UNDP-GEF-ITTO-FRIM Conservation of BioD Project

Canopy Views Vol 4 Issue 1/2008

f or our
look er!
Project engages
ew ject was launched in April
N slett
stakeholders early.
ward to receiving your 2007 in a simple ceremony
page 1
N ew contribution to make the in conjunction with its In-
FRIM’s New Leadership T h e newsletter more diversi- ception Workshop.
page 2 CBioD Newsletter fied. Do tell us what you
think of our new look. After 18 months, the
is back with a brand new project is taking shape and
FEATURE: Biodiversity look and name. Aptly As for the CBioD Pro- moving towards achieving
Assessment; the heart of named Canopy Views to ject itself it has been its goals. In this first Bi-
the CBioD Project showcase the holistic slightly over one year annual newsletter by the
page 3 manner of the Project and since the project took off. It CBioD Project various ac-
the drive towards main- had some minor delay on tivities of the project will be
A Royal interest in Biod
taining canopy coverage in the ITTO component of highlighted. We hope you
Conservation
production forests. The project merely due to the will have a better picture of
page 5
newsletter will be pub- delay in getting the UNDP- this first of its kind project
Public Lecture on lessons
lished twice a year. The GEF component signed in world. We are excited
learned from Pasoh
Project Team looks for- and flagged off. The pro- about are our journey. VJ
page 5

International Advisory Project engages stakeholders early

Panel.
page 6

T
he CBioD Project or-
A World Champion’s inter- ganised a workshop
est in Biodiversity conser- to introduce the ob-
vation. jectives and activities of
page 8 the project specifically for
The UNDP-GEF-ITTO-FRIM the Forestry Department of
Conservation of Biodiversity Peninsular Malaysia. The
(CBioD) Project is a 5 year pro- Workshop which stretched
ject funded by the Malaysian over 3 days was attended
Government, Global Environ- by 24 Forestry Officers
mental Facility (GEF) through from the headquarters and
UNDP and the International states in Peninsular Malay-
Tropical Timber Organisation sia. From May 26th to 29th
(ITTO). The CBioD Project aims the Project team presented
to create tools and methods to and discussed the activi-
conserve biodiversity in ties in the confinements of
production landscapes by the green Belum Rainforest
integrating ecological
Resort in Pulau Banding,
and economic values.
Perak.
Contact us at: The Workshop was fol-
CBioD Project lowed up with a field trip to
[MAL/04/G31 & PD 165/2 Rev.3 (F)]
the PITC site where a num-
Project Support Unit ber of project teams dem-
Forest Research onstrated their biodiversity
Institite Malaysia (FRIM) assessment on the se-
52109 Kepong, Selangor lected taxa. The team pre- Dr. Abd Rahman Abd Rahim (3rd from left) listening
T: +603-62 79 76 19 pared line #1 where sample to a brief by Anthony Gonzaga (far left) on the moth
F: +603-62 73 47 04 tests were previously con- trapping methods and his newly invented moth trap.
E: jayaradha_undpbiod ducted before the full Looking on is Mr Yap from Perak Forestry Depart-
@frim.gov.my fledged assessment was ment (second from right).
W: www.cbiod.org undertaken.
>>continued on page 2

Project welcomes FRIM’s new
leadership. The CBioD Project
takes the opportunity of
the re-launch of our new
Newsletter – Canopy
Views, to congratulate
Dato’ Dr. Abd Latif
Mohmod on his new ap-
pointment as the Director
General of the prestig-
ious Forest Research
Institute Malaysia
(FRIM). Dato’ Latif takes
the helm of managing
FRIM, a world renowned
research institute with a
history that spans close
to a century, from Datuk’
Dr Abdul Razak Mohd Ali sian Award, Interna-
who retired on April 26, t i o n a l S c i e n t i f i c
2008. Achievement Award
Dato’ Dr. Latif is a rec- (youngest to ever re-
ognized researcher lo- ceive this award since
cally and internationally, its inception in 1892)
for his expertise in the and the National Inno-
areas of rattan related vator Award.
industries. He joined But his best trait is his
FRIM in the year 1985 close working relationship
and quickly rose to higher with staff of all levels and
positions due to his dili- his love for the natural
gence and positive work environment. The CBioD
attitude. Project wishes him great
During his tenure in success in his new posi-
FRIM, Dato’ Dr. Abd Latif tion and look forward to
has received many nota- many years of working
ble awards including Out- under his superior guid-
standing Young Malay- ance. VJ

