) Fax: +6 (03)

2 AD Page 2 of 11 INTRODUCTION The Johor Forest Management Unit (FMU) has been certified under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) since 2002; first under the Malaysian Criteria, Indicators, Activities and Standards of Performance (MC&I) for Forest Management Certification or in short MC&I (2001) and thereafter under the - Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification or in short MC&I(2002). The Johor FMU managed by the Johor State Forestry Department was issued with a forest management certificate (SGS/MTCS/FM-0102) under the requirements of the MC&I(2002) after a Stage 2 Audit which was conducted in June The certificate issued was valid for three years from 1 April 2010 to 31 March Following the Surveillance 02 Audit that was conducted in 2011, the FMU was subjected to a recertification audit which was conducted on June In line with the implementation of the transition plan from the use of the MC&I(2002) to MC&I(Natural Forest), the recertification audit used the new revised standard MC&I(Natural Forest) in its audit scope. However, any deviation from the new aspects in the MC&I(Natural Forest) as compared to the MC&I(2002) were raised as observations and not non-conformity. These observations were subsequently evaluated and classified as minor or major non-compliances by the CB on 1 February 2013 based on evidences submitted by the FMU manager to address the various observations raised. The Surveillance 01 Audit for the FMU under the new MC&I(Natural Forest) has been conducted on June 2013 where two Major CARs were issued. A Close CAR audit has been conducted on September 2013 where the two Major CARs were closed. Following to the Surveillance 01 Audit, a Surveillance 02 Audit has been conducted on 5-8 May This public summary provides the findings of the Recertification Audit conducted on 9-14 May With a total land area of 1,898,629 ha, the Johor FMU which is located at the southern most part of Peninsular Malaysia is the third largest state in the peninsula. There are a total of 41 Forest Reserves within the Johor FMU covering an area of 351, ha of Permanent Reserved Forests (PRF), excluding 43,859 ha of forest plantations established in the PRF. In addition, a total of 80,907 ha have been proposed as PRF which is being managed in the same manner as the PRF. In terms of forest types, the total areas managed by the Johor FMU comprises of 328, ha of dry inland forest, 4, ha of peat swamp forest, 18, ha of mangrove forest, amounting to a total of 351, ha. The mangrove forests are located mainly in the south especially along Sg. Pulai and Sg. Johor in the Southern Johor Forest District. Patches of peat swamp forests are found in Air Hitam Forest Reserve located in the Northern Johor Forest District while the dry inland forests are distributed throughout all the forest districts in the FMU. Operations within the forests outside the PRF (e.g. stateland and alienated forested land) carried out by the Johor Forestry Department are not included in the scope of this audit. Logs produced from these sources are not certified and hence cannot enter the PEFC chain of custody system for forest products. In addition, 80,907 ha of proposed forested areas due to be gazetted as PRF is excluded from the scope of this audit. Also excluded are 43,859 ha of forest plantations that are planted in the PRF as follows: 35,223 ha of forest plantations planted in Ulu Sedili Forest Reserve under the Compensatory Forest Plantation Project; 8,636 ha of forest plantations in Sembrong, Sermin and Labis Tambahan Forest Reserve that are planted on degraded area as part of rehabilitation process of the said forest reserves. The process and mechanism for public or local stakeholders participation in forest management are in place. Overall, there are no claims or disputes with regard to land tenureship within PRF in Johor FMU either orally or in writing. The Johor State Forestry Department continues to collaborate with relevant parties in ensuring positive solution to any problems that may arise. As a government department, the Johor State FD participates in inter-departmental discussions (Majlis Bersama Jabatan) pertaining to any community rights issues. It is undertaken systematically through the various arrays of committees from the local village level right up to the State government.

