Donors respond generously to restore Malaysian jungles
KOTA KINABALU (NST) - Home to a third of orang utan in Sabah, the once-logged Ulu Segama and Malua commercial forest reserves are attracting international and local donors.
The donors are keen to do their part to restore degraded jungles and protect key wildlife habitats.
As pledged by the Sabah government almost two years ago, logging ceased at the end of last month at both reserves which measure 236,825ha.
The reserves, almost five times the size of Langkawi, are located within what the Sabah Forestry Department has called the “Ulu Segama-Malua (USM) project” which covers several other forest reserves, including the world-famous Danum Valley.
Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said that in the last couple of years, about RM25 million had been raised and pledged for the administrative development of the USM project, restoration of wildlife conservation zones, silviculture and wildlife surveys.
While the main funding sources are the Sabah government and Yayasan Sabah which have come in with RM12 million each, about RM1.2 million was raised by the Arcus Foundation, Alexander Abraham Foundation, the US embassy and the Regional Natural Heritage Programme of the Australian government.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) is supporting the development of the “High Conservation Value Forests” concept at the project sites while Hutan is helping with the conservation of orang utan.
It has been learnt that Sime Darby Berhad is the latest organisation to have expressed interest in playing a conservation role at USM by funding restoration of degraded forests for the protection of orang utan.
The company is expected to make an announcement when the Sabah Development Corridor blueprint is launched on Tuesday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
“About 35 per cent of Sabah’s orang utan population or some 4,500 are found in USM, making it one of the highest concentrations of orang utan in Borneo. It also has a population of Sumatran rhinos, Borneo Pygmy elephants, honey bears and tembadau or wild ox.”
Source: Borneo Bulletin http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/mon/jan28b3.htm
