Borneo Rainforest Experts Needed
By Khairunnisa Ibrahim

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam needs to have the technical and management capacity to harvest its forest resources sustainably for various purposes, including pharmaceuticals, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) international advisers said yesterday.

Speaking to The Brunei Times after the signing of the Heart of Borneo. Initiative in Bali, Indonesia, Dr Mikaail Kavanagh Abdullah, said that Brunei's forests are in very good condition compared to several others in the region, but it needs more expertise to take advantage of its natural resources.

"Brunei needs more experts and more Bruneians trained to manage the natural resources in a sustainable manner," he said.

The WWF adviser added that harvesting resources not only needs to be done sustainably, some forest areas also need to be reserved for conservation.

The Heart of Borneo serves this purpose well, he continued, because the vision for the conservation project involves setting aside a number of protected areas where no extraction can take place, while others will be managed in a sustainable manner.

"The Heart of Borneo is not just about (preservation). There are a lot of people living close to the forests (included under the project), so it's about using and managing the forest resources sustainably," he emphasised, adding that such an effort would require close cooperation by all three governments of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. Dr Kavanagh added that the conservation project will also ensure that there will still be forest areas that have not been degraded or depleted where scientists can carry out their research.

"Forests are the world's best pharmaceutical factories. (Ii there are no forests left), there is nothing left to explore." -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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