Sabah to decide on 2 more Ramsar sites in October
Sabah Wetlands Conservation Society president Datuk Zainie Abdul Aucasa had proposed that the Klias Peninsular and Lahad Datu be listed under the international wetlands conservation pact.
The documentation and site visits to prepare for the listing of Klias site, which spans about 1,000 acres, have been ongoing for two years.
The proposal to list the 200-acre Lahad Datu site has been submitted to the state government through the Natural Resources Office (NRO), in collaboration with POIC Lahad Datu and with full support from the Sabah Forestry Department.
"I think the state cabinet will make a final decision on that in October.
"The whole idea is, once they become Ramsar site, it is in a higher level of protection," Zainie said after the launch of a mangrove preservation programme by Hibiscus Petroleum at the Ramsar Wetlands Kota Kinabalu here.
Sabah has two Ramsar sites: the 78,803ha Lower Kinabatangan-Segama Wetlands, gazetted in 2008, and the 24ha Kota Kinabalu Wetland, recognised in 2016.
Commenting on the rising interest in the trade of mangrove-based carbon credits, Zainie said the trading is done at the Bursa Carbon Exchange.
To date, Sabah's Kuamut Rainforest is the first nature-based carbon project in Malaysia listed on the Exchange in July last year.
Zainie added that the state government had received related proposals in recent years, but their status remained unclear.
"But whatever it is, it is something very good for nature and for conservation of environment. Countries like us should wisely use of our mangroves.
"Meaning to say, we get money from these companies overseas, from these parties overseas, to do re-conservation or continue to do conservation for our site here.
"This ( process of trading mangrove-based carbon credits) will be under the state government. But I believe it will be spearheaded by the Sabah Forestry Department."
In April, the Sabah assembly passed the Forest (Amendment) Enactment 2025 to regulate the trade of the state's forest carbon credits.
In February, Universiti Malaysia Sabah forestry lecturer Associate Professor Dr Berhaman Ahmad had said that mangroves can sequester 10 times more carbon than dryland forests.
Meanwhile, Sabah Hibiscus Petroleum's Operated Asset head Edmund Ang congratulated 50 students from SM Tshung Tsin, SMK Likas, SMK Lok Yuk, SMK Taman Tun Fuad and SM Kian Kok for taking part in the half-day programme themed "Shaping Tomorrow's Mangrove Protectors Today."
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