Sabah looks forward to stronger cooperation with HoB partners

 KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is looking forward to building stronger cooperation with its partners in the Heart of Borneo (HoB) programme, an agreement signed in 2007 by the three countries in Borneo to protect a 220,000 sq. km. swathe of forest on the island.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the government was committed to continuing in the governance of best practices in forest management and conservation.

“I am pleased to note that the HoB initiative has fostered good ties among various government agencies and partners such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia, Sime Darby Bhd, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, HSBC, New Forests Asia (Singapore) Pte Ltd and non-government organisation Land Environment Animal People (LEAP), just to name a few.

“The key focus in driving sustainability is restoration and rebuilding of the productive capacity of forests, rationalising forest landuse from the ecological and social perspectives, and further developing as well as capitalising ecosystem services provided by the forest and its biodiversity in search of sustainable financing,” he said when opening the International Conference on the HoB Initiative here yesterday.

His speech was read by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai. Also present were former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his wife Tun Jeanne Abdullah, who is also chairwoman of Lanskap Malaysia.

Musa said much had been achieved in Sabah since the inception of the initiative in 2007.

He said under the Ninth and 10th Malaysia Plans, the Sabah Forestry Department received funds through the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to carry out biodiversity documentation on various selected forest reserves and social baseline studies of nearby communities.

“To date, 17 forest reserves have been surveyed and results incorporated into the preparation of forest management plans that contribute significantly to best practices in forest management.

Source: Bernama

Read More

Plantations, floodings reduce elephant habitat

 KOTA KINABALU: The forests inhabited by the elephants in the Kinabatangan are shrinking because they are converted for agriculture such as palm oil plantations.

A recently published study in the scientific journal Public Library of Science One (PLoS 1) looked closely at this situation, using a modeling approach to determine the size of habitat actually available to the elephants in the Kinabatangan.

This study was carried out by the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), Cardiff University and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), the NGO HUTAN and Antioch University New England (USA).

Dr Marc Ancrenaz, co-director of the NGO HUTAN and one of the leading authors of the study said: "Although more than 45,000 ha of forests were protected in Lower Kinabatangan, our analysis shows that only 19,000 ha are being used by the elephants. These elephants use the protected and unprotected riverine habitat up and down the Lower Kinabatangan between Batu Puteh and Abai. Furthermore, during flooding events, only 6,500 ha of forest are accessible to the elephants."

"This study clearly shows that elephants do not have much choice but to find refuge in the palm oil estates surrounding their habitat, especially during the rainy season," said Dr Benoit Goossens, director of Danau Girang Field Centre and a co-author of the paper.

Goossens added they had been collecting satellite data of more than 10 individuals since 2008 and they confirmed that elephants were spending more time in the palm oil plantations than five years ago.

Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun asked for a moratorium on any new land development in the Kinabatangan floodplain during the closing remarks of the Sabah Orang-utan Conservation Dialogue held in Kota Kinabalu last week.

"Elephants are one of the most important tourism attractions in the State. This study shows that such a moratorium is not only needed to protect orang-utans but also to ensure the long-term survival of elephants in Kinabatangan.

"As previously identified by my department, we need to enlarge the network of protected forests in the Lower Kinabatangan by creating contiguous corridors of natural habitat along the river. The state government and partners also need to identify a way to allow elephants to travel across the Lahad Datu-Sandakan highway that blocks their migration route. Last but not least, elephants are fully protected by the laws of Sabah. I urge the palm oil industry and other land users to mitigate conflicts in ways that do not harm the animals," added Ambu.

Source: http://sabarahamalay.blogspot.com/2012/11/plantations-floodings-reduce-elephant.html

Read More

Micro-hydro and decentralized green energy goals set in Borneo

 

Participants from diverse backgrounds and groups marking on a map the creation of partnerships through identified projects at the end of the Southeast Asia Renewable Energy People’s Assembly (SEAREPA) at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sandakan, Sabah. Photo by: Suzanne Chong/LEAP.

The first ever meeting of the Southeast Asia Renewable Energy People’s Assembly (SEAREPA) ended with agreement on 12 future projects, including developing community micro-hydro power and pushing for new policies on decentralized renewable energy in the region. Held in Malaysian state of Sabah on the island, the meeting brought together 130 people from some 80 different groups.

"At this first SEAREPA, we drew diverse groups. We now have to ask ourselves where we wish to invest that positive energy," Gabriel S. Wynn, the coordinator of SEAREPA said in a press release.

Born from years of grassroots work to stop a coal-fired plant on Sabah's coastline, SEAREPA is a community-oriented renewable energy organization. When local and activists won the fight against the coal plant in early 2011, they wanted to bring what they learned with the wider Southeast Asian region.

The conference ended with goals to create an online network for journalism in the region on green energy, promote regional exchanges of renewable energy systems, build a youth alliance in the Mekong Delate, and build a network against the massive dam spree in Sarawak among other initiatives.

Wynn says the meeting has created "a renewable energy ecosystem" for the region to build on.

Hosted by a broad coalition of groups—including Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), TONIBUNG (Sabah-based Friends of Village Development), Green Empowerment and the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC)—a second SEAREPA is planned for next year either in Laos or the Philippines.

Source: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1104-hance-searepa-goals.html

Read More

Giving Putatan town a new look

 

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin wants Putatan District to be the cleanest place in Sabah. He made that known at the launching of the Putatan District Anti-Litter Campaign near the tamu ground in Putatan yesterday.  The Anti-Litter Campaign stresses good hygiene and a litter-free environment.

"Putatan is only a 10 minutes drive to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The district is the first place tourists see and what they see may form an impression of the whole state. If the district is dirty, people will think the whole of Sabah is dirty," he said.

Yahya who is also the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry said the district has to improve its cleanliness standard, as it is also a gateway for visitors from Brunei and Sarawak who come to Kota Kinabalu.

He said every one should be responsible and work together to find solution to address the litter problems in Putatan.

"There is no point for us to argue with the district council on the waste issue. We only know how to complain but what we really should do is to play our part to ensure  that our home, village and district are  free of litter," he said.

Yahya also urged shop owners to ensure the area outside their shops are kept clean all the time. He proposed that businesses in the district adopt the 'no plastic' concept.

Putatan District Officer Awang Abdul Ghani Pg Yusoff disclosed that in the past three months the Putatan District Council has compounded some 400 people for littering. The 'litterbugs' were fined between RM50 and RM500 per person for the offence.

"Everyday, we collect between 35 tonnes to 40 tonnes of wastes. This is a huge amount,” he said.

Abdul Ghani said the Putatan District itself has grown and its population is also increasing.

"There are now more than 80,000 people residing in over 50 housing areas and 22 villages including many government offices and business premises," he said.

He said a challenge that the district council faces is from the huge volume of wastes from people who live outside the Putatan rating area but use the council's garbage disposal facility.

"The district is also short of machinery and manpower. We only have seven waste trucks right now and a total of 56 workers handling the waste collection,” he said.

He said he did not say all this as excuses for the poor cleanliness in Putatan. The district council is carrying out  various anti-litter programmes and have installed three billboards promoting anti-littering.

"We have also provided 20 large waste bins in the hope that people will not throw rubbish indiscriminately. We have also introduced the ‘Tagal’ system in our management of the Petagas River to help increase the fish species and also to raise awareness of river cleanliness. We try hard  to stop people residing along the river bank from dumping waste into the river,” he said.

Source: Insight Sabah

Read More

Quote of the Day! #2

Read More