CONNECTIVITY SCIENCE : HEART OF BORNEO WITH FOCUS ON SABAH
The Heart of Borneo (HoB) Initiative is a ‘three countries – one vision’ responsibility, which is to protect and conserve the rich biodiversity within this area. Incepted in 2007, the initiative is a voluntary transboundary cooperation aiming at conserving and managing the ecologically inter-connected highlands of Borneo and parts of the adjacent foothills and lowland rainforests, which straddle the borders of three ASEAN countries (Malaysian Sabah and Sarawak, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesian Kalimantan) covering an area of approximately 200,000 km2. In Sabah, the State Government, through the Sabah Forestry Department, has in fact designated about 39,000 km2 of the state’s landmass, mainly comprising the important inland and highland forest ecosystems, as part of HoB. The implementation of the HoB Initiative in Sabah is guided by the Sabah HoB Strategic Plans of Action, which were developed with the participation of various agencies involved in this Initiative. Various efforts have been undertaken by the Sabah Forestry Department, together with the other relevant government agencies and stakeholders to enhance connectivity science within and beyond the HoB landscapes, through the expansion of totally protected areas, implementation of sustainable forest management, forest protection, research, intensification of forest rehabilitation activities, awareness programmes and collaborations. Over the past 18 years, Sabah’s Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) have shown a significant positive change over the years, whereby the TPAs have increased from 12% in 2007 and will soon reach 30%. The results and contributions from this initiative are a form of connectivity science, instrumental in shaping effective conservation strategies, informing sustainable tourism, and guiding community-based initiatives that respect local needs, while contributing to long-term socio-economic development in the HoB region.
DR. ARTHUR Y.C. CHUNG
Sabah Forestry Department
Dr. Arthur Y.C. Chung earned his B.Sc. in Zoology and M.Sc. in Entomology from UKM in Bangi, Selangor and his D.Phil. in Tropical Forest Entomology at Oxford University, UK. For the past 31 years, Arthur has been dedicatedly working with the Sabah Forestry Department and currently holds the position of Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests (Research & Development), who also heads the Forest Research Centre, Sepilok. Throughout his career, he has authored numerous research papers, reports, and articles, and co-authored 13 books. In 2023, his accomplishments in tropical forest entomology were acknowledged with the Science and Technology Award from the Malaysia-Toray Science Foundation.