Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

Kota Kinabalu: A delegation from The People’s Government of Changsha City, Hunan Province, planted a few mangrove saplings along the Darau River, here, as a sign of support towards City Hall’s (DBKK) efforts in conserving the mangrove swamp forest.

Led by Deputy Secretary General of the Changsha Municipal People’s Government, Lu Xingying, one of their destinations in Kota Kinabalu is the Darau Wetland Eco Tourism, which is one of the homestays registered under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) Malaysia.

This tourism centre, which is managed under the guidance of DBKK through the Community-Based Tourism Development Initiative Programme (Impak), was launched on Sept 11.

It is an initiative of the Kampung Darau, Manggatal, community to preserve the forest mangrove swamp in the area. 

Forest mangrove swamps are found along the Darau River, spanning 7km from Darau Wetland Eco Tourism Jetty to the city centre. It is the only mangrove swamp area that still exists in the city centre.

On May 11, DBKK inaugurated the “LA21 Programme: Planting 2,000 Mangrove Trees Along the Darau River” which is a Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development towards the 21st century under the Local Authority. A total of 2,000 mangrove trees were successfully planted through the programme.

The delegation was here on a three-day visit.

Among the places they visited included the DBKK building, All Saints Secondary School, Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Mosque, Kota Kinabalu City Mosque and Mari-Mari Cultural Village.

The delegation had also paid a courtesy visit to Mayor Dato’ Sri Dr Sabin Samitah on their final day.

Through the courtesy visit, DBKK expressed its commitment in empowering bilateral cooperation between Kota Kinabalu and the City of Changsha through the proposal of a “Friendship City”.