Major conservation efforts
KOTA KINABALU: In conjunction with the launch of the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) International Conference on Bridging Heart of Borneo (HoB) Landscapes and Beyond through Healthy Watershed Corridors and Sabah’s Ramsar Conference here yesterday, the state government through the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD), has entered into six Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and a Letter of Intent (LoI) in efforts to institutionalize the conservation and management of natural ecosystems in Sabah.
Carnegie Institution of Washington USA entered a twoyear MoU with the department to carry out the CAO Campaign in 2016 to produce high resolution mapping of Sabah’s forests. The collaboration also aims to establish a framework for knowledge transfer and training in remote sensing methodologies and data use in providing information on carbon stocks, forest and landscape structure, forest condition and biodiversity in Sabah.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and WWF Malaysia are supporting the project and are committed to provide financial support as evidenced by the signing of the MoU which was represented by RSPO secretary general Datuk Darrel Webber and WWF Malaysia CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius SK Sharma.
Carnegie Institution of Washington USA was represented by Dr Gregory Asner of Carnegoe Airborne Observatory (CAO).
Meanwhile, Kinabatangan Corridor of Life Tourism Operators Association Sabah (KiTA), which was represented by its president, Alexander Yee, entered into an MoU with SFD for the establishment and operation of the K-COL Riparian Patrol Unit in Kinabatangan.
This is timely to protect and restore the riparian reserves of the Kinabatangan River and to halt further deterioration of the riparian.
SFD also renewed a five-year MoU with The Rhino and Forest Fund from Germany which was represented by its director, Robert Risch. The MoU was first signed in 2009 and through the renewal, both parties will continue the reforestation of parts of Tabin Wildlife Reserve and the establishment of forest and wildlife corridors between Tabin and neighboring forest lands which are important for wildlife conservation.
As part of an effort to support academia capacity building, SFD has entered into an LoI with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd, an FMU licensee who was represented by its managing director, Datuk Henry Lau.
Under the LoI, all parties shall work together within the next six months to develop tripartite, a MoU (SFD-UMS-KTS) for joint long-term research, training and academic partnerships in sustainable forest management within Segaliud-Lokan Forest Reserve (FMU19B), the licensed area.
The state government also gained some 460 acres of high conservation value forests at Lower Segama, with philanthropist Liew Pin Cheong donating his land for preservation to connect Tabin and Kulamba Wildlife Reserves in Lahad Datu.
In efforts to increase totally protected areas (TPAs) in Sabah, the department has entered an MoU with TSH Resources Berhad, an FMU licensee which was represented by its director, Datuk Kelvin Tan. Under this MoU, SFD will reclassify part of the licensed area (Meliau Range) of about 28,000 hectares into a Class 1 Protection Forest Reserve, and thereafter jointly manage the forest reserve under a management committee to be established for this purpose.
Tan told reporters later that TSH believed in exemplary leadership, adding: “We have faith in SFD and the state government. That is why we are prepared to surrender 30,000 hectares. Hopefully we can build this diversity for the future.
He disclosed that TSH is RSPO member and it will soon be validating two plantations in Indonesia while the rest will follow suit.
“We are hopeful that we will be fully fledged within the next 24 months,” he said and disclosed that TSH Resources was probably one of the very first Sabah-based companies to be RSPO certified.
SFD director Datuk Sam Mannan signed the MoUs and LoI on behalf of the state government, and the event was witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman who has always been supportive of the department’s move in adopting open and broad partnership programs at local and international levels for conservation purposes.