By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 27: The Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Arbonaut Ltd, a global leader in forestry and geospatial technology, to collaborate in key areas including forest carbon assessment, carbon project development and trading, as well as joint research in biodiversity, forest products, fire management, soil science and pathology.
According to a media release today, the MoU also paves the way for technical information exchange, knowledge transfer, and the use of advanced remote sensing to strengthen forest inventory systems, sustainable forest management, forest traceability and Forest Information Systems.
The signing ceremony took place at Joensuu Science Park in Finland, a city often referred to as the “Forest Capital of Europe” on Tuesday (Aug 26).
In addition to the MoU, FDS signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) appointing Arbonaut Ltd as consultant for the project Quantifying Stand Structure Dynamics and Productivity in Natural Forest and Planted Forest Stands Using Airborne 3D Ranging Systems.
The initiative will harness 3D LiDAR technology to assess forest structure, growth dynamics and productivity in both natural forests and industrial plantations, while improving accuracy in measuring tree height, volume, biomass, carbon stocks and forest fire risk.
The Sarawak delegation was led by the Forests director Datu Hamden Mohammad, together with six senior officers from FDS.
Hamden described the agreements as a milestone in strengthening international cooperation in forestry.
“This partnership opens up significant opportunities in forestry technology, particularly in the field of carbon, to support climate goals and sustainable forest management,” he said.
Arbonaut Ltd chief executive officer (CEO) Jari Kinnunen underscored the importance of global cooperation in addressing climate challenges.
“In today’s context, it is crucial to strengthen international collaboration to mitigate the effects of climate change, and we are honoured to share our knowledge and expertise through this joint effort,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Hamden also delivered a presentation during an engagement session with Arbonaut Ltd, highlighting Sarawak’s sustainable forest management practices and positioning the State’s forests as a unique eco-tourism attraction.
Following the signing, the FDS delegation is scheduled to conduct a benchmarking visit to John Deere Company and the Finnish Forest Centre, focusing on technology transfer and the application of high-resolution LiDAR data mapping in forest harvesting machinery. — DayakDaily
