Adenan wants Sarawak Forestry to come up with conservation masterplan to better protect and conserve coastal waters

BINTULU, Nov 15, 2016 -Chief Minister  Adenan Satem has asked Sarawak Forestry Corporation to the take the lead and prepare a Sarawak Coastal Conservation Masterplan to better protect and conserve the coastal waters.

 Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah reading some of the information at the BEACON Interpretation Centre.

He said Sarawak has a very long coastline where many marine species thrives and from which our local fishermen make their livelihood.

"Because of this significance towards both economy and conservation, we therefore need to better protect our shores, or in some cases rehabilitate some of the degraded shorelines in the state," he said at the opening of the RM2 million BEACON Interpretation Centre at the Similajau National Park, about 30km from here, today.

"Conservation as everyone is aware of is costly. Therefore I would like to suggest that Petronas extend the BEACON (Biodiversity, Environmental and Conservation)  initiative to support the proposed project," he added.

 “Marine conservation is quite new in Sarawak. There is so much to explore and document in our waters,” he said in his text of speech read by Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas.

Adenan said projects like BEACON will help Sarawak to chart, study and create opportunities as well as linkages for conservation activities that can help to preserve the state's marine resources.

“We only can have effective conservation programmes if we have a complete documentation of our marine biodiversity resources,” he added.

He emphasised that Sarawak will go all out to protect and conserve its environment on land and sea from destruction and extinction.

“We have to protect nature because nature cannot protect itself. We must strive for sustainable development and leave a legacy that the future generation would be proud of,” he said.

The RM10 million BEACON project is a collaboration between Petronas subsidiary Malaysia LNG group of companies (MLNG) and Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd to protect the marine biodiversity at the SNP.

Adenan Satem also revealed that the project, which include the placement of 1,500 artificial reef balls within three nautical miles offshore the SNP, has shown positive result since it was implemented in 2013.

“I am glad to learn that the turtles are back to Similajau beaches after many years of absence. Thanks to the efforts of Petronas through MLNG, the BEACON Project has enticed the turtles to come back. I am happy to see that marine conservation is picking up momentum with Petronas and Sarawak Forestry jointly leading the way,” he said.

Meanwhile, MLNG Chief Executive Officer Pau Kiew Huai said Petronas is committed to work alongside the State Government to protect the environment in a holistic manner despite experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the prolonged global oil price.

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