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By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Aug 20: Sarawak will have the largest system of protected areas in Malaysia under the categories of National Parks, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries, says Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said in the early 1990s, Sarawak had less than 15 protected areas, comprising ten national parks and three wildlife sanctuaries covering about 300,000 hectares (ha).
At that time, he said, there were no nature reserves or marine protected areas.
“In the last 25 years, the protected areas both on land and in our marine seascapes have grown to over 2.1 million ha, and the Sarawak government has intentions to create more, including to have over one million ha in terrestrial protected areas and over 1.6 million ha in our marine seascape.
“With this, Sarawak will have the largest system of protected areas in Malaysia, under the categories of National Parks, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries,” he said.
He said this in a speech text read by Deputy Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Sarawak, Datuk Len Talif Salleh, during the International Primatological Society – Malaysian Primatological Society (IPS-MPS) Joint Meeting 2023 opening ceremony held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here today.
Abang Johari also mentioned that Sarawak currently has 67 protected areas on land and in the seas, whereby its terrestrial protected areas are currently about 870,000 ha (more than 1000 times bigger than Singapore), whereas its marine parks are over 1.2 million ha.
“We aimed to have over 1 million ha of our land mass under Totally Protected Area (TPA).
“Our newest upcoming protected area will be Bukit Siol Nature Reserve in Kuching. This nature reserve will be home to the Oriental pied hornbills,” he added.
The IPS-MPS Joint Meeting 2023 saw the participation of 500 international delegates from 60 countries presenting, 500 oral and posters presentation, and six keynote speakers sharing their experiences across various themes.
Also present were IPS president Dr Jonah Ratsimbazafy; IPS-MPS Joint Meeting 2023 organising chairperson Dr Aini Hasanah Abd Mutalib; Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) deputy chief executive officer I, Abang Arabi Abang Aimran; and Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) acting general manager for Capacity and Digital Development, Dylan Redas Noel. — DayakDaily
