Kota Kinabalu: Six conservation and research organisations yesterday handed over a three-point call to action to the Sabah State Government, a move that saw both sides agreeing to work together to further map out the recommendations. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman who received the one-page document from leaders of the organisations at Sri Gaya, near here, was positive about points that were raised.
"I take note of your recommendations. Actually some of the steps have been taken or are in the process of implementations. We will study the rest in further detail to see their viability and we are also keen to work with you in seeing the recommendations through," Musa said.
He said yesterday's meeting was important to the State Government which shared the same objective with civil society in safeguarding Sabah's environment. The group that crafted the call are the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), HUTAN, Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), The Royal Society South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP) and WWF-Malaysia.
They recommended that all areas currently under assesment for total protection within the Yayasan Sabah area and in addition, the Kuamut Forest Reserve, be elevated to Class 1 Protection status as soon as possible. It is further recommending for Yayasan Sabah to conduct independently verifiable moves towards certification of all agricultural and forestry plantations within its area through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), respectively.
The third call is for the State to conduct an immediate review of all policies, practices and plans within the critical elephant ranges of Sabah, to be carried out by a dedicated Government-Industry-NGO-Research task force. Musa said all stakeholders should work together if Sabah's conservation and environmental protection efforts were to succed.
He said the initiatives by groups such as the six were important and have helped improved environmental standards in Sabah.
Read more in The Borneo Post (1 Mac 2013)
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