Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) is one of the leading institutions in tropical forestry research in the world. Founded in 1929, the former Forest Research Institute became a fully-fledged statutory body governed by the Malaysian Forestry Research and Development Board (MFRDB) in 1985.
The Institute sits on a 545-ha site adjacent to the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve, 16 km northwest of Kuala Lumpur. It was gazetted as a ‘Natural Heritage Site’ on 10 February 2009 under the National Heritage Act 2005, and officially declared as a National Heritage on 10 May 2012.
FRIM’s research activities are organised under the following divisions:
- Forestry & Environment: To develop technologies and provide solutions to support and ensure the sustainable management of resources and ecosystem services of the natural, urban and recreational forests.
- Forestry Biotechnology: To develop technologies and products based on biodiversity resources for forests and herbal plantations for related industries through biotechnological approaches.
- Forest Products: To focus on the development of R, D and C towards improvement on durability, service life and utilisation of wood resources and ligno-cellulosic materials available for producing various high quality/value-added products.
- Forest Biodiversity: To provide and develop key scientific knowledge to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services in Malaysia for their wise management and sustainable utilisation.
- Natural Products: To support the national bio-economy agenda via the empowerment of natural product based industries through bioactive feedstock security.
- Economic & Strategic Analysis: To conduct socio-economic research and strategic analysis on forestry and environmental issues for national development.
The results of FRIM’s research are published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and also transferred to relevant government agencies involved in overseeing and managing forests, as well as forest-related industries.