WWF Plans to Protect Rainforests in Borneo Island
Posted on: Sunday, 17 July 2005, 09:00 CDT
WWF plans to protect rainforests in Borneo Island
KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) plans to launch a program to protect depleting rainforests on the Borneo Island, local press reported Sunday.
Called "The Heart of Borneo," the project aims to assist Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei in conserving 220,000 square kilometers of rainforests through a network of protected areas and sustainably-managed forests, the New Straits Times reported.
"If they (tropical forests) are fragmented into a patchwork of small areas, they rapidly suffer serious species loss. For forest conservation to have real success, very large blocks of forest must be sustainably managed," WWF Malaysia Executive Director Mikaail Kavanagh was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
The jungles of Borneo, the world's third largest island, is home to elephants, rhinos and other species such as the clouded leopards, sun bear and Borneo gibbons.
It is also home to over 200 bird species, 150 reptile and amphibian species and almost 100 mammals species.
WWF conceived the concept of the Heart of Borneo when discovering that government agencies in Brunei already had the same idea and were prepared to launch it, Kavanagh said.
Brunei hosted a workshop this April, with participants from government agencies of Indonesia, Malaysia and international organizations, Kavanagh said.
"The workshop's vision for the Heart of Borneo was that partnerships at all levels would ensure effective management and conservation of a network of protected areas, productive forests and other sustainable land-users. The idea is to sustain Borneo's magnificent heritage forever," he said.
WWF hoped that the three countries would at least agree in principle to the intention to conserve the rainforests in Borneo Island, Kavanagh said.
The program will be cosponsored by the Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and Conservation International.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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User Comments (2)
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Posted by jean on 02/04/2009, 04:43 Well Stanners, you obviously do not know where your **** hangs. |
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Posted by stanners on 02/04/2009, 04:41 this article is really rather rubbish |
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