Sabah achieves tremendous progress in environment conservation through heart of Borneo initiative

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said  Totally Protected Areas of Sabah increased to 1.3 million hectares or 18 per cent of the state’s land area, surpassing the International Union of Conservation for Nature’s (IUCN) target of 10 per cent for countries since it was launched in 2009.

“Also, connectivity of existing protected areas have improved, particularly the super corridor linking Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley within the greater Ulu Segama Malua, now dubbed as the Green Heart of Sabah, and we have further promoted Sustainable Forest Management (SFM).

“In addition, we have reinforced protection with the establishment of 14 Field Outposts and Wildlife Protection Units,” he said at the International Conference on the HoB’s Natural Capital, with this year’s theme ‘Unleashing the HoB’s natural capital for sustainable growth in Sabah’, here today.

Musa said the government also saw an increase in the participation of local communities within the HoB in forest restoration work with approximately 470,000 hectares restored so far.

He said expeditions to increase knowledge on biodiversity richness within protected areas had been carried out to understand conservation targets and management prescriptions better.

Another notable achievement is the expansion of the Environmental Education (EE) Programme involving schools statewide in which some 800 teachers and 600 children participated, he said.

“I hope the revised Sabah HoB Strategic Plan of Actions (SPA) will provide guidance for efforts to achieve overall goal.

“I also wish to state that participation of a wide range of stakeholders in this initiative signifies the recognition of the state government in adopting partnership programmes as part of our efforts to institutionalise the conservation and management of our forests,” he said.