17Oct

Malaysia, Indonesia to discuss Sumatran Rhino Conservation

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia and Indonesia will hold meetings on efforts to save the Sumatran rhino. The Sabah Forestry Department said a Technical Experts Meeting would be held on Wednesday and Friday in Jakarta to provide technical recommendations on rhinoceros conservation to both governments. Malaysia, during the recently-concluded 11th Heart of Borneo (HoB) Trilateral Meeting in Tarakan, Indonesia, had proposed a high-level bilateral meeting on Sumatran rhino conservation to be held on Dec 4 and 5. In Malaysia, only two of the rhinos — a male and a female — are in captivity at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Tawau. A female Sumatran rhino died of skin cancer several months ago. Wildlife experts estimate that there were only about 20 Sumatran rhinos left in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra. The Sabah Wildlife Department had been keen to collaborate with its Indonesian counterparts on in-vitro fertilisation for the endangered species. Malaysia had tabled a proposal on the “Transboundary Conservation Project on Sumatran Rhinoceros” following the 9th HoB Trilateral Meeting. The “Visit the Heart of Borneo” campaign was launched in conjunction with the recent meeting. Natural Resources and Environment Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Seri Azimuddin Bahari, during the launch, said the campaign would promote HoB eco-tourism areas. “It is in line with the global aspiration, as declared by the United Nations General Assembly, that 2017 would be International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.” The Sabah and Sarawak Forestry Departments had identified top eco-tourism sites to promote. They were chosen based on how well they could further the HoB initiative. The states would engage further with stakeholders on how best to implement the campaign. The HoB Trilateral Meeting is held annually on a rotation basis among Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia for each state to present reports on conservation efforts. It is a platform to discuss collaboration under the HoB initiative. Source : New Straits Times
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12Oct

Malaysia’s largest marine park holds first island-based Marine Turtle Festival

KUDAT: The first island-based Marine Turtle Festival within largest marine park in Malaysia, Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) was recently organised by Tigabu Youth Club (Kelab Belia Tigabu – KBT) and WWF-Malaysia. TMP is located within Kudat, Pitas and Kota Marudu districts in northern Sabah. TMP is a global symbol of how we can collectively commit to serving nature and humanity, benefiting both the environment and local communities. The area has rich marine biodiversity and is home to elusive dugongs and endangered marine turtles as well as other regular visitors such as migratory whales. Diverse habitats ranging from mangroves, seagrass beds to coral reefs contribute to the rich marine biodiversity. This in turn provides food security for not only 85,000 inhabitants dependent upon it, but also the more than 120 million people in the Coral Triangle region. Tigabu Island hosted the festival this month to highlight turtle conservation work being done in the Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Island complex. The first island-based turtle hatchery was launched on Tigabu in TMP to raise awareness on turtle conservation and threats such as fish bombing and use of poisons like cyanide. Officiating at the launch, Banggi Island assemblyman Datuk Mijul Unaini praised KBT and youths for taking the initiative to conserve marine turtles. Meanwhile, KBT member Absan Saman said he wanted one of the world’s most endangered creatures to continue to thrive around Tigabu and TMP. Agreeing with this, KBT chairman Sulaiman Amir invited the community of Tigabu to work together to protect marine turtles for future generations. The Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Island complex includes the three named islands and Mantabuan Island. KBT identified these areas as turtle nesting sites back in April 2017, and supported recommendations for the TMP Management Plan. KBT works with Sabah Parks for the protection of these turtle nesting islands and their surroundings, and work to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, including bomb fishing. KBT takes on the role of collaborative manager to protect habitats in TMP under the WWF-Malaysia Marine Programme. WWF-Malaysia Kudat team leader Joannie Jomitol said support from Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and Sabah Parks together with WWF-Malaysia’s continuous engagement with the Tigabu community enable KBT members trained as Honorary Wildlife Wardens and Park Rangers to start land-based turtle conservation activities. “They patrol and monitor turtle nesting beaches at Tigabu-Tambulian-Kukuban Islands complex and set up a turtle hatchery on Tigabu Island.” From April to September 2017, some 15 turtle nests have been relocated from the islands to the hatchery; 14 of the nests have hatched and hatchlings were released. The two types of turtles nesting there are Green turtles (770 eggs) and Hawksbill turtles (315 eggs). Melvin Richard from SWD and park manager from Sabah Parks, Fazrullah Rizally Abdul Razak were touched to see the Tigabu community come together to protect and conserve turtles. Their effort was supported by the Village Development and Security Committee chairman Jasni Matoha who wanted to see marine turtles protected in the area.  The TMP is a vast area, and community assistance for enforcement agencies is needed to sustain the biodiversity and marine resources at the park. It is hoped that this festival and turtle conservation activities will spark awareness among the communities of TMP of the importance of taking care of the marine environment and natural resources around them. Source : Borneo Post
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05Oct

