Page 415 - Westport Guide To Malaysia

THE GUIDE TO MALAYSIA 407
YBhg Datuk Ts. Dr. Mohd Nor Azman Hassan, Dep. Secretary General MOSTI (left centre), YAM Dato’ Seri Zain Al-‘Abidin Ibni Tuanku Muhriz, brand ambassador for Malaysia Pavilion (centre) and Ts. Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, CEO of the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre (MGTC, right) with young entrepreneurs at Malaysia’s Expo 2020 Dubai celebrate International Youth Day event, held at MGTC.
manages Sabah’s two best- known Conservation Areas for large mammals, Danum Valley and Meliau Basin. Sarawak has the largest number and largest land area of protected areas in Malaysia, a remarkable 47 National Parks, of which 13 are open to visitors. These include the world-famous Gunung Mulu with its extensive cave system and Niah, one of the birthplaces of modern human civilization in Southeast Asia. They are managed
by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, a corporatized statutory body under the Sarawak Government. Sarawak Forestry also manages 15 Nature Reserves (of which 8 are open to visitors) and 5 Wildlife Sanctuaries which are only open to bona fide scientific researchers. Together, these totally protected areas cover more than 867,000 hectares, or approximately 7% of Sarawak’s total land area.
Chini (Perak), Crocker Hills (Sabah) and Penang Hill (page 223).
The 15 National Parks
and Wildlife Reserves
in Peninsular Malaysia
are managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (DWNP/ PERHILITAN), a department under the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, and include the species-rich Taman Negara and Endau Rompin National Parks. A further 16 State Parks and Reserves in the peninsula are managed
by their respective state authorities.
Over in Borneo, the Governments of Sabah
and Sarawak have sole responsibility for their respective protected
areas. Sabah Parks, an independent statutory body, manages Sabah’s nine national parks and seven additional conservation areas and wildlife
sanctuaries. These include the renowned Kinabalu Park featuring Malaysia’s highest peak, and the Tun Mustapha Marine Park, at almost 900,000 hectares the largest multi-use marine protected area in Malaysia and one of the richest marine flora and fauna complexes in the world. A further 19 Forest Reserves are managed by the Sabah Forestry Department, while the Sabah Foundation
The Global Environment Centre’s mangrove planting activity with school students at Tanjung Surat, Johor. Mangroves are a critical component of the coastal ecosystem.