Sabah orchids under govt protection
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is not resting on its laurels when it comes to the conservation of the state’s endemic orchids and preventing them from being smuggled out.
Speaking after the Borneo International Orchid Show (BIOS) 2015 launch here yesterday, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said the state government had not only put certain orchid species under protection but had also long prohibited the exportation of several types of orchids.
“We have heard the (smuggling) rumours too and I am sure there may have been cases in the past. That’s why the authority is a bit more strict,” he said yesterday.
“Sabah Parks, for instance, would want to note down all the particulars of people who want to go into the jungle for the purpose of looking and appreciating the orchids such as at Taman Kinabalu because we don’t want this to be an opportunity for people to steal our orchids,” he added.
“I would like to believe that there is a hundred percent success but obviously with technology, no country in the world can assure that,” said Masidi.
Earlier in his speech, the minister said enforcement of strict rules and regulations had also been done due to over collecting in the past and the loss of forests to development.
“Native orchid species are not easy to grow, needs special shade conditions and cooler temperatures, and many wild species collected from the hill areas just die in the hot lowlands and in the cities. Hence all wild orchids are now protected under the Wildlife Act and permits are needed to enter forest reserves and protected areas,” he said.
“No export is allowed and strict regulations are now in force by the Wildlife Department and Sabah’s Biodiversity Centre to control the collection and sale of wild orchids. In this way the government is hoping to cut down any further loss of our beautiful and rare orchid species, and encourage artificial propagation of these species so that they can become available to the public,” he added.
According to Masidi, Sabah is home to 54 percent of Borneo Island’s orchids, of which 870 species can be found in a 120 sq km on Mount Kinabalu alone. The state also has the largest collection of wild orchids in the world that includes Guinness Book of Record’s most expensive orchid in the world, the Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid, which can only be found in Sabah.
Therefore, he urged the people to realize the importance of orchids as part of Sabah’s unique tourism products that can be fully used to attract more tourists and flower enthusiasts from around the globe, which currently include tourists from Europe, Japan and Taiwan.
The government is funding and supporting orchid conservation projects, which include critically endangered orchids at Kinabalu Park headquarters, Poring, Tawau Hills, Crocker Range Parks, Tenom’s Agricultural Park, Forest Department and Sepilok.
Recognized for naming the first new genus in over 20 years, Kipandi Park with the Sabah Wildlife Department conservation collection initiation is also home to over 600 species of orchids, 60 of which are new species and new records in Sabah.
Although Sabah only forms 10 percent of the Borneo Island, 1,300 species out of 1,660 to 1,700 species are found in the state’s forest.
Source: The Borneo Post
