KOTA KINABALU: The Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks will hold its 50th golden jubilee anniversary celebration at the Airfield in Ranau from Nov 30 to Dec 2 this year.
The highlight of this event will be the launching ceremony by Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment on Dec 1, at 7pm, said Sabah Parks in a statement issued yesterday through Seri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sabah Tourism Board.
The Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks was established in 1964 when Mount Kinabalu and the surrounding areas covering 75,370 hectares were gazetted as the Kinabalu National Park under the National Parks Ordinance 1962.
This was followed by the gazetting of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (1974), Turtle Islands Park (1977), Pulau Tiga Park (1978), Tawau Hills Park (1979), Crocker Range Park (1984), Tun Sakaran Marine Park (2004) and Sipadan Island Park (2009).
To date, Sabah Parks has gazetted a total of eight parks throughout Sabah with a total area of 317,654 hectares.
The Board is a statutory body under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah.
The primary purpose of the establishment of Sabah Parks is to protect, conserve and maintain the natural state of the gazetted park, particularly those with unique features of high aesthetic value, so that the natural heritage will continue to be preserved for the benefit, knowledge, scientific research and recreation of present and future generations, Sabah Parks said in the statement.
Thus, the role of Sabah Parks is to turn the parks into a centre of excellence in the promotion of knowledge on tropical rainforest ecosystems as well as their flora and fauna, it said.
Sabah Parks aims to create awareness among the people so that they take pride in this priceless natural heritage.
Various exciting programmes have been drawn up for the three-day event including performances by local artists and kids’ activities.
Members of the public are invited to join the occasion and to be a part of Sabah Parks’ memorable event and five decades of great achievements.