3 AD Page 3 of 11 A one-month stakeholder consultation was initiated in April 2015 but there was no feedback/response received from the various stakeholders consulted during the consultation period. However, one feedback was received before the consultation period took place from one of timber exporter sourcing certified sawntimber from local timber producer voicing concern on the discrepancy in recording the quantity of logs within the removal pass. Details of the issue raised as well as SGS s feedback are documented in Annex 3. For this Recertification Audit, there were also on-site consultations being held with the staff of the Johor FMU, field workers of the contractors at the harvesting sites, as well as other stakeholders i.e. government agencies and local communities including the Orang Asli. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS OF RECERTIFICATION AUDIT The Recertification Audit assesses the implementation of forest management practices in the Johor FMU against the requirements of the MC&I(Natural Forest). The summary of the outstanding CARs closed-out and new CARs raised is listed in Table 1 below. The table below provides a progressive summary of findings for each Recertification Audit: RECERTIFICATION AUDIT Issues that were hard to assess Conversion of some areas of FMU into Forest Plantation and other non-forest land uses. A Major CAR was issued due to conversion within the FMU that had exceeded the threshold set by the standard under Indicator i.e. 2.5% over first three years. The above has been reclassified as hard issues under the audit due to the following: Conversion takes place on August 2012 and SGS has not been informed by the FD despite being reminded of the need to declare new area to be or planned to be converted during the Opening Meeting; SGS was only made aware of the conversion during audit in 2014 when we have been informed by the stakeholders on the conversion for the construction of Dam in Kahang (refer CAR details) Number of CARs closed Number of Observations closed Number of CARs remaining open Number of Observations remaining open Number of New CARs raised Certification Decision One (1) Minor CAR from the previous Audit is closed One (1) Observation from the previous Audit is closed One (1) Minor CAR maintained. One (1) Observation maintained One (1) Major CAR is raised Two (2) New Minor CARs are raised. Three (3) New Observations are raised There being one OUTSTANDING Major Corrective Action Requests, the assessment auditor did NOT recommend the recertification of the Johor Forest Management Unit

4 MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME : MC&I(NATURAL FOREST) (ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS) Doc. Number: AD Version Date: 01 February 2013 Page: 4 of 11 Annex 1 SUMMARY OF CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS (CARS) AND OBSERVATIONS Summary of Corrective Action Requests Issued during previous cycle CAR No. Indicator Non-conformance Objective Evidence Close-out Evidence Inadequate procedures within current administrative processes for identifying and protecting such sites and provisions for rights of access to these sites by indigenous peoples within relevant federal, state and local laws or by mutual agreement. The audit team observed that there is no map depicting locations of important cultural, ecological, economic or religious sites in the FMU. The Johor State Forestry Department has not compiled a map depicting locations of important cultural, ecological, economic or religious sites in the FMU although the GPS coordinates of special sites and their description have been forwarded by the respective district forestry offices to the state. Moreover, the Orang Asli special sites identified are not comprehensive. There is no evidence of identification of special sites for Kg.Orang Asli Punjut, Kahang (Johor Tengah). The above nonconformances are observed in the following documented evidences: Stand-alone document titled Prosedur Mengenalpasti Tempat-Tempat Istimewa (Special Site) Masyarakat Pribumi Di Dalam Kawasan Hutan Simpanan Kekal Di negeri Johor. ; Report on special sites by Johor Tengah District Forestry Department dated 15 June 2012 [ref:(23) dlm.1/01/47titled Laporan Mengenal Pasti Tempat-Tempat Istimewa (Special Site) Masyarakat Pribumi Di Dalam Kawasan Hutan Simpanan Kekal Di Daerah Johor Tengah ; Report on special sites by Johor Utara District Forestry Department 13 June 2012 [Bil:(8) dlm. PHDJU 192/765) titled Maklumat Penempatan Dan Tempat Istimewa (Special Site) Masyarakat Pribumi Di Kawasan Hutan Simpanan Kekal Di Daerah Johor Utara, Segamat. ; and Report on special sites dated 29 March 2012 [ref: (14) PHRLB192/668/09 ) from the Labis Minor CAR maintained SGS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., No.26, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla 31/93, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA CONTACT PERSON: Abdul Haye S - Tel: +6 (03) Fax: +6 (03)

