Datu Hamden Mohammad.
KUCHING (Dec 16): An announcement by several conservation groups today that the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) has endorsed the proposed ‘Upper Baram Forest Area’ is premature, said Sarawak Forest Department Datu Hamden Mohammad.
He told The Borneo Post that the implementation of the project hinged on whether it could secure donors, adding that the use of the name ‘Baram Peace Park’ by the groups was incorrect as the department had identified the area as the ‘Upper Baram Forest Area’ in line with its proposal to ITTO.
“We have only submitted the project entitled: ‘Management of Upper Baram Forest Area for conservation and sustainable development with involvement of local communities, Upper Baram, Sarawak’ for approval to ITTO but has yet to receive any funding.
“Approval by ITTO does not indicate commitment of funding because the fund for any project must be pledged by at least two donors from donor member countries. If there are no donors, then the Upper Baram Forest Area project is unlikely to be implemented,” he said.
He emphasised that the department and State Government had never used the name “Baram Peace Park” to refer to the project area.
The conservation groups Save Rivers, Keruan, the Bruno Manser Fund and The Borneo Project had said in a statement that the ITTO had officially approved the government’s proposal during the International Tropical Timber Council 56th session in November.
With the endorsement, the ITTO is looking for donor countries within ITTO to raise US$814,128 (RM3.29 million) for the project’s budget, the statement said.
The groups said that several communities in the Upper Baram Area had developed the idea of an Indigenous-led rainforest park in 2009, adding that the area holds some of the last intact forests of Sarawak and was of critical importance for the state’s biodiversity and cultural survival of local communities.
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