KUCHING: Six new national parks are in the planning to be gazetted by the state government, revealed Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg during a press conference at Sarawak Cultural Village yesterday.
Although he did not disclose where these six new national parks were going to be, currently there are at least 20 other National Parks across Sarawak.
“We will try to get about two thirds of our land mass still covered with green,” he added.
In order to achieve the gazettement of these six new national parks, he said, we have to continue planting more mangroves. He hopes this greening initiative will create awareness of the importance of the ecosystem among the young generation and society at large.
“We feel that we have to do this not only to educate our own people on the importance of the environment but also collaborating as well as sharing with society at large on importance of this environment,” Abang Johari said.
He also noted how much the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has snowballed over the last 17 years and created interest among Sarawakians and Malaysians in general, resulting in the growth of a few local bands and their improvement in terms of presentation and quality.
“We have sent our groups to New Zealand, Australia and Europe and with that exposure, there has been a lot of interaction among the musicians,” he said.
He also noted how social media Youtube had become a platform for local musicians to disseminate their music and also improve their music.
On the second year of the Borneo World Music Expo, designed as a platform to create networking between local and international musicians and music programmers, he hoped that by the third or fourth year, there would already be a certain policy direction between music producers as well as those in the business of music.
Promising young Sarawakian violinist Nisa Addina Taufik, 18, was also introduced during the press conference. Currently in the midst of promoting her debut album, Abang Johari said her musical education to the US would be sponsored by the government.