Sabah gets kudos for protecting forests

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has earned kudos from being the best state in preserving and protecting the forests. Academy Science Malaysia (ASM) Senior Fellow, Tan Sri Salleh Mohd Noor said the Sabah government has done the right thing to protect the state’s forests.

“The continuous protection of the forests in Sabah shows the strong commitment given by the government.

“With its rich biodiversity, Sabah is a unique state that has set examples to others on the aspect of forest conservation and protection,” he said at a lecture on ‘Forestry in Global Climate Change’ at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here yesterday.

Salleh said that the strong cooperation among the parties concerned has seen the protection and conservation of Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley.

According to him, the environmental and global changes would occur if population increase and climate change with the loss of biodiversity along the way.

“When natural disaster strikes, destruction will occur and mostly it is the doing of mankind, as the environment has been compromised,” he said adding that it was mankind who will suffer in the end.

On a larger scale of environment destruction, many people would be displaced.

Other factors that will affect the environment is the rise in the use of fossil fuel unless it is changed, he said. In the end, mankind has to strike a balance between protecting and conserving the environment, and yet can go about in their daily activities.

Salleh said that it would be a constant challenge between human development and environment protection. “We must look into development that is needed and important without jeopardising the environment that will have long-lasting effects on the future generation,” he added.

The lecture was organised by the Science and Natural Resources Faculty and Human Resource, Arts and Heritage Faculty.

Source: New Sabah Times