International conference on forests and climate change in KK

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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Forestry Department, in partnership with WWF-Malaysia, will be hosting an international conference on “Forests and Climate Change: Decoding and Realising REDD-plus in the Heart of Borneo (HoB), With Specific Focus on Sabah”, at the Magellan Sutera, Sutera Harbour Resort here on November 8 and 9.

It will be launched on November 8 by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman.

The conference stems from the interest on the various developments on REDD-plus in the region through various international initiatives e.g. UNFCCC, UNFF, UNREDD, REDD-plus Partnership.

Unfortunately not much is known about the impact of these processes and their benefit at the local level in the Asia Pacific and in Malaysia.

The objective of the conference is to bring awareness and understanding of the REDD-plus development and its process from the international level to the region.

The conference will give an opportunity for stakeholders to examine the questions and objectives of REDD-plus, to share information, to establish partnerships and to propose recommendations to policy makers on moving REDD-plus in the country.

It will include a keynote presentation by Mr Donald Kanak, the chairman of Prudential Corporation Asia, who is also the advisor of WWF’s Global Forest Carbon Initiative; technical presentations and interactive discussions from speakers coming from all over the world i.e. Malaysia, Germany, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Brazil, USA, UK, Japan, Netherlands and Switzerland, and participation from the community, corporate and government participants to present their views and to contribute to viable solutions.

To date, up to 550 international and local participants from various sectors have confirmed their participation in the conference. They include former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and wife Tun Jeanne Abdullah.

In conjunction with the launching of the conference, there will be a signing ceremony of four memorandums of understanding between the Sabah Forestry Department and various partners that will be witnessed by the Chief Minister.