Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Forestry Department assessed 291 tree species to be put on the “Red List of Sabah Endemic Trees”.
Based on the assessment, around 70 per cent (or 204) of the endemic tree species in Sabah are facing threats from climate change and severe weather conditions.
These unique trees were classified as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
On a positive note, around 66 per cent of the endemic tree species are considered to have stable populations.
These assessments were conducted based on the standards of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species website, covering the period from 2018 to 2022.
The assessments were the result of collaborative efforts between the Sabah Forestry Department, Botanical Garden Conservation International (BGCI), and the IUCN Species Survival Commission Global Tree Specialist Group (SSC GTSG).
The initiative is part of the broader global tree assessment, aiming to evaluate the conservation status of trees worldwide, of which about 80 per cent have already been assessed.
Following that, a publication of the red list was created.
It was launched by Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, during the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Heart of Borneo: An Ecosystem that Provides, at the Sabah International Convention Centre on Aug 23.
Also present was Sabah Chief Conservator of Forests Datuk Frederick Kugan.
At the State-level, the information from the assessment will contribute to long-term forest management strategies, plant species conservation programme.
It will also help in identifying habitats with high conservation value that require urgent conservation decisions aligned to Sabah’s sustainable development goals.
The tree species were assessed by researchers from the Sabah Forestry
Department, Dr Colin Maycock and student interns from Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Joan T. Pereira, Alviana Damit, Sandy Tsen Tze Lui, Reuben Nilus and John B. Sugau compiled the publication that was funded by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) under the Sabah’s Heart of Borneo project.
