21/5/06 (The Star)  -  THE Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has set up a RM20m fund to enhance biodiversity conservation related to palm-oil production worldwide. This was revealed at a Symposium on Sustainable Resource Development for key stakeholders from across the UK and Europe held at the Institute of Directors in London last week.

The council’s chief executive officer Dr Yusof Basiron, in announcing the establishment of the Malaysian Palm Oil Conservation Fund (MPOCF), called upon scientists and researchers, conservationists and environmental experts, as well as NGOs interested to participate in enhancing biodiversity conservation related to palm-oil production worldwide to submit their ideas and proposals for funding.

The fund, a public sector and government-based initiative, is set up as a revolving facility. It will be kicked off with a contribution of RM10mil mainly from Malaysian palm-oil industry players, with the remainder from government agencies and the public at large. It will be operated on a “matching grant” basis, where the MPOC shall match all contributions with an equal sum, up to RM10mil, to maintain the targeted fund size of RM20mil.

Dr Yusof invited those who had come to listen to the views of several experts and engage in the ensuing dialogue to contact the MPOC in Kuala Lumpur and Brussels for further details on the fund.

“This fund will be utilised to support the council’s objective of enhancing conservation of wildlife and biodiversity to benefit not only the producers, but also the consumers, of Malaysian palm oil worldwide,” said Dr Yusof.

“We will promote study, help finance appropriate wildlife and biodiversity conservation activities, encourage plantations in sustainability, support NGOs in their efforts in conservation, biodiversity and sustainability and generally reaffirm our commitment to good agricultural practices,” said Dr Yusof, a chemical engineer and rubber technologist whose PhD in Applied Economics and Management Science was obtained from the University of Stirling, Scotland.

Malaysia, currently the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm-oil products, has long been an advocate of sustainable farming practices. Having spearheaded extensive research and development over several decades into Good Agricultural Practice, product development – biofuels and lignocellulosic fibres for wood-based products – and examining and promoting the beneficial health properties of edible palm oil, the MPOC has now begun to address issues related to misinformation.

The symposium was co-chaired by Prof Bernard Tinker, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Institute of Biology and the Linnean Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and a Member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Dr Yusof.

Notable speakers included Dr Yusof himself, Tim Stephenson, Trading and Finance Director of Aarhus-Karlshamns, Sam Mannan, Director of Forestry, Malaysia, and Prof. R. Hereward V. Corley, an international consultant to the palm-oil industry and UK member of the Editorial Board of the Cambridge journal Experimental Agriculture.