He said countries like Japan and Korea were turning to green energy, including biomass, to replace petroleum, coal and nuclear energy as power sources.
"This is an opportunity for our timber industry to export wood pellets as biomass. As we continue to reduce log exports, we have to adjust to other high-value products like biomass," he said when handing over financial contributions from the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation to welfare, social and community associations here on Thursday .
He said other measures included mandatory forest management certification for long-term timber licence holders and using planted forests as a source of raw materials to reduce pressure on natural forests. "We will also continue to gazette new national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Our target is to have one million hectares of totally protected areas by 2025," he said.
On STIDC's financial contributions, Awang Tengah said this was meant to help non-governmental organisations to carry out their programmes in areas such as education, health and entrepreneurship.STIDC has been presenting financial contributions to NGOs annually since 1982.