Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Sabah contributing fair share in tackling climate change

Kota Kinabalu: State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the State Government has contributed substantially in tackling the climate change issues in Sabah.

He said this is proven with activities it has conducted that are in line with the REDD-plus in sustainable forest biodiversity conservation, protection, restoration and rehabilitation.

Much of this, he said, was showcased in the two-day forest and climate change international conference and exhibition at Magellan Sutera.

"However, the work does not and must not stop there.

What transpired further from the conference should be put into practice.

"Besides, the awareness and dissemination of information, the realisation of implementing REDD-plus should be given priority," he said at the close of the conference.

He assured that the State Government would ensure that the close cooperation among all the relevant agencies would continue to prevail in achieving the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD-plus) that was formulated in the Bali Action Plan (COP13), in 2007.

He expressed delight with the outcome and recommendations from the conference.

He said the Government would take note of it for appropriate actions adding that he believed in a pragmatic approach that benefits the people of Sabah and at the same time, not disrupt the State's development agenda.

REDD-plus, he said, is relatively a new acronym to many but the State Forestry Department is taking proactive action and a leading role towards a better understanding of this mechanism and to study the potential of its implementation in Sabah.

He cited research carried out by Professor Kanehiro Kitayama of Kyoto University, Japan in Sabah for many years.

He said it highlighted that sustainable forest management in Deramakot Forest Reserve, with strict compliance to international principles and standards has proven to be a good mitigation option to alleviate the current rate of carbon emission and biodiversity loss in production forests, while maintaining sustainable timber production.

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