Conservation efforts aim at leaving legacy

0

MIRI: The state’s conservation of biodiversity and sustainable forest management is an effort to leave a legacy for future generations, said acting permanent secretary of Planning and Resource Management Ministry Datu Len Talif Salleh.

He added that the state now was actually borrowing biodiversity resources from the future generation.

“We are not inheriting our present eco-system from our forefathers but we are actually renting it from our future generation,” Len said in his keynote address at the 10th Hornbill Workshop held at a leading hotel here yesterday.

He further said that the present efforts by the state government were the best way to conserve its natural resources which will benefit all stakeholders.

Len said among the stakeholders are the people, the government, the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media.

“If we play our part well then we will be able to achieve our target of making Sarawak the best managed state in the whole country. The fact is that even though our present strength of staff from both the Forest Department and the Sarawak Forestry Corporation is only about 1, 500, which is only about one tenth of the total staff for the whole of the Peninsular Malaysia,” he stressed, adding that there are also more than 10 related agencies looking after resources in the Peninsular Malaysia.

Len pointed out that Sarawak’s thrust of ecosystem approach are based on three important factors namely economic prosperity, social wellbeing and environmental sustainability.

He further explained that these three thrusts of preserving the ecosystem are based on the 12 guiding principles for the implementation of the ecosystem management approach.

Among others these principles’ emphasis was given to ensure evolutionary changes, dynamic ecology, and landscape ecology to continue unabated with human activities into the equation.

Meanwhile, SFC general manager Wilfred Landong said the main objective of the workshop was focused on ensuring sustainability of natural resources which ultimately centred on the conservation of the state’s biodiversity.

“The ultimate aim of the workshop is to chart new directions to enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management in Sarawak,” he added.

Some 150 participants from various government agencies, institutions of higher leaning and the media fraternity attended the three-day workshop.