29/01/2011 (Bernama) - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia has a good track record where it comes to sustainable development compared to other countries, despite negative perceptions of certain global quarters when it came to the country's palm oil activity practices.

He said that as a country, there was a natural need to use lands for development purposes but government policies ensured a balance in taking care of the people's interest and conserving forest aereas at the same time.

"We need to provide space to accommodate a better life for malaysians, but at the same time, areas developed for oil palm cultivation must be based on sustainable development. Besides, there are also areas where no developmt or logging can be done, such as the Maliau Basin and danum Valley as well as water catchment areas.

"If we were to benchmark against the performance of other countries, our track record is better than many of them... after they had destroyed their own forest resources, now they turn around and try to point the fingers at us but it is they who the real culprits," he told reporters after launching the Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC) AND safe (Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems) project at the Maliau Basin Conservation Area, here Saturday.

Najib said this when asked for his response to assumptions by certain global quarters especially in Europe that Malaysia was not doing enough on improving palm oil industry practices to promote sustainable development.

The Maliau Basin Studies (MBSC) is located at the Maliau Basin Conservation Area covering about 58,840 hectares, which is a Class I (Protection) Forest Reserve and managed by Yayasan Sabah.

About a three-and-a-half hours journey from Keningau or Tawau town, Maliau Basin is known as Sabah's Lost World and its name derives from its resemblance of a gigantic saucer-like basin with the rim hanging from 1,500 to 1,900m above sea level-making it uniquely impossible for human habitation and therefore, left unexplored.

MBSC, covering a total area, where its main fuction is to provide a venue and facility for researchers, participants of nature education and training courses.

The Centre is an output from a Malaysian-Danish government-to government cooperation in securing the conversation of Maliau Basin where infrastructure development is mostly funded by Yayasan Sabah while infrastructure development in mostly funded by Yayasan Sabah while Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED) provided technical assistance and funds for the architectural design of the Centre, a laboratory and consultancy for sourcing environmentally sustainable energy supply.

IKEA contributed funds for classrooms, hostel, environmental education interpretation displays, set up of nature trails, canopy walkways, observation towers, suspension bridges and satellite camps.

Other facalities at the Centre include an offie building block, conference room, nature gallery, dining hall and other accomodation like a resthouse, VIP chalet and researcher's annexe.

Najib during the launching, called on both the local and overseas private sectors to play a signficant role in sustaining and extending the country's conservation efforts.

Such funding has proved crucial for the MBSC itself, to become a premier facility for tropical rainforest research and scientific discovery in the region.

"The Centre will also contribute towards developing scientific information and a database for our growing biotechnology industry. By strenghtening the capability of our scientists, they can be on par with the global scientific community," said Najib.

He said Malaysia was one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries in the world and that protecting pritine areas was a critical global issue.

Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister cum Sabah Foundation board of trustees chair Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the government was committed to managing this iconic area as a gift to the world and future generations.

"Eventhought it is also known as the Lost World, we must ensure that our activities does not lead to its loss forever," he added.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had made a detour to greet 30 secondary students from the Sabah Nature Club at the Maliau Skybridge, a capony walk located next to the Belian Camp, about 800 metres from the Centre.

Najib also witnesssed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) inked between Sabah Foundation and six other institutions, namely the State government, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), IKEA, Kyoto University, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia and Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP).

The signing with the different local and international partners is to facilitate conservation, research and training programmes in Sabah's proected areas that are managed by Yayasan Sabah.

During the function, Sime Darby Foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam also presented a cheque to SAFE which was received by the Royal Society South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP) director, Dr Glen Reynolds.

sime Darby Foundation is contributing RM30 million for a period of 10 years to fund the SAFE Project, the largest experiment ever related to study of fragmented forest, specifically to study whether forest ecosystems changed by logging and oil palm plantation are stable enough to support biodiversity.