Malaysia is zooming fast down the industrial highway towards Vision 2020 in a way that has propelled us into the economic stratosphere well above most developing nations. While the radiance of the economic sun is still rising, and the population is buoyed up in this cup of plenty, dark clouds are slowly gathering in the horizon that may threaten the gains that we fought so hard for. This harbinger of a dawning apocalypse is very much the child of success that resides in man’s seeming inability to harmonise physical development with sustainable resource and intact environment. We have long celebrated our Ibu Pertiwi, the proverbial Mother Earth that has sustained our blood and soul, and the provenance of our cultural heritage and identity. But in our headlong pursuit for material progress we seemed to have forgotten her.

It is entirely possible and feasible to develop and modernise without chopping down every tree or without levelling every mound. And we don’t have to be enslaved to injudicious consumption and wanton pollution of the environment. We have with us about the greatest gift and natural heritage that God has bestowed on humanity - the great Dipterocarp Forest Formation, which is fast becoming the iconic apex ecosystem, the most complex and oldest continuously existing ecosystem on planet Earth. But we seemed to be oblivious to its greatness and significance, indeed its reflection on God’s Absolute Creativity. If ever, this is THE heritage we owe to all mankind and we as its custodian should be conscious of our sacred duty to conserve and manage it for posterity.

The conceptualisation and genesis of INTROP was based on this perception and premised on this belief and philosophy. INTROP is about discovering that vast reservoir of knowledge still hidden under our forest canopy, INTROP is about sustainable management of our forest and its myriad resources and potential wealth, INTROP is about innovating and producing green products to augment our massive wood-based industry, and INTROP is also about looking into ever avenue to safeguard our forest resources and extend globally our marketing reach and prowess. I hope that we have the strength and fortitude to remain on course on this long journey.