Exotic oil in wood
Josephine Jalleh The Star 12 Oct 11;
GEORGE TOWN: Agarwood trees are being chopped down illegally in the forest reserves of Bukit Mertajam and Bukit Panchor as its oil extract is fetching a good price in the Middle East.
State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said a 10ml tube of Gaharu oil, which is used as medicine and perfume, is priced at RM140.
“We suspect that there are foreign syndicates involved in the chopping of the trees over the last four years.
“They usually enter the forest at night to cut down six to seven trees using axes and not chainsaws because of the noise,” he told a press conference at his office in Komtar yesterday.
Phee advised forest rangers to be careful when coming across the culprits as they could have firearms.
State Forestry Department director Shah Rani Ahmad Zailan said the culprits would identify the Agarwood trees in scattered areas of the forest.
“These activities have been detected from Cherok Tokun in Bukit Mertajam to Simpang Ampat and Bukit Panchor in Nibong Tebal.
“The culprits know the value of the Gaharu oil which can fetch up to RM1,000 per kilogramme, depending on its grade,” he said.
Shah Rani added that foreig-ners were involved in carrying out the illegal activity as forest rangers noticed that they spoke with a foreign accent during surveillance and investigation operations.
“Those found guilty could be charged under Section 68 of the National Forestry Act 1984 which carries a fine of up to RM50,000 fine, five years’ jail, or both.
“They can also be charged under Section 84 of the same Act with a fine of not more than RM50,000, jailed not more than five years, or both,” he said, adding that they were unable to reveal the number of trees which had been cut.
An investigating officer of the department, Mariatul Qiptiyah Md Sah said eight Malaysian men were arrested on Sept 3, while several people managed to escape at around 4am on Oct 2.
On Feb 21, the Kedah Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP) stumbled upon eight sacks containing the agarwood. A total of 442kg of agarwood worth RM337,600 were found at a parking area in Kuala Kedah.
Malaysia is the world’s leading source of Agarwood, with half of the global supplies of the perfumed wood originating here, and this has put seven of the 18 Agarwood tree species growing here at risk of extinction.
Two reports released last yearby TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring body, showed that rising demand for Agarwood, pro-blems in monitoring harvests and a persistent illegal trade threaten the future of the highly-prized fragrant wood.
Picking trees at leisure
M Sivanatha Sharma The Star 12 Oct 11;
THE state Forestry Department believes that Agarwood tree poachers had camped in the Cherok Tokun Hill forest reserve for days while looking for the highly-prized trees to chop down.
Department staff Mohd Nasir Ahmad said a canopy, cooking utensils and food found in the forest reserve showed that the poachers would identify a tree in the day before chopping it down at night.
“The poachers, who are usually foreigners employed by a syndicate, will use an axe and sometimes a chainsaw to cut down the trees under the cover of darkness between midnight and 4am.”
Several hikers met at the forest reserve expressed shock when told about the illegal activity in the area.
Surinder Singh, 50, a former army personnel, said he noticed several trees had been fell but he did not know that the poachers were responsible.
“I initially thought that the forestry department had fell the trees for a certain reason. I only knew that the trees were valuable after reading StarMetro this morning.”
Another hiker Goh Chuang Chung, 51, said he saw the trees on the forest floor about a week back but thought nothing of it at that time, adding that he was not aware that the oil extract of the Agarwood tree was so valuable.
It was reported that a 10ml tube of Gaharu oil from the Agarwood tree, used as an ingredient for medicine and perfume, can be sold for RM140.
Gaharu oil can also fetch up to RM1,000 per kilo depending on the grade.
The poachers’ activities have been detected from Cherok Tokun in Bukit Mertajam to Simpang Ampat and Bukit Panchor in Nibong Tebal.
Malaysia is the world’s leading source of Agarwood, contributing to half the global supply.
Agarwood theft nothing new
Derrick Vinesh The Star 12 Oct 11;
THE Agarwood tree felling activities in the Bukit Panchor State Park and its surrounding areas in Nibong Tebal are believed to have been ongoing for a few years.
A local resident, who declined to be named, said while the illegal felling in the park could have been recent, the felling of the trees near a water catchment area outside the park had been going on for some time.
“Sometimes, when I take visitors up the Bukit Pachor Hill, we come across chunks of Agarwood trees strewn near the water catchment area.
“A major segment of the tree trunks are chopped and left behind because the poachers only cut out small segments with blackish resin where the exotic oil can be extracted,” he said when met at the park yesterday.
The resident said some of the trees also had deep slash marks on the trunks, which were done to help promote the growth of the particular resin.
He also noted that the tree trunks would easily decay, as the wood was rather soft.
An information board placed by the state Forestry Department at an Agarwood or Gaharu (Aquilara Malaccensis) tree at the park stated that the particular species was also known in Malaysia as depu, karas and engkaras.
It said the Agarwood tree, which can also be found in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and northern India, could grow up to 20m.
It also said that the Agarwood resin, which was found in the tree trunk, has a high commercial value in the world market. The resin has been used for centuries as incense, medicine, cosmetics and for religious ceremonies.
It stated that the Agarwood is believed to be one of the most expensive woods in the world, and is appreciated by many cultures for its fragrance.
Another local resident Mohd Salim Abdul Hamid, 15, from Jawi, said it was disheartening to hear about the illegal tree felling activities, noting that it took many years for the trees to mature.
“How can the authorities allow such activities to go on? They should step up enforcement against the culprits.”
Fellow resident Mohd Ikmal Sofi Ishak, 15, said even though the park authorities could scrutinise the visitors who used the main entrance to the park, its surrounding area was not fenced up.
“The poachers can gain easy access to the park from various locations around the park.
“It may be a difficult task to fence up the entire park, which is located on a 445ha plot of land, but some form of security system should be in place to safeguard the trees,” he said.
A state Forestry Department official said many people visited the park especially on weekends and during the school holidays.
“But, in the last few months, the number of visitors has dropped following the announcement by the Health Department that traces of leptospirosis virus were found in its pond.
“The Health Department has since cautioned visitors about being exposed to the virus by placing adequate notices outside the pond.”
