Dr Jeffery with the Chief Conservator of Forests Datuk Frederick Kugan and the authors of the book.
KOTA KINABALU ((Friday Aug 25): A book ‘The Red List of Sabah Endemic Trees’ a compilation of the conservation status assessment of 291 is now available.
This compilation was derived from the initiative by the Sabah Forestry Department together with the Botanical Garden Conservation International (BGCI) and IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (GTSG), both are leading the Global Tree Assessment Initiative (GTA).
According to a statement from the State Forestry Depatment, Sabah endemic tree species have been validly published on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species website from 2018 up to 2022.
This publication was launched by the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Jeffrey Kitingan representing the Chief Minister, during the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Heart of Borneo: An Ecosystem that Provides, at the Sabah International Convention Centre, here, two days ago.
Sabah endemic tree species that have been validly published on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species website from 2018 up to 2022.
About 95 per cent of the 291 species were largely assessed by researchers from the Sabah Forestry Department, Dr Colin Maycock and student interns from Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Joan T Pereira, Alviana Damit, Sandy Tsen Tze Lui, Reuben Nilus and John B Sugau compiled this publication that was funded by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) under the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Project, Sabah.
About 204 species (70 per cent) of the endemic trees in Sabah are considered threatened which fall within the categories of Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU).
Assessments indicate that climate change and severe weather conditions will likely pose a major threat to these threatened species.
However, the majority of the endemic tree species (66 per cent) are considered stable in terms of their population trends.
Nonetheless, it is hoped that through this publication, great awareness will be raised on the current conservation status of Sabah’s endemic tree species, giving priority to the 39 Critically Endangered species.
This initiative has contributed to the Global Tree Assessment that aims to assess the world conservation status of trees, which about 80 per cent have been currently assessed.
At the state level, it will provide important information for the formulation of long-term forest management strategies, plant species conservation programs, and identification of critically high conservation value habitat that require urgent conservation decision on land use policy to support Sabah’s sustainable development goals.
