Reforestation, rehabilitation project handed over to SFD
LAHAD DATU: The 10 years of reforestation and rehabilitation efforts undertaken by Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) and the state government to restore the Bukit Piton Forest Reserve came to a conclusion at the handing over of the project yesterday.
The project was first incepted by Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) in collaboration with Yayasan Sime Darby and Sime Darby Plantation Berhad in 2008 with a grant allocation of approximately RM25 million.
YSD Governing Council member Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said YSD entered into a partnership with SFD in this project after realising the dire need to rehabilitate the Bukit Piton Forest Reserve which is a vital habitat for about 250 to 300 Orangutans.
Jeffri said a decade ago, the sighting of Orangutans in Bukit Piton was rare due to heavy degradation by fires and logging.
“Aiming to form a suitable habitat for Orangutans, YSD entered into a partnership with SFD following an agreement between SFD and Sime Darby Plantation to reforest 5,400 hectares of Bukit Piton Forest Reserve.
“The project includes replanting efforts of tree species that serve as food sources for them,” he said, adding that the area is also a hotbed for other wildlife, 129 species of birds of which nine are endangered species.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony of the Reforestation and Rehabilitation at Bukit Piton Forest Reserve yesterday, Jeffri said the tree planting was completed in 2017 followed by a year of maintenance to ensure that the planted trees are in the best condition for growth.
He thanked the state government for its continuous support to YSD’s efforts in Sabah in which since 2009 YSD had committed a total of RM140 million including RM85 milliom in Sabah under their environment pillar to support the work in protecting and conserving ecosystem and susceptible species.
Chief Conservator of Forest Datuk Mashor Mohd Jaini said the project had recorded some key achievements such as reclassification of Bukit Piton from Clas II Commercial Forest to Class I Protection Forest in 2012 and now the forest reserve had acquired a Totally Protected Area (TPA) status.
This project, he said, had also succeeded in increasing the population of wildlife such as orangutans, sambar deer and wild boar, mouse deer and others.