Collaboration on Revising Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Plan

Pic: Insight Sabah

"Recognizing the uniqueness of the area, in 1981 Yayasan Sabah voluntarily designated Maliau Basin as a Conservation Area, for the purposes of research, education and training, along with Danum Valley Conservation Area further to the east." - Yayasan Sabah

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the “Revision of Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Plan” was signed between Yayasan Sabah and Nature, Ecology & People Consult (NEPCon) of Denmark, recently.

The MoU aims to examine and update the Maliau Basin Conservation Area Strategic Management Plan for year 2014 - 2023.

The MoU shows the interest and dedication in ensuring the protection and conservation of Sabah’s natural heritage.

NEPCon was one of the consulting firms appointed under the four-year collaborative project (1999-2002) between Yayasan Sabah and DANCED (Danish Cooperation for Environment & Development)/DANIDA (Danish International Development Assistance) to provide technical assistance.

NEPCon is in the effort to promote sustainable forest and nature management and use by working towards to encourage the use of natural resources worldwide in sustainable ways.

Through this joint-project, they have formulated the first Strategic Management Plan for Maliau Basin Conservation Area 2003-2012.

The completion of the Maliau Basin Studies Centre and related infrastructures and facilities is one of the success that has been achieved besides seeing a lot of developments and changes in the Maliau Basin Conservation Area.

NEPCon has also been successful in securing funding from Aage V Foundation, Denmark amounting to EURO294,875 (RM1.2 million)

With the success of the first Strategic Management Plan for Maliau Basin, NEPCon has been invited once again to examine and update the Management Plan for year 2014-2023.

In the signing ceremony, Yayasan Sabah was represented by Datuk Peter Pang En Yin while NEPCon was represented by its director Peter Feilberg, and witnessed by Tourism, Culture & Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun.  

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Yayasan, Forestry identifying future forest protection areas

Kota Kinabalu: Yayasan Sabah and the Forestry Department will continue to identify "new" areas for legislative protection against future logging, alienation or development, in addition to those already gazetted. 

This is part of the intergenerational contract that both organistions adhere to. 

Yayasan Sabah (YS), to date, has about one million hectares under its management (excluding alienated lands) mainly under Forest Reserves. 

As of today, the totally protected areas (TPAS) within its management area cover over 420,000 hectares or 40 per cent of its concession. 

These include the crown jewels such as Imbak Canyon, Danum Valley and Maliau Basin. For added security, the State Government has also gazetted approximately 300,000ha of "Buffer Zone Forests" in the last six months, near or surrounding the three-core conservation zones. 

All in all, nearly 600,000ha of the existing and past management area, are under TPAs. 

They include both pristine and logged-over forests of high biological diversity, which arguably are the richest eco-zones on the entire island of Borneo. 

It is also apt to note that Yayasan Sabah, had in the recent past, handed back vast tracts of lowland forests to the State Government for wildlife conservation such as Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Mount Hatton Forest Reserve of 120,000ha and Kulamba Wildlife Reserve of 21,000ha, Environmental Protection such as Gunung Tinkar Forest Reserve of 10,150ha, Nurod-Urod (1,700ha) and Silabukan Forest Reserve (11,000ha) and the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified Tangkulap Forest Reserve (27,258ha) in the upper Kinabatangan. 

Not only are these areas protected by legislation, they are also managed on the ground through a wide stakeholder network involving the NGOs, environmental philanthropists and research organisations, to name a few. 

"We are of the opinion that Yayasan Sabah is the leading concessionaire in the country in the establishment of totally protected areas, within its jurisdiction and in varied conservation endeavours," it said. 

The Forestry Department also expressed its gratitude to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and his Cabinet colleagues for providing the much-needed leadership that has allowed the "TPA" policy to progress further. 

Source: Daily Express

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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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