Malaysia Satellite Technology
Sunday, November 2, 2008
MALAYSIA: Satellite technology for more efficient forest management
by: New Straits Times Press (Malaysia)
KUALA LUMPUR, Tues. - Forest management, including curbing illegal logging, will be made more efficient with satellite technology under a new project between the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing and the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (JPSM).
Under a memorandum signed today, both parties will co-operate in forest resource mapping, forest road planning and tree mapping in all forests nationwide.
Besides monitoring illegal logging, other benefits in these three fields are identifying disaster-prone areas and the inventorising of species.
Macres is to provide remote sensing technology and JPSM is to apply it. The contract will be evaluated and expanded after five years.
"Remote sensing will make enforcement against illegal logging easier and cheaper, instead of depending on forest rangers as we do now," said Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding who witnessed the signing.
He said satellite pictures would show if logging had taken place outside permitted areas.
JPSM director-general Datuk Zul Mukhshar Md Shaari said satellite technology would help in deciding where logging tracks should be allowed without harming catchment areas.
"We also hope forest resource mapping can help us identify individual trees according to species for inventory purposes."
Zul Mukhshar said satellite pictures taken in 1970, 1980 and 1990 showed that forest cover had been decreasing.
He said in the peninsula, total forest cover was now at about 5.94 million hectares or 48 per cent of the land surface.
Statistics obtained later from a JPSM researcher showed that this was a decline from 6.27 million hectares in 1990.
He described the yearly rate of decline as insignificant even though forest cover was now much less than a decade ago.
However, Zul Mukhshar said there was an increase in areas gazetted as permanent forest reserves in the peninsula.
There are now some 4.85 million hectares of such reserves, representing 36.8 per cent of land area.
"Though total forest cover is less due to development, there are now more forest reserves and hopefully they can be maintained."
Macres director Nik Nasruddin Mahmood said forest monitoring could be done more consistently when the centre's ground receiving station in Temerloh opened by the end of next year.
With the station, Macres will not have to request for satellite images from foreign satellite owners and wait several months before receiving them.
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KUALA LUMPUR, Tues. - Forest management, including curbing illegal logging, will be made more efficient with satellite technology under a new project between the Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing and the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (JPSM).
Under a memorandum signed today, both parties will co-operate in forest resource mapping, forest road planning and tree mapping in all forests nationwide.
Besides monitoring illegal logging, other benefits in these three fields are identifying disaster-prone areas and the inventorising of species.
Macres is to provide remote sensing technology and JPSM is to apply it. The contract will be evaluated and expanded after five years.
"Remote sensing will make enforcement against illegal logging easier and cheaper, instead of depending on forest rangers as we do now," said Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding who witnessed the signing.
He said satellite pictures would show if logging had taken place outside permitted areas.
JPSM director-general Datuk Zul Mukhshar Md Shaari said satellite technology would help in deciding where logging tracks should be allowed without harming catchment areas.
"We also hope forest resource mapping can help us identify individual trees according to species for inventory purposes."
Zul Mukhshar said satellite pictures taken in 1970, 1980 and 1990 showed that forest cover had been decreasing.
He said in the peninsula, total forest cover was now at about 5.94 million hectares or 48 per cent of the land surface.
Statistics obtained later from a JPSM researcher showed that this was a decline from 6.27 million hectares in 1990.
He described the yearly rate of decline as insignificant even though forest cover was now much less than a decade ago.
However, Zul Mukhshar said there was an increase in areas gazetted as permanent forest reserves in the peninsula.
There are now some 4.85 million hectares of such reserves, representing 36.8 per cent of land area.
"Though total forest cover is less due to development, there are now more forest reserves and hopefully they can be maintained."
Macres director Nik Nasruddin Mahmood said forest monitoring could be done more consistently when the centre's ground receiving station in Temerloh opened by the end of next year.
With the station, Macres will not have to request for satellite images from foreign satellite owners and wait several months before receiving them.
Forests.org users agree to the Full Disclaimer as a condition for use. Viewing and/or downloading of this information on these terms only.
Labels: Satellites
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