obmar
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US Allocates US$270,000 Aid To Malaysia For ConservationJuly 31, 2007 19:42 PM
US Allocates US$270,000 Aid To Malaysia For Conservation Projects
KUCHING, July 31 (Bernama) - The United States (US) is allocating financial aid of US$270,000 (RM950,000) to Malaysia to support environmental projects for the protection and sustainable development of forests in the region.
US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Claudia A. McMurray, said Tuesday the conservation projects included the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO)'s Transboundary Biodiversity Conservation at the Pulong Tau National Park in the Kelabit Highlands within the Miri and Limbang Divisions.
"Sarawak is doing well (in sustainable forest management) and has been successful in striking a balance between conservation of natural resources and economic productivity.
"The conservation efforts, which started many years ago show how committed Sarawak is in conserving its natural resources," she told reporters after presenting a cheque for US$ 100,000 (RM350,700) to Sarawak State Secretary Datuk Wilson Baya Dandot on behalf of the ITTO for the project in Pulong Tau National Park.
She said another two environmental projects in Sabah - Ulu-Segama Malua Forest Reserve project for the restoration of critical Orang Utan habitats and Sun Bear and Bearded Pig Research and Conservation project in Sepilok Forest Reserve - would receive monetary aid worth US$60,000 (RM210,000).
The United States Wildlife Services had also recently awarded the World Conservation Society (WCS), based in New York, a grant of USD110,000 (RM375, 000) for two conservation projects in the Peninsular, she said.
She said one of them was for the protection of tigers, which the WCS was working closely with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks on conservation education with rangers and rural communities living around tiger habitats.
"The WCS is also working on population surveys and distribution of elephants at the Endau Rompin National Park in Pahang for their conservation," she said.
The joint conservation efforts are in keeping with the announcement made in July last year by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the US would support projects for the protection and sustainable development of forests in the region when she came to Kuala Lumpur for the annual Regional Forum of the Asean Ministerial Meeting.
Asked on her meeting with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, McMurray said the US was seeking Malaysia's cooperation to combat environmental issues, including illegal logging in this region.
McMurray's bureau is responsible for a broad portfolio of global issues related to environmental protection and climate changes as well as conservation of the Earth's resources.
Besides Kuching, she will also visit Sandakan, Sepilok, Sukau and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah with Malaysian government officials to tour several national parks and centres, where the US supports research and conservation of wildlife and forests.
-- BERNAMA
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The Inquisitor
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That's a great thing, obmar. Is the money needed for such efforts and will it help in forest conservation??
I'm glad to see some of our money going to conservation efforts and flora and fauna preservation. Natural habitats around the world have long been overly exploited and destroyed by man's careless and wreckless use of them.
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obmar
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In the small ways it does...
But the challenges ahead are great.
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