440,00 hectares of damaged forests restored

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has restored 440,000 hectares of forests which include damaged and fragmented forests.
State Forestry director Datuk Sam Mannan said the restoration was over 10 years and it has been successful due to political stability.
“The projects involved a lot of money and people. We are giving the natives projects on commercial contract basis to culture the seeds, raising seedlings, replanting and so on.
“So indirectly if two individuals from a household work in the projects, they are literally out of poverty.
Also in the process, we managed to create ‘Kampong Towkeys’, the entrepreneurs who get the contracts, all they need are ‘parangs’ and hardworking people,” he told a press conference in conjunction with the International Conference on HOB yesterday.
Sam said that with the total investment of RM50 million on restoration projects alone, HOB managed to contribute in poverty eradication.
He said HOB is about sustainable development which encompasses every aspect of sustainability such as social, economic, and environmental sides of it.
According to him, cooperation from other parties like agriculture industries is needed for the programme to work effectively.
He said under HOB, logging activities which caused the most damage are being regulated by increasing the standard of practice with Reduced Impact Logging Harvesting technique.
“This started from zero to being compulsory for all naturally managed licensed areas in Sabah.
“The practice is not only the highest in Malaysia but the highest in the tropical world, and I’m not exaggerating on that,” he added.
Sam also commended the good commitments given by other partner countries namely Brunei and Indonesia which share the Island of Borneo.
He said although HOB is considered Sabah’s brainchild, Brunei and Indonesia especially with its vast area are very vital partners.
“We’ve been doing restoration works for many years, so when HOB came along, it fits nicely with what we’re doing. We work really with our partners by having trilateral meetings every year, we visit and learn from each other.
“I’d like to note WWF’s roles in providing expertise, coordinating the programmes and many more, so WWF is part of this programme,” said Sam.
HOB is a declaration signed by Borneo’s three countries Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, in commitment to conserve and manage the biodiversity, ecosystems, and natural resources within the HOB in a sustainable way.
Present at the press conference was Deputy Chief Minister, cum Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai.