Published on: Sunday, July 13, 2008 |
British High Commissioner to Malaysia Boyd McCleary said the three-year project, which started in October last year and known as the oxidant and particle photochemical processes above a South-East Asian tropical rainforest research' (OP3-Danum-08), studies the interactions in the rainforests atmosphere and the earth's climate.
"The aim of this project is to understand better how forests control the composition and chemistry of the atmosphere, what their impact is on climate and how this might change in the future," he said at the launch of the OP3-Danum-08 Project, Saturday.
The UK Government, through the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Consortium, is funding a £2.5 million (RM16million) scientific research project at Danum on the biosphere and its interactions with the atmosphere and the earth's climate.
The three-year project also involved the deployment of a specially fitted atmospheric science research aircraft and is known as Oxidant and Particle Photochemical Processes Above South-East Asian Tropical Rainforest (OP3-Danum-08).
It involves 23 principal investigators and co-principal investigators from eight UK institutions and partners from the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and its agency the Malaysian Meteorological Department, Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and its agency the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Yayasan Sabah, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Environment Protection Department (EPD) Sabah and Forest Research Department Sabah.
The eight UK universities include that of Lancester, Leeds, Leicester, East Anglia, Manchester, York, Cambridge and Edinburgh, together with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Led by Prof. Nick Hewitt of Lancaster University, the project aims to achieve a better understanding of how forests control the composition and chemistry of the atmosphere, what their impact is on climate and how any changes to the forest will influence the earth's climate.
The research will be carried out by more than 60 scientists from the UK, Malaysia, USA and other European countries. This partnership is also considered as a great boost to the existing UK-Malaysia collaboration in science.
The ground-based measurements are made at the Bukit Atur Global Atmospheric Watch station in Danum Valley, while the airborne observations are provided by the UK's Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe-146 aircraft.
This state-of-the-art atmospheric research aircraft is owned by BAe Systems and is contracted by NERC and the UK Met Office to support their weather and climate research programmes. The aircraft, operated by Directflight Ltd and maintained by Avalon Aero Ltd, will operate out of Kota Kinabalu International Airport until July 26.
The project's soft-launch, Saturday, was witnessed by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas, State Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Elron Angin at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport's Terminal Two VIP Lounge.
Saying Malaysia, in particular Sabah, is honoured to be selected as the site for this important study, Ongkili said the study is to understand how forests and the atmosphere interact in the South East Asian environment.
In particular, the role of the tropical rainforests and its impact on regional air quality, weather, climate, eco-system products and services.
"We are all aware that the humid tropics including its tropical rainforest ecosystem is among the most dynamic environments. However, it is also one of the most poorly understood. Hence the need for studies such as OP3-Danum is increasingly apparent," he said in his speech at the function.
He said the OP3-Danum project was indeed timely as climate change is a major global issue. Hence, reducing the uncertainty in the projection of what the future climate would be is crucial to the policymakers.
"Malaysia has also initiated a number of activities to support the monitoring, research and actions to ensure smooth long-term sustainable development of the country," he said.
"Not many are aware of the Malaysian Meteorological Department's Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Station with its 100-metre instrument observation tower at Bukit Atur near the field centre," he said.
He was also pleased to note the GAW station, which is operated by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD), had been selected as the research site for the OP3-Danum project because of its ideal location and modern infrastructure.
MMD, for many years, has been collecting background atmospheric chemistry data for national use. Their findings also contributed positively to climate change studies and global research.
As one of 23 such stations in the world, the GAW station in Danum Valley is being co-ordinated through the world meteorological organisation to make long-term comprehensive observations of the chemical composition and physical characteristics of the atmosphere.
"This is essential for us to predict future atmospheric states. It is also part of the country's commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Need on Systematic Observation of the Earth's Climate," Ongkili said.
Ongkili was also confident that the OP3-Danum project would not only continue to accumulate long-term data needed by the research community but result in technology transfer to Malaysia.
"The partnerships forged between the scientists should continue to flourish.
I am positive that the research activities in the Danum Valley could be expanded to study other ecologically fragile areas in this country," he said.
He said his Ministry would be happy to consider supporting such research, in view of the potential benefits related to understanding climate change and environmental conservation.
The OP3-Danum project could also serve as a catalyst to initiate research activities in other areas such as the study of impacts on the country's rich biodiversity, he said, adding the information on atmospheric chemistry will also be of great benefit to the MMD to improve its weather forecasting capabilities.
Hoping the local scientists would use the unique opportunity offered by the OP3-Danum project, Ongkili was also confident that the UK partners would show their willingness to share their expertise through collaboration with local scientists who also have much to share in terms of expertise and familiarity with the tropical systems.
The project had actually started on Oct 1, last year and supposed to last till Sept 30, 2010, with primary monitoring from April to July this year.
