Thursday, November 05, 2015

Heart of Borneo initiative can count on Malaysia government's support


KUCHING: The federal government is committed to help Sabah and Sarawak implement projects and activities under the Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative.

However, support from HoB partners from the private sector and government aid agencies from around the world is also very much needed to strengthen these forest and wildlife conservation projects, which cover Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the federal government allocated about RM34.46 million under the ninth and 10th Malaysia Plan (MP), and would continue to support HoB under the 11th MP.

“Regardless the amount that the government is able to commit to, it would never be enough to adequately implement a visionary plan such as that of the Heart of Borneo Corridor.

“As such, I call upon HoB partners from the private sector, government aid agencies from around the world to support this corridor project for a better conserved Heart of Borneo,” the Santubong MP said when closing the International HoB Corridor Project Implementation Workshop here yesterday.

His text-of-speech was read out by the ministry’s secretary-general Dato Sri Azizan Ahmad. Also present were World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia chief executive officer Dato Dr Dino Sharma and state Forestry Department director Sapuan Ahmad.

Wan Junaidi noted that proposals on the HoB Corridor Project Implementation – spanning three countries, stretching more than 2,000 miles, and covering four million hectares – was a visionary endeavour.

The project is expected to allow comprehensive conservation and sustainable development in the HoB area to be managed as a single connected landscape across the third largest island in the world.

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