>>continued from front page At the PITC Base Camp, the Perak ITC team gave a warm welcome to the delegation. Pn. Hjh
Rohati Shafiee, General Manager of PITC presented their harvesting processes carried out in
the concession, which is also a pilot site for the project. The Forestry Officers were particularly interested in the FSC certification proc-
esses that PITC went through. This generated much discussions before the participants went to view the transacts placed by team
members in line #1.
A Project Collaborative Meeting between the JPSM and the CBioD Project wrapped up the 3-day session. This meeting was held
to ensure a close working relationship is forged with the Forestry Department. Its main objective of this meeting is to engage the For-
estry Department early to ensure all outputs of the project are cost effective and practical. The CBioD Project looks forward to a
greater working relationship with the Forestry Department in the near future.

A B 1 2

3
C

(Top right) 1. Pn Hjh Rohati Shafie (PITC) brief-

ing participants; 2. Dr. Abdul Rahman Kassim
(FRIM) briefing the participants on the areas
selected by the project team to carry out Project
activities; 3. the participants of the workshop at
the PITC base camp; 4. Joann (research Officer)
D explaining how bats are trapped for assessment, 4
tagged and released once data is collected.

(top) A. Dr. Woon Weng Chuen (left) the Project Collaboration

welcomes the participants to the meeting chaired by Dr. Abd Rah-
workshop; B. Ms Ginny Ng man Abd Rahim (the current
(UNDP) delivered the opening Deputy Director General of
address; (presenters) C. Dr Chris- JPSM) and co-chaired by Dr.
tine Fletcher; D. Dr. Ismariah Woon Weng Chuen. Pictures by:
Ahmad VJ Veerasamy
Page 2 Vol 4 Issue 1/2008
 Biodiversity Assessment;
the heart of the CBioD project.
CFletcher/cbiod
O
ne of the main activity
taken up by the CBioD
Project is Biodiversity
Assessments in production
forests using bio-indicators.
There are a number of pre-
existing bio-indicators being
used throughout the world
such as birds and large mam-
mals to indicate the health of
the forests. The CBioD Project
needs to ensure that the bio-
indicators selected are easily
tracked in the forest and does
not come with high costs to
be assessed. Based on these
criteria, the team has selected
the following taxa (species
type) to study: Trees and
plants; Birds; Ants; Dung Bee-
tles; Stream (macro) inverte-
Dzamir attempting to catch stingless bees; one of the nine
bio-indicator species used by the assessment team.
brate; Frugivores; Moths;
Bats.
It is worth noting that the
current 9 taxa used by the
team may be reviewed or even
reduced and that the current
biodiversity assessment car-
ried out by the project team is
a full assessment of each
taxa. By the end of the project
(5th year), the full assessment
will be summarised to Rapid
Biodiversity Assessment
meant for forest planners to
use. The tool will be compre-
hensive, user friendly and
cost effective.
vjsamy/cbiod
Right: Lush Hill Forests of Temenggor,
Perak, where the pilot study area is lo-
cated.
>> continued on page 4
Vol 4 Issue 1/2008 Page 3
 Study method
Research results
The Biodiversity Assessment team has 3 differ-
ent areas to work on: Pre timber harvesting study;
so far.
Study of local refugia in Virgin Jungle Reserves and 1. The team is finding that
a study to replicate the tools in the lower Belum for- the study of understorey
est. 2 of these activities have been running concur- birds are not very effective
rently while the 3rd component will wait till the Rapid in dense forests such as
Biodiversity Assessment tools are ready. The pre- those found in Malaysia.
timber harvesting assessment is carried out in the This is due to the very low
number catches obtained
Perak ITC concession in Block 5 (Compartment 44)
by the bird team in within
ZAMustafa/cbiod 1 and a total of 24 study plots have been worked on in the research plots.
an area that is already ear-marked for tree felling.
The same plots will be used to asses the survival
rate of the same taxa after the timber harvesting has 2. The aquatic macro in-
taken place. vertrabe team discovered
that after each rainfall the
The assessment team will be looking into the
stream, macro life forms
effects on biodiversity for the 2 different harvesting in the stream are ver low if
regimes being put into place by the Harvesting Pro- not non existence. The
tocol team of the project. The 200 ha of Block 5 in stream will have to recu-
PITC will be divided equally into 2 for 2 different re- perate after a number of
gimes. The assessment will indicate which regime days to show life in its wa-
offers the best survival rate for biodiversity. ters again.

