Successful Conservation at Kuamut Rainforest Project
The Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project (KRCP) has yielded significant progress and successes. The massive conservation initiative is to protect and restore 83,381 hectares of tropical rainforests in the Tongod and Kinabatangan districts. The private-public project is a partnership among the Sabah Forestry Department, Yayasan Sabah, and Permian Malaysia.
Permain Malaysia is a subsidiary of Permian Global and it has funded the project. The project’s partners include state authorities; the scientific community; the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP); and the community-focused organisation, the PACOS Trust. The stakeholders met with Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor on 16 April 2024 at Menara Kinabalu, led by Stephen Rumsey, Chairman of Permian Global, who told the meeting that KRCP has completed its first Monitoring Report in March 2024.
The project has attained internationally recognised standards for its compliance on climate, community, and biodiversity progress and is now ready to generate its first tranche of Verified Carbon Units (VCU). Hajiji said that the KRCP is a testament of public and private sector success in conservation efforts including engagement with and empowering of local community. “Sabah is renowned for her biodiverse forests, and it is important that we preserve this. Let us build on the KRCP achievement, and continue to protect our forest,” he added.