(MY) WWF draws up plan to protect depleting rainforests

[Guest guest]

PETALING JAYA: An ambitious conservation project called the Heart of Borneo

covering Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei is in full swing to protect the island's

depleting rainforests, which is one of the last remaining green lungs in the

world.

 

Spearheaded by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), it aims to assist the three

nations in conserving 220,000sq kilometres of rainforests through a network of

protected areas and sustainably-managed forest.

 

The proposed area, which is approximately the size of peninsular Malaysia,

spans through more than 20 national parks and jungle reserves.

 

The jungles of Borneo, the world's third-largest island, is home to

orang-utans, elephants, rhinos, as well as lesser-known species such as the

clouded leopard, sun bear, banteng (wild ox) and Bornean gibbons.

 

It is also home to over 200 bird species, 150 reptile and amphibian species,

and almost 100 mammal species.

 

WWF, which is working with three international environmental NGOs (The Nature

Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and Conservation International)

conceived the Heart of Borneo concept & #147;because size matters. & #148;

 

Tropical rainforests, said WWF Malaysia executive director Datuk Mikaail

Kavanagh, were extremely vulnerable.

 

If they are fragmented into a patchwork of small areas, they rapidly suffer

serious species loss. For forest conservation to have real success, very large

blocks of forest must be sustainably managed,he said.

 

The concept took off when WWF discovered that government agencies in Brunei

already had the same idea and were prepared to launch it, said Kavanagh.

 

& #147;I think many people have had the idea of international cooperation to

save a large block of Borneo & #146;s rainforest. The difference now is that we

have people working on it to make this a reality, & #148; he added.

 

Brunei hosted a Heart of Borneo workshop in April, with participants from

government agencies of Indonesia and Malaysia, NGOs and other international

organisations.

 

There was agreement that Borneo's forests, water and biological diversity are

critical for the prosperity of the entire island, and that at the very heart of

Borneo there lies a uniquely rich, largely-forested landscape, & #148; Kavanagh

said.

 

The workshop's vision for the Heart of Borneo was that partnerships at all

levels would ensure effective management and conservation of a network of

protected areas, productive forests and other sustainable land-uses. The idea is

to sustain Borneo & #146;s magnificent heritage forever. & #148;

 

WWF hoped that Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei would at least agree in principle

the intention to conserve the Heart of Borneo, said Kavanagh.