TREKKING: Expedition leader and country co-ordinator David Osborne (front) with his students in this file photo having a good time in Bario Highland.
MIRI: The position of Sarawak, being part of the 12 mega biodiversity hotspots in the world, will be given a further boost when Curtin Sarawak, an Australian university here starts its programme on eco-tourism and research development.
Its incoming pro vice-chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski, said the programme will start next year in September.
“There is a great potential for research and students from around the world to come to Miri and benefit from a high class quality Australian University Education and for them to also experience the natural wonders of Malaysia, especially Miri, from the reefs to the high canopy of the jungle where the monkeys and hornbills live,” said Prof Mienczakowski when met by The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said ecotourism and research were selected as part of the efforts to develop Curtin Sarawak programmes and its identity as an internationally important university in Malaysia.
It was also to tap the potential of the rich diversity in Sarawak, in particular Miri, thus helping Sarawak achieve its desire to conserve and protect more than 8,000 plant species, 185 species of mammals and 533 species of birds.
“I think this is the most significant region in the world in terms of its natural resources and ecological importance. Ecotourism is one of the richest environments to study and for young people to explore in the world
And in between that, there are many areas in which people may wish to invest in their education from the needs of the indigenous people community health to the special botanic uniqueness of the jungles and bush lands of this region (around Sarawak),” he said.
Prof Mienczakowski was in Miri on Tuesday night joining counsellor (Education and Science) of the Australian High Commission, Louise MeSorley and Curtin Sarawak’s officials, to welcome the first 8 Curtin Perth students AsiaBound to Curtin Sarawak.
Prof Mienczakowski, as soon as he assumes his post in Curtin Sarawak in August this year, will start developing funding opportunities for the programme, and capacity to bring the studies into the admiration of the western world. Their target are students from Europe, America as well as Australia who have little or no experience of the tropical environment to study ecotourism and doing research with Curtin Sarawak.
There will also be research done on the botanical resources present in the rainforest as well as to consolidate the knowledge of botanical resources that the indigenous population have.
Prof Mienczakowski said his team will also work with students joining the AsiaBound for Miri programme on how to attract more students including from Australia to come to Miri.
Curtin Perth had started the programme recently and is developing it.
As for the AsiaBound Programme, supported by both the Malaysian and Australian governments, it will enable two to three programmes to be organised in a year.
Under the programmes, students will spend two weeks here and visit the local tribes, so as to internationalise students so that they understand the cultures of the local people as well as the overall development of the state.
It was also to correct the existing imbalance where there are only between 800 to 1,000 Australian students coming to Malaysia annually, compared to 25,000 Malaysian students in Australia.