KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Bernama) -- The Forestry Training Institute (Fortrain) needs to continue to strengthen training based on modern technology to ensure that trainees remain relevant and ready to face today's forestry challenges, said Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup.
He said the use of technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and drones needed to be strengthened in training to improve monitoring and enforcement capabilities in forest areas.
He said threats in forestry areas were now increasingly complex as poachers and illegal loggers used more sophisticated technology, hence rangers needed to be equipped with technological skills to deal with them.
"So, to ensure that our rangers were always able to deal with threats like this, they must also apply modern technology to be able to compete with increasingly modern threats," he told reporters after the Fortrain 100th Anniversary Celebration and the opening of the institution's dormitory building here today.
He said the use of AI also strengthened the collaboration between the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department (JPSM) and the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) in implementing forest monitoring through satellite technology without having to go to the field.
Arthur said Fortrain needs to continue to develop in line with technological advances since forest monitoring methods in 1926 were far different from today.
“However, technological sophistication is meaningless without the wisdom of the people who operate it. The combination of smart technology and the sharpness of human thinking is the true national defence.
“This synergy will produce forestry workers with high integrity, the courage to make the right decisions and always thinking about the future of the country,” he said.
At the ceremony, he also officiated two new Fortrain dormitory buildings approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) with an allocation of RM20.8 million.
The building, which was completed in February last year, provides 98 rooms that can accommodate 196 trainees at a time.
-- BERNAMA
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