ZAMustafa/cbiod 2
3. Placing harp nets to
trap bats in certain
months when female
bats are pregnant is
very beneficial as
both mother and pup
can be recorded and
tagged at the same
CDFletch/cbiod
CDFletch/cbiod 55 time.

4. The rough and

steep terrain is task-
ing to the team which
vjsamy/cbiod 8 has to climb right to
JoannCL/cbiod 3 8 the top of ridges to
fulfill their ridge-
slope-valley criteria
for study plots. Climb-
CDFletch/cbiod 6 ing slopes of 20◦ at
times with heavy
equipments is only
made a little brearable
by the help of local
Orang Asli helpers
cum potters. The
team must be con-
vjsamy/cbiod

gratulated for their

CDFletch/cbiod 9 effort working in
9 tough conditions with
CDFletch/cbiod 4 7 very basic living comforts
merely to ensure the pro-
1: Survey of Under-storey birds; 2: Survey of Moths; 3: Survey of Dung Beetles; 4: ject’s objectives are met
Survey of Trees and Plants; 5: Survey of Stingless Bees: 6: Survey of Aquatic with the highest stan-
Macro Invertebrates; 7: Survey of Insectivorous Bats; 8: Survey of Frugivores; 9: dards.
Survey of ants.
Page 4 Vol 4 Issue 1/2008
 A Royal interest in
Biodiversity
Conservation
9th July 2008 Research Centre
Temenggor Forest Reserve

The CBioD Project took part in an exhibi-

tion organized by the Research Centre of
the Royal Belum Rainforest Resort on 9th
July 2008. The Resort was officially
launched by D.Y.M.M Sultan of Perak
Darul Ridzuan Sultan Azlan Shah. HM
Sultan of Perak also took the time to visit
the Reserach Centre were the Cbiod
Team had put up an exhibition on current
research project in the Temenggor Forest
Reserve. Dr. Shamsudin Ibrahim CBioD
Project National Project Director, had the
honour of briefing HM Sultan of Perak on
the Project for which HM Sultan took
much interest in listening. HM Sultan of
Perak was accompanied by Her Majesty
Clockwise from top: Dr Shamsudin (CBioD National Project Director) brief- Sultanah of Perak and Y.B Menteri Besar
ing HM Sultan of Perak on the various activities under taken by the project of Perak as well as a host of other
in Temenggor Forest Reserve; HM Sultanah of Perak and YB Menteri Besar important guests. The Project
of Perak, on-looking at the exhibition; Y.Bhg Dato’ Dr. Abd Latif Mohmod
congratulates the team for a job well
and FRIM staff waiting for the arrival of the Royal Entourage. Pictures by
Daphine Tan
done.