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
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29Sep

Botanists shed light on Borneo’s Saurauia

KOTA KINABALU: Little is known about the Saurauia of Borneo but a team of botanists from Sabah and Singapore spent time to document the flowering plant. Their hard work has been compiled into a book that would regale readers with images and facts of the 85 Saurauia species that can be found in Borneo. One of the key researchers, Tan Jiew Hoe, said 62 of them were newly discovered. “Before this, we had no idea that the Saurauia could be so rich in species. “We now realise that our biodiversity can be very rich. They are hiding in the rainforest,” he said at the book launch here on Wednesday. The Saurauia is a genus of small to medium-sized trees found in tropical and subtropical forests from South and South-East Asia to the southwest Pacific, and in some parts of tropical and subtropical America. There are an estimated 300 species of Saurauia worldwide. Tan, who is Singapore Gardening Society president and Gardens By the Bay board director, said much remains unknown about Borneo’s flora and fauna. “Any disturbance to the rainforest could be destructive as we may not know what was present in the first place,” he said. He said additional knowledge like those presented in the book could also help assess the effectiveness of conservation areas. “Not supporting such studies could contribute to persisting knowledge gaps and potential losses,” he said. The Saurauia of Borneo is published by the Natural History Publications (Borneo). Its managing director Datuk C.L. Chan commended the team for its efforts. Source: The Star
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27Sep

‘Finding balance between sustainability requires wisdom’

KOTA KINABALU: Biodiversity conservation is becoming increasingly an crucial issue amid growing concerns that conservation appears to conflict with economic growth and social development. Finding balance between the need for sustainability, according to JICA Malaysia, Migawa Tomoko, requires wisdom and closer attention to ensure priceless natural wonders and biodiversity wealth are preserved for future generations. “The extension of the Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) on Integrated Biodiversity Conservation underlines the commitment to provide the platform for experience sharing among developing nations on maintaining conservation strategies for biodiversity and ecosystems in an integrated and coordinated manner,” said the Japan International Cooperation Agency official. Migawa was speaking at the closing of the Sabah TCTCP 2017 at the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) yesterday. This year’s training programme benefitted 15 participants from different countries. They received their certificates presented by UMS Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Shahril Yusof who represented Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Kamarudin D. Mudin. “Sabah has become a training ground for integrated biodiversity and ecosystem management,” he said and expressed hope that participants can initiate their own conservation plans for their own countries from the knowledge, skills and experience they gained in Sabah. Extending his praise to participants for their success in completing their training, Dr Kamarudin said the Sabah TCTP secretariat will follow-up on their progress and implementation of plans of actions in their respective countries. “Sabah TCTP signifies the close cooperation between both governments of Malaysia and Japan aimed at sharing Sabah’s experience in the implementation of integrated biodiversity and ecosystem management, and we would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation for supporting the training programme expenses incurred,” he said in his speech read by Dr Shahril. The training programme for the 2nd programme of the 3rd cycle of the Sabah TCTP saw participants from six countries, Botswana, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Meanwhile, acting director of the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC) of UMS, Prof Dr Monica Suleiman said the success of the programme benefitted more than 100 government conservation officers from 17 countries. “For the last 16 years, we have produced highly qualified and experienced conservation officers from Sabah who are now training our fellow conservationists from other developing nations in Sabah TCTP,” she said, and extended her congratulations to participants who successfully completed their training this year. The first cycle was initiated in 2009 to 2011 followed by the second cycle in 2012 to 2015 where ITBC acts as the training institution with the Natural Resources Office of Sabah (NRO) as its partner and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a collaborating agency. The training programme has also been placed under the Malaysia Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP), under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among those who attended the closing ceremony included Hiroko Matsuo, Head of the Japan Consular Office in Kota Kinabalu. Source : New Sabah Times
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