| Projections of supply and demand for timber appear to indicate a domestic shortage in Peninsular Malaysia by the year 2000. Timber shortage will result in loss of foreign exchange, retrenchment of timber workers, inflate prices and depress construction and housing industries.;Compensatory Forest Plantation Program (CFPP) is one of the methods taken by the Malaysian Government to avert this impending crisis.;CFPP was officially launched in 1983, in four States of Peninsular Malaysia. By 1989, forest plantations totaling 36,874 hectares were established.;A final analysis of CFPP is premature, as the program is only in its seventh year of a 15 year rotation. Results from preliminary appraisal indicate that CFPP was non-profitable from 1983-1989, and from 1990 onwards is financially viable. If actual data are viewed together with projected data (post 1989), CFPP is financially viable.;A number of forest management recommendations are proposed for the remaining years. |