Building Sustainable
Forestry Management Systems:
Lessons Learned from the Pasoh Forest Dynamics Plot
5th May 2008 (FRIM)
Dr. Abdul Rahman Kassim and Prof. Matthew Potts de-
livered an exiting talk on research findings of the 50ha plot
in Pasoh. Dr Abdul Rahman presented on the data that
has been collected for the past 20 years in Pasoh which,
showed many changes in the forest in terms of natural
growth, temperature and plant mortality.
Prof. Potts then presented the link on the
data collected from the Pasoh 50ha plot to build-
ing a Forest Management System, which is an
output of the CBioD Project. The findings gar-
nered many enquiries from the floor. The partici-
pants were generally very interested in the data
collected and encouraged other agencies to fol-
low suit.
There were more than 80 participants who at-
tended this 2 hour lecture. Pictures by: vjsamy/cbiod

Vol 4 Issue 1/2008 Page 5

 The appointment of the CBioD Project’s International
Advisory Panel Members

The CBioD Project is being involved in creating tools and methods that
are aimed at not only being used in Malaysia but also to be replicated in
other tropical countries, an International Advisory Panel (IAP) has been
set up, to ensure tools and methods created through the project is practi-
cal, replicable and of International Standard. The IAP members are se-
lected based on their internationally recognized expertise in the field of
Ecology and Economics and will serve the project as advisors on technical
matters beneficial to the successful implementation of the project’s objec-
tives.
The IAP members are as follows: (Clock wise from top left) Dr Karl-
Goran Maler of the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm,
Sweden; Prof Jeffrey Bennet of Crawford School of Economics and Gov-
ernment, Australian National University, Australia; Dr. Geoffrey Davison,
Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board, Singapore; Dr. Tim Boyle, In-
ternational Consultant.
The first IAP meeting will convene in Malaysia in early December with
both local and international research collaborators.

