Sarawak will gradually reduce its timber exports while encouraging downstream industries built on planted forests, as the Malaysian state pushes to accelerate its transition towards a green economy. That is according to Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Tun Openg, who set out the policy in his Gawai Dayak 2026 message as part of the state’s broader green economy strategy.
Delivered ahead of the 1 June Gawai Dayak harvest festival, the address cast the export cut as a commitment to environmental sustainability rather than a single policy instrument, with the Premier telling Sarawakians that “there will be a reduction in the export of timber” as the state emphasised its green economic transition.
The cut would draw down an export base that has already softened, with Sarawak’s timber export earnings falling to about RM2.84 billion in 2024, down from RM3.14 billion a year earlier, as plywood receipts slipped to roughly RM1.36 billion, even as export volume edged up to 627,389 cubic metres.
That softer 2024 result gave way to steadier trade through the following year, when the state’s timber exports reached RM1.87 billion across the first three quarters of 2025, with log shipments contributing RM310 million, wood pellet exports climbing 60 per cent to RM97 million, and Japan holding its place as the dominant buyer at RM1.17 billion ahead of India on RM299 million.
Rather than abandoning the forestry sector, the government is encouraging downstream industries based on planted forests to serve a dual purpose, producing biomass whilst functioning as carbon sinks that feed the state’s renewable energy and low-carbon agenda.
Behind that pivot lies a multi-year planted-forest and restoration drive, with Sarawak planting more than 50 million trees by August 2025 and restoring some 137,000 hectares of degraded forest, around 68.6 per cent of its 200,000-hectare target for 2030.
Because the strategy leans on forests as carbon assets as much as timber stocks, Sarawak has already become the first Malaysian state to implement forest carbon licences, a step it ties to developing a green economy and a nature-based carbon market. And with market access increasingly tied to proof of sustainability, more than 1.5 million hectares of Sarawak forest now carry Forest Management Certification, spanning 17 natural forest management units and nine plantation units recognised under the PEFC system.
The remarks come as Sarawak pursues a wider slate of green initiatives — spanning renewable energy, hydrogen technology, low-carbon industries and sustainable resource management — under its Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 framework. With the transition agenda aimed at long-term environmental sustainability and growth, Abang Johari said the state was working towards becoming a regional green economy hub for future generations.
