KUCHING: Bako National Park in Kuching and Bukit Lambir National Park in Miri have been nominated as ASEAN Heritage Park (AHP) sites, said Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
Awang Tengah, who is also the state Second Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development, said the nomination had been assessed by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).
“The results of the assessment are expected to be announced in September this year,” he said during the winding-up session at the State Legislative Assembly sitting today.
He added that the nomination of the two national parks followed the recognition of the Niah National Park cave complex in Miri as a World Archaeological Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) last year.
Meanwhile, Awang Tengah said the Sarawak government has gazetted 2.1 million hectares of total protection areas (TPA), comprising 874,000 hectares of land and 1.2 million hectares of marine waters.
“To strengthen forest conservation efforts, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the Sarawak Infectious Disease Centre (SIDC) for zoonotic disease studies, the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) for technical cooperation on biodiversity, and the Universiti Malaya for genetic research,“ he said.
