Kota Kinabalu: Some 200 participants from various agencies in Sabah attended the seminar on Sg Rawog Conservation Area Scientific Expedition ver. 2.0, here Wednesday.
Officiated by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Frederick Kugan, the seminar was jointly organised by KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd and Sabah Forestry Department.
The seminar served as a platform to disseminate comparative and additional research findings from the expedition held in September 2023 and the first expedition in 2018.
A keynote presentation with 19 oral papers and 17 posters on Sg Rawog forest ecosystems, physical sciences, plant and wildlife diversity, and tourism potentials were presented during the one-day seminar.
The information compiled from the seminar will be used as a guide to further enhance the conservation area and will definitely contribute towards the future plan of this area.
This signifies the smart partnership between the state government through the Sabah Forestry Department and the private sector in sustainable forest management, working hand-in-hand with other agencies, as advocated by the Chief Minister of Sabah.
Biodiversity documentation and dissemination of information from the Sg Rawog Conservation Area is in line with the Heart of Borneo Initiative, which emphasizes on forest conservation and the establishment of wildlife connectivity.
Central to the Heart of Borneo Initiative is the State Government policy in conserving its natural ecosystems through protected areas.
For the terrestrial ecosystems in Sabah, to date, more than 27pc of the State’s land area (about two million hectares) have been gazetted as Totally Protected Areas (TPAs), and this figure represents the largest network of TPAs in the country.
Sg. Rawog is a conservation area covering 3,118ha along the Sungai Rawog valley, serving as a wildlife corridor connecting Deramakot Forest Reserve & IOI Sdn. Bhd.
It is located within the Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve in Sandakan, with a total area of 57,247ha.
The reserve which is managed by KTS Plantation since 1993 is now managed based on the principles of Sustainable Forest Management Licence Agreement (SFMLA) with the State Government.
The main goal is to ensure that the timber resources will be maintained on a sustainable yield basis, with a commitment to protecting the natural resources and biological diversity of the natural forest.
Also, this high standard of forest management practices is crucial to ensure that forest operations such as forest rehabilitation and timber harvesting is compatible with the diverse population of wildlife which reside in the reserve.
The seminar is the second biodiversity documentation of this conservation area after a period of five years.
Hence, the research findings will provide salient information to further enhance the conservation effort of KTS in this reserve.
