Introduction

Forestry sector remains as one of Malaysia's main revenue, earner for many years now. The high value tropical hardwood timber is harversted, on a sustainable basis from mainly the lowland and hill diptrerocarp forests as well as the peat swamp forest. Some of the highly valued timbers come from the following species: chengal (Neobalanocarpus heimii), Meranti and Balau (Shorea spp) Keruing (Diptenocarpu sp), Merbau (tatsia palembamia), Bitis, Nyatoh (Palaquium sp)and some others. The forest plays a vital role in socio-economic development from the aspects of foreign exchange, generating revenue for the country and providing job opportunities.