Despite extensive landscape changes in the past, including the introduction of agriculture to reverse the over-dependence on timber, some 60 per cent of Sabah still remains under forest cover, State Forestry Department Director Datuk Sam Mannan said. The rate of deforestation between 1970 and 2010 was about 0.5 per cent a year, with its height being between 1990 and 2000 during the oil palm cultivation boom, which unfortunately also saw a direct correlation between the number of Orang Utans being sent to the rehabilitation centre in Sepilok, he said.
"Fortunately, what is most important is the fact that we did not discard the forest reserve system that we inherited. If anything, we expanded it.
"About four million hectares of Sabah remain under forest reserves, parks and wildlife sanctuaries," he said when briefing the Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who visited the department's Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) in Sepilok, Saturday.
Mannan said despite "acts of random madness of the past," rainforests have managed to recover, with biological assets largely intact, and no record of any species going extinct so far.
"The closest to extinction is the Sabah Rhino which we are trying to save through captive breeding," he added.
He also said the RDC, launched in 2007, is developed to meet objective of creating awareness on conservation and the environment as well as to promote ecotourism and recreation, education and research and development.
Mannan said the total development cost for the centre has exceeded RM25 million and approximately RM10 million spent under the 10th Malaysia Plan to further develop its facilities.
Source: Daily Express
YB Datuk Masidi Manjun at a dinner function honoring Mr. Minoru Kikuchi, Chief Consul of the Japanese Consulate in Sabah who has ended his tenure in Sabah and headed back to Japan. The dinner was held in Spice Island Restaurant, Sutera Harbour Resort on the 6th of March 2012.
YB Datuk Masidi Manjun dalam suatu majlis makan malam untuk meraikan En Minoru Kikuchi, Ketua Konsul Negara Jepun yang bertugas di Sabah. En Minoru Kikuchi akan menamatkan perkhidmatannya di Negeri Sabah dan kembali ke Jepun. Acara tersebut telah dijalankan di Restoren Spice Island, Sutera Harbour Resort pada 6 Mac 2012.
YB Datuk Masidi Manjun received a courtesy visit on March 6th, 2012 from the steering committee of the Kota Kinabalu Chef Competition and Food Exhibition at the minister's office. The event is expected to be held in June 2012.
YB Datuk Masidi Manjun menerima kunjungan hormat daripada jawatankuasa pelaksana Pertandingan Chef dan Pameran Makanan Kota Kinabalu pada 6 Mac 2012 bertempat di pejabat Menteri. Acara tersebut dijangkakan akan diadakan pada bulan Jun 2012.
