From oil palm to sustainable timber

MALAYSIA’S palm oil industry is often associated with deforestation, but one plantation owner in Sarawak hopes to be a force for sustainability by cultivating timber instead.

Sarawak conglomerate TSG Group has been in the oil palm business for a while, with 11,000 ha – roughly a seventh of Singapore’s landmass – of oil palm in Sarawak.

In 2016, TSG bought another 10,000-ha plot which was zoned and approved for plantation use. Founder and chief executive officer Chris Chung initially intended to use this for palm oil too. But manpower shortages sent him down a more sustainable path.