EXPERTS DISCUSS KEY ISSUES TO MANAGE BELUM-TEMENGOR RAIN FOREST

BY TENGKU NOOR SHAMSIAH TENGKU ABDULLAH

Ipoh (Malaysia), Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Experts began roundtable discussions on
various key issues on the second day of a conference titled, "Towards an
Integrated Masterplan For Sustainable Management of the Belum-Temengor Tropical
Rainforest", here.

Policy and Governance Planning, Security and Enforcement, Sustainable
Eco-Tourism and Marketing, Self-Sustainability of the Belum-Temengor Tropical
Rain Forest, Research and Development and Management Structure are among key
topics slated for discussions at the conference Thursday.

The topics are crucial to ensure environmental sustainability of the
Belum-Temengor Tropical Rainforest, located in northern state of Perak.

Dr Dionysius S.K.Sharma, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for
World Wide Fund For Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) said: "There has been a long
interest in trying to get Belum-Temengor to be managed well."

He said this was to ensure all its biodiversity can be retained and
maintained not just for now but for the people that would come after us.

" The coalition is trying to ensure that Belum and Temengor is better
managed but the efforts seem futile due to financial constrains.

" We were all stuck but the vision of the former Prime Minister coupled with
the establishment of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), has
given us fresh hope," he told Bernama last night at a dinner held in conjunction
with the two-day conference.

Sharma said the NCIA, in its mandate to develop the northern parts of the
country, has definite targets and the Perak state government has its own
aspiration to ensure balanced development for the people.

" We really want to make sure the tigers continue to strive in the future
and the elephants are still there.

" This roundtable really expresses our concerns and vision besides allowing
us to give inputs from our perspective, he said.

Sharma added that it was a good start but all inputs must be put together
and an integrated master plan must be formulated encompassing the inputs.

However, he pointed out that this would only be a building block for the
future as it required financial resources to take off the ground.

He also said the state workshop, held earlier, coupled with NCIA's mandate
must all come culminate in the formulation of the plan and hopefully be included
in the Tenth Malaysia Plan for funding.

" I really think this is the grand scheme of how things should happen. I
think it will happen.

" We are all very inspired by NCIA coming up to say "we want to do this," he
added.
-- BERNAMA