SETIU, 25 SEPTEMBER 2020 - An area of ​​about 1.4 ha of gelam forest area has been selected to conduct tree inventory which is one of the research project activities entitled ‘Study of the Total Economic Valuation of Gelam Forest in Setiu Wetlands, Terengganu’. The inventory areas carried out include Kampung Pengkalan Gelap, Kampung Beris Tokku and Lembah Bidong. The inventory team is led by Mr. Mohd. Hambali, Agriculture Officer, assisted by En. Hasnan Mat Isa, Assistant Forest Conservator and 3 Enumerators namely Dr. Johar, Amir and Zulkifli. This inventory activity has been divided into two groups, namely the tree inventory group and the soil sampling group.

Inventory activity begins by making a circle-shaped plot with 10 m radius. Plot set up is done by the tree inventory group by pulling a rope that has been measured 10 m long to the end of the rope from the center of the circle marked with spikes. Next, the end of the rope is marked with a ribbon on a tree or spike as a boundary mark of the plot. At least 8 boundary marks are made for each plot. The tree inventory group needs to do measurement work such as diameter at breast height (DBH) by using tape diameter and measuring tree height by using range finder. While the soil sampling group needs to take soil samples using auger and soil probe. 2 soil samples should be taken for each plot where each sample represents a different soil depth of 15 cm and 30 cm. Each soil sample was taken in five different areas at random within the plot. In addition, GPS marking is also taken for each plot for the purpose of mapping inventory area and tree inventory work and soil sampling is carried out simultaneously until completion. A total of 43 plots were developed as a sample of gelam forest inventory taking 4 consecutive days from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm daily.

The purpose of this inventory is to obtain data for ecosystem evaluation in the area of ​​gelam forest growth, stand volume calculation, biomass and carbon calculation. Since the area that has been inventoried is only on average grown by gelam trees, it must be unique and has its own importance where when other plants do not grow fertile, gelam trees will dominate.

Date of Input: 04/11/2020 | Updated: 05/11/2020 | m_hambali