KK Talk – Wed, 28th Nov – Conserving Imbak Canyon – A Yayasan-Petronas Partnership

YAYASAN SABAH manages three conservation areas namely Danum Valley, Maliau Basin & Imbak Canyon, all of which have been designated a Class I (Protection) FR by the Sabah State Government.

This presentation focuses on Imbak Canyon, and the Yayasan Sabah- Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) Imbak Canyon Conservation Partnership.

Imbak Canyon probably represents the last opportunity for the Sabah State Government to conserve an area that is pristine, rich in biodiversity and unique in terms of geological and geomorphologic attributes.   With a total area of about 30,000 hectares, Imbak Canyon Conservation Area encompasses two ridge-top Virgin Jungle Reserves, thus making a significant contribution to the coverage of protected area in Sabah.  It is the last remaining contiguous area of unlogged lowland dipterocarp forest left in Sabah – a truly priceless heritage for future generations.

Yayasan Sabah is most lucky to have the support of its collaborative partners, namely The Royal Society, United Kingdom in Danum Valley and Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED)/Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) in Maliau Basin, and Petronas, Malaysia’s own National Oil Company, in Imbak Canyon.  During the first phase of the Yayasan Sabah- Petronas Partnership, Petronas provides sponsorship amounting to RM6 million for development of Imbak Canyon Conservation Area. Programmes undertaken are environmental education, public awareness, community outreach, research, ethno-forestry study and documentation, capacity building, formulation of Imbak Canyon Management Plan and preliminary works towards the establishment of the Imbak Canyon Studies Centre.  By these, Yayasan Sabah and Petronas shall strive to position Imbak Canyon as the centre of learning for the indigenous community in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources; and for gene bank conservation and the exploration of pharmaceutical and biotechnological potentials.

Speaker: Rita Galid, Senior Manager (Biodiversity & Protected Areas) Conservation and Environmental Management Division,Yayasan Sabah Group

Date:    Wednesday, 28th November
Time:     7.30pm
Venue:    The Sabah Society Secretariat, No.46,  1st Floor  Block E,  Damai Plaza Phase 4,  Luyang
Tel:         088- 250 443

Source: http://thesabahsociety.com

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Imbak Canyon Wildlife Conservation Research Centre, next year says Waidi

Yayasan Sabah Conservation and Environmental Management Division Group Manager Waidi Sinun said the Imbak Canyon Wildlife Conservation will have its own research centre such as the ones in Danum Valley and Maliau Basin next year.

During the Forum of the Findings of Imbak Canyon 2012 Wildlife Survey, Sinun said the expedition is part of the request made by the stakeholders. Part of the survey includes to find out the access roads used by villagers to get to the area, to determine if their roads will be affected by the conservation and what kind of effect it would bring to the villagers. Yayasan Sabah will conduct a workshop to validate what the team had done in relation to the stakeholders' requests hence to see if the requests have been fully satisfied. They hope to launch it in Nov 2013, whilst Petronas will be the one who is making arrangements through its public awareness programme.

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