Production potential of rubberwood in Malaysia: Its economic challenges

Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) has emerged as the most important source of wood raw material in Malaysia. Being a plantation crop, it is regarded as a green and environmental-friendly material that has found applications in almost all sectors of the wood industry. Despite its importance as a socio-economic sector, the future of the rubberwood industry in Malaysia is under scrutiny. The steadily declining rubber cultivation area in the country is raising alarms about the future supply of rubberwood. Although the government provides a replanting subsidy for smallholders, who make up the large proportion of the growers, there is an urgent need to enhance the profitability of rubber growing activities. Efforts to enhance the full recovery of wood biomass available and also expanding the use of rubberwood in high value applications must be pursued rigorously, to arrest the declining interests in rubber cultivation. Policy makers must ensure that rubber cultivation remains economical and the net value of rubberwood is further enhanced through application in non-traditional sectors

Climate Change: Wildfire Impact

Every ecosystem is a complex organization of carefully mixed life forms; a dynamic and particularly sensible system. Consequently, their progressive decline may accelerate climate change and vice versa, influencing flora and fauna composition and distribution, resulting in the loss of biodiversity. Climate changes effects are the principal topics of this volume. Written by internationally renowned contributors, Biodiversity loss in a changing planet offers attractive study cases focused on biodiversity evaluations and provisions in several different ecosystems, analysing the current life condition of many life forms, and covering very different biogeographic zones of the planet

Funding biodiversity protection in central and eastern Europe – a case study of Bosnia Herzegovina.

Biodiversity conservation has drawn considerable attention as to where the funding is available in order for governments concerned with the conservation of biodiversity to fulfil their obligations. This paper examines if financing resources provided through Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in Bosnia Herzegovina could be supplemented with locally voluntary provided funding to lead to an appropriate protection level of threatened species. A study was conducted on a 1189 persons sample to establish the local population willingness to contribute to GEF sponsored biodiversity conservation projects. It was found that the local people are willing to contribute positively higher than the actual spending of the GEF and findings can be used to argue for more attention to preferences of the public in decision making on biodiversity protection activity and spending in Bosnia Herzegovina

Funding biodiversity protection in Central and Eastern Europe – a case study of Bosnia Herzegovina

Biodiversity conservation has drawn considerable attention as to where the funding is available in order for governments concerned with the conservation of biodiversity to fulfil their obligations. This paper examines if financing resources provided through Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in Bosnia Herzegovina could be supplemented with locally voluntary provided funding to lead to an appropriate protection level of threatened species. A study was conducted on a 1189 persons sample to establish the local population willingness to contribute to GEF sponsored biodiversity conservation projects. It was found that the local people are willing to contribute positively higher than the actual spending of the GEF and findings can be used to argue for more attention to preferences of the public in decision making on biodiversity protection activity and spending in Bosnia Herzegovina

Rethinking wood dust safety standards

The current universal work safety and health standards pertaining to wood dust in factories lack the localisation required. As a study has shown, there is a urgent need to reevaluate the current guidelines and practices

Comparison of structure, regeneration and dead wood in virgin forest remnant and managed forest on Grmecˇ Mountain in Western Bosnia

This paper compares the forest structure, regeneration and distribution of dead wood in a virgin forest remnant and a close-to-nature managed beech–conifer mixture situated on Grmecˇ Mountain inWestern Bosnia. The investigations were carried out in a 1 ha permanent sample plot and 35 circular plots (20m radius) in the virgin forest and in 17 circular plots (25m radius) in managed forests. The number of trees in the managed forest was significantly ( p ¼ 0.05) higher than that in virgin forest and the distribution of the number of trees per diameter classes had a decreasing trend, but with a different shape in the virgin forest compared to the managed stands. In the lower diameter classes, the stock volume recorded in virgin forest was half of that in the managed forest, whilst for higher diameter classes the cumulated volume of the growing stock was almost double in virgin forest. The young crops had a significantly lower presence in the virgin forest and a larger volume of dead wood was identified in the virgin forest than in managed stands. The study results are important in assessing the consequences of close-to-nature management on the forest structure and regeneration when compared to the condition in virgin forests

