TAWAU: Malaysia practices good agriculture and sustainable ways to produce palm oil in the country, said Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

He explained although many non governmental organisations (NGOs) attacked Malaysia on the issue of environment, sustainability, deforestation and wildlife conservation, the Malaysian government was very committed in managing and tackling the issues.

Dompok said the government's commitment in managing the environment and wildlife was demonstrated in its support for the establishment of the RM20 millin Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund.

He said palm oil industry players contributed towards the fund as part of their corporate social responsiility to promote production of sustainable palm oil.

In August 2009, Cadbury bowed to pressure from NGOs when it removed palm oil as an ingredient in its chocolates. This was contributed by allegations that the palm oil used was responsible for deforestation and displacement of Orang Utan habitate.

I must reiterate here that Malaysian palm oil is produced through good agriculture and sustainable practices, Dompok said when launching the East Malaysia Planters' Association Conference 2010 here on Monday.

He said the government would continue to promote sustainable production of palm oil by encouraging industry players to adhere to Roundtable and Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) principals.

Todate, 157,000 hectares of oil palm, which produced more than one million tonnes of palm oil, was certified under the RSPO and the government has allocated RM50 million, among others, to educate smallholders on the importance of adopting sustainable practises.

Meanwhile, Dompok said Malaysia must seek ways to speed up forest restoration in a more cost-effective manner.

He said this would fulfill the dual role of restoring and maintaining the full array of biodiversity and produce sustainable supply of wood from natural forests and plantations.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the government provided funding to plant commercial timber and to nurture the sector to become an important sector of the Malaysian economy.

It established Forest Plantation Development Sdn Bhd to provide soft funding to qualified companies interested in establishing forest plantations on a large scale basis.

In this regard, the government is working towards increasing forest plantation hectarage from the current 270,000 hectares to 500,000 hectares in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

To date, a total of RM47 million has been disbursed to 14 companies to plant 54,935 hectares of commercial forest plantation, he said. - Bernama