5 AD Page 5 of 11 Range Office to the Johor Utara District Forestry Office titled Plan Penempatan Tempat Istimewa Orang Asli Di Dalam Kawasan Renj Labis Lack of promotion efforts to local coummunities to increase awareness regarding endangered, rare and threatened species of forest flora and fauna Recertification Audit The audit team observed that the Orang Asli special sites identified are still not comprehensive, being lacking the following: There is no evidence of identification of special sites for Kg.Orang Asli Tambak Dapor, Muar (Johor Utara). An interview with the said community on 11 May 2015 revealed that there are special sites such as an old burial ground within the PRF which have not been identified. There is no evidence of identification of special sites for Kg.Orang Asli Punjut, Batu 25, Kahang and Kg. Sri Kenanga, Batu 26, Kahang (Johor Tengah). There is no evidence that the special site identification for Kg. Orang Asli Sg.Selangi (Johor Selatan) was conducted in cooperation with the indigenous peoples. An interview with the said community on 12 May 2015 revealed that there are special sites such as an old burial ground within the PRF (HS Panti) which have not been identified. There is evidence of lack of awareness among local communities regarding the endangered, rare and threatened species of forest flora and fauna found in the FMU. Based on interviews with the Orang Asli community of Kg. Punjut and the Malay community of Kg. Seri Lukut, Kahang on 7 May 2014, there have not been any programmes or briefings by the Johor Forestry Department to educate the local communities on the endangered, rare and threatened species of forest flora and fauna found in the FMU as well as laws pertaining to the forest reserves. Education programmes conducted by the FD in schools involve secondary stakeholders whereas the primary stakeholders are the forest-fringe communities who are directly associated with the forest reserves. There is evidence of participation of the Johor Utara District Forestry Department in a programme organised by the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) Daerah Muar & Ledang dated 18 May 2014 (ref: JAKOA.ML.B2.004J). In addition, there is evidence of participation of the Johor Utara District Forestry Department in a programme organised by the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) Kluang in a letter dated 10 May 2015 (ref: 52 dlm PHD.JH.2/01/47), titled, Taklimat Dan Penerangan Prosedur Memasuki Hutan Simpanan Kekal (HSK) Dan Spesies- Spesies Flora & Fauna Yang Terancam Dalam HSK. The FD and Wildlife Department (PERHILITAN) jointly gave a briefing to Orang Asli from Kg.Tanah Runtuh, Kg.Sg. Peroh, Kg.Sg.Punjut, Kg.Berasau, Kg.Sedodok, Kg.Pucuk, Kg. Kuaka Sengka, Kg. Peroh, Kg. Air Pasir and Kg. Kuala Sengka. The FD raised-awareness of the ERT (Flora) under the IUCN Red List (90 species) and explained the concept of ERT and the IUCN Red List to the Orang Asli representatives. A name list of attendees, the programme summary and the briefing material were provided to the auditor.