Current issues in global furniture - Proceedings of the 8th biennial Furniture Research Group Conference. Missenden Abbey. Buckinghamshire New University 20 November 2013

'Current issues in global furniture’ attempted to capture contemporary views of where furniture is currently positioned from a world perspective. The first keynote paper firmly placed kitchen design into the field of furniture products showing that it has a similar stylistic development, but with nuances particular to its form and function. Ecological issues were raised concerning durability and the use of recycled components that perhaps to many is not what is expected within the domestic kitchen. Johnny Grey is no ordinary kitchen designer having designed and built kitchens all over the world within a wide range of budgets. Grey shows innovation in his adoption of green principles and especially in reusing components and materials

The Safety and Health of Workers in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: An Assessment of Noise and Chemical Solvents Exposure

This study was carried out to evaluate the noise and chemical solvents exposure among workers in the wooden furniture industry in Malaysia. Portable noise-level measurements showed that the rough-milling operations recorded the highest noise-level in the furniture factories. Personal dosimeter measurement results showed that 43% of the workers were exposed to noise-levels higher than the permissible limit, while audiometric tests revealed that 34.7% of the workers suffered from hearing handicap, hence strongly recommending the use of noise protection gadgets among workers. As for the chemical solvents, the study found that the current exposure levels for both chemical solvents and formaldehyde in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry were higher than the Permissible Exposure Levels (PEL). Hence, workers in the surface coating departments must be provided with masks with filters, to ensure their exposure to chemical solvents are minimized. This study also revealed that despite the existent of occupational health and safety regulations in Malaysia, its implementation and enforcement within the wooden furniture industry must be improved to ensure the workers safety and health

The Safety and Health of Workers in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: An Assessment of Noise and Chemical Solvents Exposure

This study was carried out to evaluate the noise and chemical solvents exposure among workers in the wooden furniture industry in Malaysia. Portable noise-level measurements showed that the rough-milling operations recorded the highest noise-level in the furniture factories. Personal dosimeter measurement results showed that 43% of the workers were exposed to noise-levels higher than the permissible limit, while audiometric tests revealed that 34.7% of the workers suffered from hearing handicap, hence strongly recommending the use of noise protection gadgets among workers. As for the chemical solvents, the study found that the current exposure levels for both chemical solvents and formaldehyde in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry were higher than the Permissible Exposure Levels (PEL). Hence, workers in the surface coating departments must be provided with masks with filters, to ensure their exposure to chemical solvents are minimized. This study also revealed that despite the existent of occupational health and safety regulations in Malaysia, its implementation and enforcement within the wooden furniture industry must be improved to ensure the workers safety and health

Static and fatigue strength of oil palm wood used in furniture

A study was undertaken to evaluate the edge-wise static and fatigue strengths of oil palm wood, as the material is being promoted for furniture applications. The static and fatigue tests were conducted using a 3-point bending test-rig. The fatigue test was carried out at selected stress levels that corresponded to specific percentages of the material's ultimate strength (Modulus of Rupture (MOR)). The results showed that Oil Palm Wood (OPW) had a much lower bending and ultimate strength compared to the other common furniture wood materials, due to its lower density. In terms of it’s the fatigue strength although oil palm wood showed lower fatigue resistance compared to the other common wood materials used in furniture. The result found that fatigue life of OPW amounted to over 1 million cycles when the stress level was 30% of the MOR for OPW, but decreased to 203,000 cycles for OPW at a stress level of 50%. On this account, the allowable design stresses for the OPW could be set at 40% of its MOR. Although, the study showed that OPW does not perform as well as other common wood materials used in furniture, with a larger safety factor, OPW can be successfully used as an alternative furniture material