Under the Gazette Notification Nos. 684/83 dated 22 July 1983 and 900/83 dated 17 November 1983 the Sabah Government had delineated approximately 61,480 ha of land in Bengkoka Peninsula in the District of Pitas for the purpose of reforestation Resettlement Scheme Reserve to Sabah Forestry Development Authority (SAFODA). On 25 June 1999 a sale and Purchase Agreement was signed by SAFODA with Kilang Papan Dasatu Sdn Bhd (KPD), later known as HBP. Under this agreement KPD was given the rights to harvest and sell logs from the 17,000 ha of established Acacia mangium plantations.
In 2000 these rights were transferred to Serisar Forest Plantation and Products Sdn Bhd (SFPP) which then started harvesting operations in the area. In 2003 SFPP signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) with SAFODA to form a JVA company on a 50/50 equity basis to plant and replant an area of 25,000 ha with timber species for a period ending 2060. Due to a change in company ownership in the same year SFPP was renamed Mangium Plantations Sdn Bhd (MPSB) whilst its listed mother company was renamed Mangium Industries Berhad (MIB). MIB started a chip mill at Telaga in 2004 which started production by the end of 2005.
Following the JVA signed in 2003 the joint venture company called Acacia Forest Industries Sdn Bhd (AFI) was formed on October 2004. The company objective was to carry out harvesting and replanting of existing planted Acacia areas, and to undertake new plantings to achieve an overall area of 25,000 ha within the lease period of 60 years.
In April 2008 the entire shareholding of MPSB and the wood chip mill company were acquired by Global Emerging Markets Forestry Investors (GEMFI). Both these assets were managed via a holding company Hijauan Asia Sdn Bhd (HA) based in Mentakab Pahang. Following this take over MPSB was renamed Hijauan Bengkoka Plantations Sdn Bhd (HBP).
In 2017 the HBP harvesting operations of the 1st rotation plantation forest came to an end with all future operations of HBP are discontinued. Harvesting of the 2nd rotation of the new plantings of Acacia mangium undertaken by AFI since 2004 commenced in 2017 under the management of AFI. Many of the old HPB management and control systems were retained by AFI.
Following successful Eucalyptus pellita progeny trials in 2013, full scale Silvicultural trials were implemented in 2015 under the supervision of the Borneo Forestry Cooperative. The results of this genetic improvement program have concluded that there should be a switch over to planting Eucalyptus spp. away from planting Acacia mangium. This change over of species commenced in 2015, and by 2016 all plantings were Eucalyptus pellita.