The First Combined Technical Working

Top : Chairman, Dato’ Dr Abdul Latif Mohmod with Co-chair
Dr Shamsudin Ibrahim. Below: Members of the Technical
Working Committee in discussion. Pictures by: Daphine Tan
Page 6 Vol 4 Issue 1/2008
Committee convenes
The first TWC Meeting for the year 2008 was held on
June 19, 2008 in FRIM. This also marked the first
combined TWC meeting for both the ITTO and UNDP-
GEF components and was chaired by Y.Bhg Dato’ Dr
Latif Mohmod, Director General of FRIM while the
second half of the meeting was chaired by Dr
Shamsudin Ibrahim, the National Project Director. It
was also the first meeting attended by a representative
from Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC).
MTCC was formally invited into the TWC after the
Project Steering Committee approved its participation in
December 2007.
Dr. Woon Weng Chuan, Project Manager, presented
the progress of the Project as well as its financial
standing. The meeting discussed many issues,
pertaining to biodiversity assessments that is being
conducted by the research team. A presentation on the
experimental Harvesting Protocol was conducted by
Mr. Samsuddin Musa and the Hydrological and Land
Use Study was presented by Dr. Ismariah Ahmad.
The list of International Advisory Panel (IAP)
members who had accepted the invitation were
introduced to the TWC members who endorsed the
listing. The TWC encouraged the Project Team to try
harder to obtain the involvement of gvernment agency
and civil society concerned with the Indegenous
Community Affairs. The next TWC Meeting is projected
to be held in December after the visit and meeting with
the IAP members.
Household Survey Consultants appointed
The selection committee from right: Ms Ginny (UNDP); Prof
Kurt Schwabe (US Riverside); Prof Jeff Vincent (Duke Univer-
sity); Dr Woon Weng Chuan (Project Manager); Ms Poh LY
(Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia).
The CBioD Project is proud to annouce that PE
Research Sdn Bhd has been apoointed to conduct a
survey on 1200 households in Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor. PE Research will interview urban, sub-urban
and rural communities on thier perception of the value of
forests and biodiversity.
The selection commitee worked on the appointment for
almost 5 months before the consultanst were selected.
The Project received a good number of response from
consultation agencies bidding for the survey.
Training Course for Database System
Dr. Rhett Harrison
(second from left)
working with par-
ticipants on manag-
ing the database
while Prof. Potts
(far right) continues
with the presenta-
tion of the prelimi-
nary database sys-
tem. Pictures by
Daphine Tan
A training course on the database system for biodi-
versity assessment data logging was conducted re-
cently by Prof Matthew Potts and Dr Rhett Harrison.
The workshop was attended by all researchers to
learn on how the new database system works and
how data collected by the teams can be put to good
practical use.
The teams had initially collected data on datasheet s
and had been logging the data in their systems. With
this training workshop, the teams will be able to collate
their data into a single database. This datasheet will
eventually be integrated with the economic compo-
nents research data for the final creation of tools and
methods as per the Project’s overall objective. By VJ
Your virtual connection to the CBioD Project @
www.cbiod.org
The CBioD Project is glad to announce that the long
awaited project website is now ready. Though it still has
some minor glitches, it can now be viewed at
www.cbiod.org.
The CBioD Project hopes that a greater awareness
on the objectives of the project as well activities and inter-
esting findings will be disseminated through this website.
If you have an interesting article that you wish to include
i n t h e w e b s i t e d o c o n t a c t
jayaradha_undpbiod@frim.gov.my. All articles must
have some relation to conservation of biodiversity, sus-
tainable forest harvesting or environmental economics.
GIS Modelling Workshop with Emily Weidner
Ms. Emily Weidner
(1st from right) takes
a break from the
workshop and chats
with some of the par-
ticipants. Seen here
with Dr. Ismariah
Ahmad (second from
left), local leader of
the Economic Com-
ponent. Pictures by
Daphine Tan
A workshop on GIS modelling attended by 12 partici-
pants was held in August 2008. The intensive 4-days
course was conducted by Ms Emily Weidner, an MSC
student from Duke University to teach participants tools
needed to generate a dataset for the study of hydrologi-
cal services using the ArcGIS software. This datasheet
can be used with water monitoring data (streamflow,
variability of flow and suspended sediments) in regres-
sion analysis to identify the effects of different land uses.
The participants gained important ArcGIS skills needed
to relate changing land use with hydrological services
that will enhance the outputs of the CBioD project. The
workshop has also contributed to the capacity building of
local researchers and foster an environment of collabo-
ration and knowledge sharing. By Emily Weidner
Vol 4 Issue 1/2008 Page 7
 s fr om
t orie A World Champion
S f ield
t he visits RBA team in Ulu Gombak
7th August 2008
The BioD Assessment team recently
had a celebrity visitor to their assessment
plot in the Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve.
In her capacity as the UNDP Goodwill Ambassador,

World Squash Champion Nicol Ann David

participated in a 1 day trek with the research team
to understand the objectives and activities
of the CBioD Project which is co-funded by the
Global Environment Facility
through the UNDP.

N
icol who han- streams and endeavor-
dled the steep ing a heavy rainfall,
slopes of the Nicol was treated to
Virgin Jungle some Durian Kampung
Res er ve i n hi lly Ulu and Durian Daun in one
Gombak forest was ac- of the Orang Asli assis-
companied by Lilei tant’s home.
Chow, Communications The experience was
Advisor from the UNDP thoroughly enjoyed by
Country office. everyone including Nicol
Here the Malaysian and Lilei. On the same
Golden Girl had a good night the team prepared
opportunity to have a a special BBQ and cele-
first hand view of re- brated team members
search activities under birthday for those born
taken by the Project in August. This was
Team in studying the made even more special
regeneration of biodiver- as Nicol also celebrates
sity in a local refugia her birthday in August
surrounded by a forest and joined in the fun.
harvested more than 15 Nicol is taking her
years ago. The team
Leech Socks that she
was able to show her
some catches from their used during the trek, as
traps and explain to a memento to Amster-
Nicol the logic behind dam (where she has
using their species as a been training for the
bio-indicator. past 5 years). The team
After trekking through wishes her best of luck
the dense forests of Ulu and hopes to see her
G o m b a k , c r o s s i n g again soon. VJ