KUCHING, March 21: International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) have signed agreements to initiate two projects aimed at improving the management of the Upper Baram Forest Area (UBFA) as means of improving biodiversity conservation and enhancing local socio-economic development.
According to a statement by FDS, the agreements were signed by its director, Datu Hamden Mohammad, and ITTO director Sheam Satkuru recently.
One of the projects costs USD1.39 million, of which ITTO — with support from the Government of Japan, the City of Basel (Switzerland), and Bruno Manser Fonds — is providing USD556,000, with the Malaysian government contributing the remainder in kind.
The second costs US479,500 and ITTO is contributing USD258,000 from the Emergency Supplementary Budget provided by the Government of Japan, and the Sarawak government will provide the remaining funds in kind.
The project aims to empower and train locals in community forest management, landscape restoration, and community-based ecotourism. In addition, it will provide infrastructure support as part of efforts to improve livelihoods and forest management.
“ITTO has been supporting sustainable forest management in Sarawak for several decades. We are proud to work with SFD and the many communities in the area in their efforts to enhance their collective approaches towards, amongst several matters, creating sustainable livelihood opportunities.
“This is a very exciting development for Sarawak, the participating communities, and the ITTO as it introduces a new approach towards sustainable forest management (SFM) and community forestry, with the support of non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” said Satkuru.
Meanwhile, Hamden said that the proposal arose from the communities themselves, and the ITTO funding has been crucial in getting it off the ground.
“The implementation of the UBFA project will complement the adjacent Pulong Tau National Park in conserving biodiversity and support the sustainable livelihoods of people in those communities,” said Hamden. — DayakDaily
