Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government always gives support to non-government organisations (NGO) in carrying out activities to conserve the forest areas in the state.
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said that the effort would enable the sharing of expertise in planting local species of quality.
“I have informed the Sabah Foundation over the assistance we can give to enable them (NGO) to turn out expertise in terms of planting local species of tree (which can be harvested) in the short term,’’ he said.
He said this to reporters after receiving a courtesy call from former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and wife Tun Jeanne Abdullah at the Sabah State Administrative Centre here today.
Mohd Shafie said that the visit of the former fifth prime minister with his wife to Sabah was aimed at continuing the effort on the conservation of the forest in Sabah which was started when he was prime minister.
He said that the forest conservation effort by Jeanne in the interior in the state covered numerous species of trees.
‘’It is an effort and measure which must be carried out together,’’ he said.
Jeanne is the Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre Sdn Bhd (TRCRC) chairman, namely, an NGO which was entrusted to protect the Dipterocarp tree species in Sabah for reintroduction to its original habitats in future.
In November 2012, the Sabah government with TRCRC had signed an agreement to commence a co-operation effort, towards the sustainability of the forest in Sabah, for a period of 99 years. – Bernama