Tag - Environment

Penampang: Pesta Rakit or Bamboo Raft Festival will be an official district level festival this year in conjunction with Worlds Rivers Day on Sept 25 at Kg Mahandoi, said District Officer Luvita Koisun. Chairing the organising committee meeting, she said it would it would be opened by State Tourism Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun and participated by government departments with exhibitions of their services. This is the fifth year since it was started by NGOs such as Community-Led Environmental Awareness for Rivers (Clear) and community leaders at village level only. "Last year I was invited to open the Pesta Rakit at Kg Kuai Kandazon, and was very impressed. Hence, it must be continued with the involvement of everyone here. The Moyog river must be cared for since it is still the source of water supply for the water department intakes at Kasigui and Madsiang", she said. Luvita said this festival would be a catalyst for the revival of the river and be included in the tourism calendar since the minister had given a challenge to turn the river into a tourist attraction. There will be outside participation from JICA a Japanese NGO and the French workers for the submarine at Sepanggar. The events line up includes decorated raft competition with 12 expected participants, raft tug-of-war, raft paddling race, angling competition, casting net skill competition, children's colouring, releasing of fish fry and tree planting at the river bank.Security and safety for this public event will be provided by the Police, Bomba and Rela. If the river water is high and dangerous due bad weather, the Pesta will still continue with land based activities and exhibitions. Before the meeting ended, Luvita announced that the major cleanup of the river bank via gotong royong will be on Sept 18, while anti-dengue and Zika fogging will be done a few days before at the festival venue. On Sept 17, a workshop on River Environment Education Program will be held at a hall at Kg Babagon and participated by all community leaders in the district. Source: Daily Express

KOTA KINABALU: An international conservation initiative in Borneo is taking shape with the preservation of habitats for elephants being among the top priorities. WWF Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said among the priority areas of the Heart of Borneo (HOB) initiative was the setting aside of an elephant landscape stretching from south of Sabah to North Kalimantan. “Our work is to develop a comprehensive elephant conservation plan that includes setting aside wildlife corridors that link protected forests, conservation areas and riparian zones,” he said after the 10th Heart of Borneo (HoB) Trilateral Meeting – HoB Partners Dialogue in Brunei. “The areas in question also include important browsing grounds through forest management areas and plantations,” said Dionysius, the WWF Heart of Borneo programme chairman. He said the elephant landscape was among three of the six priority areas located along international borders and form a main part of the HoB Corridor Project Implementation. Another priority was the conservation of the landscape for the headwaters of key rivers in Sabah, Sarawak and North Kalimantan. The preservation of these headwaters would pave the way for well managed forests linking Brunei’s Sungai Ingei Conservation Forest and Ulu Temburong National Park; to Sarawak’s Gunung Mulu, Gunung Buda and Pulong Pau National Parks; and onwards to Sabah’s Crocker Range National Park as well as to North Kalimantan’s Kayan Mentarang National Park. The third priority area would connect Sarawak to West Kalimantan by incorporating orang utan conservation into sustainable development as the basis for connectivity. This transboundary project provides the orangutan connectivity for the Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in Sarawak with that of Betung Kerihun and Danau Sentarum National Parks in West Kalimantan. Earlier at the meeting, Dionysius said companies operating in the HoB area should be encouraged to support the initiative. “The key is to bring to the table issues of mutual concern and benefit to the governments and stakeholders. For corporations and businesses, you could consider environmental conservation as part of your corporate social responsibility programmes,” he said. “Donating or contributing will be for a good cause as protecting our natural capital is crucial to ensure survival of the human race in the long run,” Dionysius said. “Protecting the planet takes collective effort, and WWF calls everyone to play their part,” he said in noting that the current funding that WWF received for HOB was mainly from NGOs and thus limited the work that can be implemented. He said WWF plans to work on joint-project proposals with various government agencies for consideration by the HOB member countries to expand the scope of collaboration that enables government agencies to receive development funds and achieve greater conservation wins. “We hope that the HoB Technical committee would consider such joint-proposals and WWF could then identify development agencies and funding institutions around the world that could consider such proposals,” Dionysius said. He said the collaboration would be in the form of bilateral government-to-government technical cooperation projects. Source: The Star

Kota Kinabalu: A total of 130 fauna and flora researchers comprising personnel from several government departments and agencies, educational institutions and NGOs will converge in Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA) for the two-week Danum Valley Wildlife and Resources Survey beginning Aug 15.  The survey, organised by Yayasan Sabah Group, is spearheaded by the Sabah Wildlife Department and funded through the Danum Valley Management Committee (DVMC) which is responsible in overseeing the activities at DVCA. Among the institutions involved are the Sabah Forestry Department, University College Sabah Foundation, Sabah Parks, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Sabah Biodiversity Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Malaysia), Hutan KOCP, WWF-Malaysia, Sabah Environmental Trust, Johor National Parks, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, Rainforest Research Sdn Bhd and Institute for Development Studies (Sabah). According to Yayasan Sabah Director Datuk Sapawi Ahmad, information obtained from the survey will provide input for the mid-term review of the Danum Valley Strategic Management Plan 2010-2020. "The plan shall, among other things, evaluate the success of implementation of planned programmes and activities besides addressing any potential gaps and to consider the future direction of management of DVCA," he said. "Among other things, the survey aims to acquire latest information on the wildlife diversity such as mammals, primates, birds, reptiles, amphibians, flora and richness in DVCA; determine the presence of rare, threatened and endangered species; assess potential threats such as poaching, fire and encroachment; and prospects for ecotourism development. "The survey covers 11 locations within the perimeter of DVCA, each covering at least 3.5km radius. Each location will comprise nine participants or more," he said. Covering 43,800 hectares, DVCA is one of Sabah's last strongholds of undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest. "With the richness and abundance of its flora and fauna, DVCA is an ideal natural 'laboratory' for researchers in tropical forest ecology. "Among the inhabitants of DVCA are more than 125 species of mammals including 10 species of primates and the critically endangered Bornean Orang Utan," said Sapawi. "Other large mammals include the Bornean Pygmy Elephant, Banteng, Malayan Sun Bear, Clouded Leopard, Bay cat, Binturong and many species of deer. It is also home to the critically endangered Sumatran Rhinoceros. "Over 300 species of birds have been recorded including the Red-Crowned Barbet, seven species of Pitta, and all eight species of Hornbills found in Borneo," he added. According to him, the Southeast Asia Rainforest Research and Training Programme (SEARRP), between The Royal Society, United Kingdom and DVMC had generated over 340 studies by local and foreign students, and generated over 400 publications. "This makes Danum Valley one of the leading rainforest research centre in the tropics," he said. Source: Daily Express