Act · 2013 Revised Edition · 4 parts
Forest Act
Forests and forest producePart I
Preliminary
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
s 1Citation
This Act may be cited as the Forest Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“cattle” includes elephants, buffaloes, horses, ponies, mules, asses, pigs, sheep and goats;
“classification mark” means a mark placed on timber to denote its origin or the agency by which it has been handled;
“convert”, in relation to forest produce, means to process or treat in any way other than —
to harvest, collect or remove the forest produce from the place where it is harvested or collected;
to buck, limb or debark when necessary for or incidental to the purpose of removal from any forest;
to fashion forest produce in any forest where specifically authorised by any rule made under this Act;
“conversion plant” means any plant, factory or premises, with or without structures or improvements, in or upon which forest produce is or may be converted;
“conveyance” includes ship, train, vehicle aircraft or any other means of transport by which persons or goods can be carried;
Forest 8
“Director” means the Director of Forestry appointed under section 3 and includes any other officer whom His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan may by public notification declare to be vested with all or any of the powers conferred on the Director of
Forestry by this Act;
“entry permit” means a permit issued under section 14C(2);
“forest offence” means an offence punishable under this Act or under any rules made under section 52;
“forest officer” means any person appointed under section 3 to be
Director of Forestry, Deputy Director of Forestry, Silviculturist,
Senior Forestry Officer, Forestry Officer, Assistant Forestry
Officer, Senior Forestry Assistant, Forestry Assistant, Forest
Ranger or Junior Forestry Assistant, or to discharge any function of a forest officer under this Act;
“forest produce” includes —
the following when found in or brought from a reserved forest: guano, peat, rock, sea-sand, river-sand, sea-shells, shell-sand and surface soil;
the following when found in or brought from a reserved forest or State land: trees and all parts or produce not hereinafter mentioned of trees; plants including climbers, creepers and grasses, and all parts or produce of such plants; silk, cocoons, honey and wax and edible birds’ nests; and
the following whether found in or brought from a reserved forest, State land, land reserved under the Land Code (Chapter 40)
or any previous land Enactment or alienated land: timber, firewood, charcoal, getah, getah taban leaves, wood oil, bark, extracts of bark, damar and atap;
“Fund” means the Forest Development Fund established under section 22M(1);
“guano” includes the excrement of birds and of bats;
Forest
“licence” means a licence issued under section 22B;
“licensee” means a person issued with a licence under this Act;
“Minister” means the Minister responsible for forestry matters;
“non-restricted forest” means any reserved forest or part thereof declared to be a non-restricted forest under section 14B(1);
“property mark” means a mark placed on timber to denote that, after all purchase money or royalties due to the Government have been paid, the person in whose name such mark is registered has or will have a right of property in the timber;
“reforestation plan” means a plan to establish tree crops or to renew trees over an area within a reserved forest or State land;
“rehabilitation programme” means a programme designed to silviculturally care, treat, develop and protect logged-over forest or any disturbed or damaged forests with the objective of restoring them back, approximately, to their original state, or to enable them to sustainably meet the end-product objectives for which they are managed for over time continuum in harmony with the maintenance of a well-balanced ecosystem;
“reserved forest” means every part of a forest declared to be a reserved forest under the provisions of section 13, or declared to be a reserved forest under the provisions of any other Act relating to forests, which shall not at the time being have ceased to be a reserved forest under section 22 or under the provisions of any such Act;
“restricted forest” means any reserved forest or part thereof declared or deemed to be a restricted forest under section 14B(1);
“river” includes stream, canal, creek and other channel, natural or artificial;
Forest 10
“take”, in relation to forest produce, includes every activity involved in —
the harvesting, collecting, tapping, mining, quarrying or removing, of any forest produce;
the injuring or damaging of forest produce; or
the grazing of cattle upon the forest produce;
“timber” includes trees, when they have fallen or been felled and all wood whether cut up or fashioned or hollowed out for any purpose or not;
“tree” includes root, stump, stem, branch, brushwood, palm, cane, rattan and creeper;
“use permit” means a use permit referred to in section 22C(1).
All words and expressions used in this Act which are defined in the Land Code (Chapter 40) shall be deemed to have the meanings attributed to them by that Code.
His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan may appoint a
Director of Forestry who shall be directly responsible to His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan for the administration of the forests of Brunei
Darussalam and shall have the general superintendence of all matters within the provisions of this Act, and such and so many Deputy Director of
Forestry, Silviculturists, Senior Forestry Officer, Forestry Officers, Assistant
Forestry Officers, Senior Forestry Assistants, Forestry Assistants, Junior
Forestry Assistants or Forest Rangers as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
Notwithstanding anything contained in this section His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan may delegate to the Director the power to appoint a Forest Ranger.
Forest
All officers appointed under this section shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code (Chapter 22).
The Director shall —
be responsible for the administration of the provisions of this Act;
cause to be prepared and implemented forest management plans in accordance with the principle of sustained yield;
cause to be prepared and implemented reforestation plans and rehabilitation programmes and programmes relating to recreational forest and national parks;
cause to be reviewed the plans and programmes prepared under paragraphs (b) and (c);
cause to be prepared an annual report on the activities of the
Department of Forestry during the preceding financial year and shall submit such report to the Minister;
cause to be prepared and submitted to the Minister of
Finance an annual budget in respect of the following financial year for the purposes of paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e); and
perform such other duties as the Minister may determine.
In subsection (1)(b), “forest management plan” means an operating plan prepared by the Director relating to silvicultural, economic or conservation activity or a programme for a particular reserved forest or part thereof to secure the orderly taking, renewal and conservation of trees in accordance with the principle of sustained yield.
The Director may delegate in writing, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed in the instrument of delegation, the exercise and
Forest 12
performance of any power or duty conferred or imposed on him under this
Act to any forest officer.
Any delegation under this section with respect to any power or duty shall not prevent the Director from himself exercising that power or performing that duty in any case where it appears to him expedient to do so.
Part II
Reserved Forests
Part III
Penalties and Procedure
Part IV