6 AD Page 6 of 11 Other evidence verified during the audit is as follows: Letter dated 9 April 2015 (ref: (51) dlm. PHD.JH 1/02/10), titled, Maklumbalas Permohonan Mengadakan Sesi Taklimat Dan Penerangan Proseur Memasuki Hutan Simpanan Kekal (HSK) Kepada Batin Dan Jawatankuasa Kemajuan & Keselamatan Kampung Orang Asli (JKKOA) Daerah Kluang from Johor Tengah District Forestry Department in response to the invitation from JAKOA to provide a briefing on forest rules and regulations. The DFO took the initiative to use this opportunity to include awareness-raising on ERT species. Minor CAR closed Summary of Corrective Action Requests Issued during Recertification Audit CAR No Indicator Nonconformance Lack of up-to-date documentation of any conflicts between laws, regulations and these Principles and Criteria In adequate up-to-date information on all applicable laws and/or regulations covering occupational safety and health of forest workers shall be disseminated to them M The conversion of permanent reserved forest (PRF), to establish forest plantation and other non-forest land use has exceeded the allowable threshold. Objective Evidence Documentation of any conflicts between laws, regulations and these Principles and Criteria are not up-to-date at the Johor Forestry Department. Several gaps identified by the audit team pertaining to conflicts between the law and the P&C of the MC &I (Natural Forest). Visit to all active logging areas observed that safety shoes are not provided to the machine operators i.e. bulldozer operator, excavator operator etc. The Audit Team has taken action to further investigate the issue and found further evidence pertaining to the conversion of the FMU into forest plantation and other land uses with the details as follows: Total Certified area for Johor FMU as of the date of the Recertification Audit = 321, ha Details on forest conversion:: Close-out Evidence New Minor CAR issued during Recertification Audit New Minor CAR issued during Recertification Audit Major CAR maintained 1. De-gazettement of Jemaluang and Tenggaroh FR: De-gazzettement = 17, ha (5.499%) 2. Natural forest conversion to forest plantation (TLC project).

7 AD Page 7 of 11 Forest District PRF Extent (ha) Total Area (ha) Johor Utara Gemerih Air Hitam Utara Tambahan Sungai Segamat Johor Timur Mersing Tambahan 3, = 1, Gunung Arong Tambahan 1, Jemaluang Tambahan = 5, Johor Selatan Seluyut 2, = 2, Total Area (ha) = 9, (2.859%) 3. Conversion to other land use (since 2012) Mining = ha Quarry = ha Dam Project = 1, ha Total = 2, ha (0.821%) Total conversion of PRF to non forest use since 2012 = % which exceeded the 5% limit prescribed by the standard. On January 2016, SGS has suspended the Certificate for Forest Management for Johor FMU due to the following: The Major CAR has been prolonged for more than 6 months (exceeding three months as specified in the Certification Procedures); No specific evidence provided by the FMU on the excision of the Jemaluang & Tenggaroh PRFs; No concrete evidence provided by the FMU to indicate their progress towards ratifying the Major CAR; Evidences submitted merely a means of correcting the CAR without any root cause analysis for the Major CAR issued. This is also part of the requirement of the Certification Procedures. The FD has provided the close-out evidence detailing the root cause together with supporting evidences. However, the audit team is of the view that the evidence submitted is not sufficient to close the Major CAR. Tthe audit team therefore did not recommend the FMU to be recertified. Major CAR 03 maintained

