An effort was carried out to fully utilise fast-growing Acacia hybrid usage in the timber engineering field; however, the research data are still lacking. This paper aims to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties performance between untreated (control) and treated with 10% copper chrome arsenic of Acacia hybrid collected from Daikin Plantation Sdn. Bhd. Bintulu, Sarawak at air-dry condition at different age groups using the small clear method. Mechanical properties test refers to shear parallel to grain (tangential and radial directions), cleavage (tangential and radial directions), and tension parallel to grain test. Meanwhile, the physical properties test refers to moisture content (MC) and density test. After treatment, mechanical properties increase with an average of 13.67%; meanwhile, moisture content decreased with an average of 0.58% or 0.09% MC, and density slightly increased with an average of 0.44% or 0.002 g/cm3. Results indicate that 10-year-old Acacia hybrid exhibits the highest strength values in shear parallel to the grain, tension parallel to the grain, and cleavage, followed by 13-year-old and 7-year-old. Treated samples in the tangential direction performed better with consistent mean results than that of the untreated samples, while radial direction gave a high average strength increment when treated.

The planted forest area in Sarawak is the largest planted forest in Malaysia, which has been developed since 1997 to sustain the decline in the production of natural forests. As of December 2021, the total area of plantation forests reached 551,704 hectares (ha), dominated by fast-growing exotic species mainly Acacia species (55%), Falcataria moluccana (15%) and Eucalyptus (14%). The study showed Acacia was infected with red root rot disease of Ganoderma philippii and brown root rot of Phellinus noxius, Ceratocystis wilt disease caused by Ceratocystis. fimbriata sensu stricto (s.s) complex and pink disease caused by Erythricium salmonicolor, while F. moluccana was infected by gall disease namely Uromycladium falcatarium. Eucalyptus pellita diseases were infected namely by G. philippii red root rot disease, stem canker disease caused by Botryosphaeriaceae pathogen and bacterial wild disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. Ceratocystis wilt disease of Acacia mangium shows disease incidence (DI) accounted at 68% (serious) as compared with other diseases observed in this study. This will be the first baseline study that is conducted to observe and assess the diversity of the present, new and emerging pathogens and the damage they cause to exotic planted species of Sarawak.

Wildlife surveys were conducted in Usun Apau National Park (UANP), Sarawak from Oct 2017 to Oct 2020. This was the first attempt to document fauna diversity in Usun Apau National Park on the UANP plateau at 1200-1400 m a.s.l. On 17 September 2020, 10 AM, we observed an orangutan individual, Pongo pygmaeus, over a period of one minute at Libut Camp UANP (E: 114039’.546, N: 2052’36.44) at 1,020 m a.s.l. We also recorded four nests and orangutan vocalisation twice. This observation is important for Bornean orangutan conservation as this was the first orangutan sighting in UANP and well outside the species distribution range for in Sarawak.