Forestry fellowships for Sabahans

Kota Kinabalu: State Forestry Department Director Datuk Sam Mannan and the World Forestry Institute (WFI) based in Portland, Oregon endorsed a Notes of Cooperation understanding at a dinner hosted by the Forestry Department in Sandakan. The event on Sunday also saw four fully-funded fellowships being offered to Sabahans over the next four years by the institute.

Signing on behalf of WFI was the President of the Portland Metro Council, Tom Hughes. Also present at the dinner ceremony was the US Ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Yun, and the President of the Sandakan Municipal Council, Datuk James Wong.

The Ambassador was accompanying a delegation comprising 12 members from Oregon, on a one-week official visit to Sabah.

Last year, a Forestry Department officer, Robert Mijol, spent six months at the World Forestry Institute, as part of the Institute's fellowship programme.

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During his time there, Mijol studied various aspects of the Payment for Environmental Services, basing his work on experiences from the Pacific Northwest of the USA.

In his speech, Mannan mentioned that the State Government is studying a proposal on ways of implementing payment-for-environmental services in Sabah as a means of financing forest conservation.

This proposal is seen as timely, considering the increasing proportion of protected areas in the State that is not generating direct revenue to the Government.

Earlier in the day, the US delegation visited the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre, the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre and the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok.

At the Discovery Centre, Renee Meyers, Executive Director of the Forest Park Conservancy, a member of the US delegation gave a talk on Collaborative Conservation in an Urban Landscape. The talk was attended by some 60 people representing various local NGOs and Forestry staff.

In 2014, Kota Kinabalu initiated a sister-city relationship with the city of Portland, Oregon.

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This partnership is expected to be formalised soon, and has since expanded into a Sabah-Oregon collaboration, focusing largely on issues related to environmental conservation and renewable energy.

In 2014, Tourism, Culture, and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, led a delegation from Sabah to Portland under the auspices of this collaboration.

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