8 AD Page 8 of 11 Summary of Observations Issued during previous cycle CAR No. Indicator Observation Follow-up Evidence Status Besides the updated list as per listed within Indicator of the MC&I(Natural Forest), there are some laws and regulations that have been approved and enacted that are relevant to the forest management operations within Peninsular Malaysia. The laws that are known to be approved and enacted are as follows: Environmental Quality Act 1974 (revised 2012); and the new regulation Occupational Safety (Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheet of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations Although the above laws are not included among the verifiers under Indicator of the MC&I(Natural Forest), the FMU may wish to consider including these laws within their recording system and maintaining a copy each of the laws in the FD s office. In addition, there is also a need for FDPM to keep track of changes in the laws related to forestry and to disseminate the information to the state forestry departments There is a comment from a stakeholder (PERHILITAN) related to rising incidences of human-wildlife conflict involving forest reserves in Johor which necessitate enhanced sharing of information between the FD and PERHILITAN, specifically access to knowledge of new logging concession areas Based on an interview with the Johor Tengah DFO on 7 May 2014, the audit team learnt that Orang Asli informants (Kg.Tembayan, Bekok) have been instrumental in tackling encroachment by foreigners. Orang Asli at Kg.Punjut (interviewed on 7 May 2014) claim to have seen foreigners encroaching the Lenggor Forest Reserve but they did not disclose this to the FD for fear of raising a false alarm. Due to the evidence of effectiveness of Orang Asli informants in curbing encroachment, there is a need for the State FD to increase cooperation with the Orang Asli to address foreign encroachment in the state Consultation with local communities of Kg. Seri Lukut, Kahang on 7 May 2014 revealed an issue pertaining to the conversion of some areas (the local communities cannot state exactly which area) of Kluang FR into a dam project. The audit team has tried to obtain some The list of laws has been updated and the following laws made available: Environmental Quality Act 1974 (revised 2012); and Occupational Safety (Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheet of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations The JFD is in close collaboration with the Johor State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN) and PERHILITAN to establish approx. 120,000 ha as a Johor Elephant Sanctuary (JES) within the state s PRFs. [ref doc: Letter dated 23 October 2014 (ref: PHJ.PTD/192/535/32 Klt.2) (20) from the Johor State Forestry Department to the State Economic Planning Unit, titled, Maklumbalas Mengenai Cadangan Kajian Santuari Gajah Negeri Johor. This is the Johor FD s official feedback to the State government s invitation to review the proposed JES concept paper titled, Cadangan Konsep Pembangunan Projek Santuari Gajah Johor (JES) Recertification Audit: The FMU manager does not have an effective system for community policing which can assist the FMU manager to tackle such issues. An interview with the Kg.Orang Asli Tambak Dapor, Muar (Johor Utara) on 11 May 2015 revealed that there are foreign nationals who encroach into the Maokil Forest Reserve and that the Orang Asli have encountered these foreign nationals who have threatened their safety. There is a need for FD to increase cooperation with the Orang Asli to address foreign encroachment in the state. This Observation has been elevated into Major CAR 03 Observation closed Observation closed Observation maintained

9 AD Page 9 of 11 documented evidence pertaining to the actual location of the conversion area during the last day of the audit (8 May 2014). Unfortunately the issue remains pending due to the feedback being received too late, leaving too little time for the FMU to provide the information. This issue has been highlighted as an Observation in Indicator and this will be evaluated during the next audit i.e. Recertification Audit due in May Summary of Observations Issued during recertification audit Visit to logged-over area in Compt 145, Maokil FR, observed that there are a lot of open areas that have yet to be planted with indigenous tree seedlings due to shortage of seedlings Since the forest management plan expires in 2015, the FD must hasten its appointment of a consultant to carry out the revision, which should incorporate the results of monitoring or new scientific and technical information, as well as to respond to changing environmental, social and economic circumstances. New Observation raised during Recertification Audit New Observation raised during Recertification Audit The stakeholder consultation process for the preparation of the draft HCV reports for flora and fauna can be improved. According to stakeholder feedback (PERHILITAN), there is a need to obtain stakeholder input from the onset in order to effectively determine the HCVF attributes. E.g. for fauna, the proposed HCVF areas for HS Panti and HS Lenggor do not fall under the CFS area.the stakeholder feels that the areas identified are not very significant for fauna compared with the PRFs area under the CFS. Also, the assessment methodology has to be holistic,i.e. taking into consideration a larger scope with a systematic methodology with greater stakeholder involvement. New Observation raised during Recertification Audit

10 MALAYSIAN TIMBER CERTIFICATION SCHEME: MC&I(NATURAL FOREST) (ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS) Doc. Number: AD Version Date: 01 February 2013 Page: 10 of 11 Annex 2 Forest Reserves in Johor FMU SGS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., No.26, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla 31/93, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA CONTACT PERSON: Abdul Haye S - Tel: +6 (03) Fax: +6 (03)

11 AD Page 11 of 11 RECORD OF STAKEHOLDERS COMMENTS Annex 3 Nr Comment Response Recertification Audit 1. No feedback or comments received from Stakeholders SGS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., No.26, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla 31/93, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA CONTACT PERSON: Abdul Haye S - Tel: +6 (03) Fax: +6 (03)