World Environment Day 2007

5 June 2007 - designated as the World Environment Day 2007 ("WED") by United Nations Environment Programme. The WED will be launched in Norway.

In conjunction with WED, Malaysia has organised 2 events:-

Sandakan
To commemorate World Environment Day 2007, the Rainforest Discovery Centre of Sabah Forestry Department will organise a 4 days student camp from the 2 - 5 June. There will be 36 students aged 16 - 18 and 6 teachers participating in the camp. The theme of the camp was World Environment Day Student Camp on Climate Change. The locations will be at a rain forest, mangrove forest and The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok. The main focus of the camp will be on ways in which human beings contribute towards climate change and what can be done to reduce this environmental crisis.

Village of Sukau
Kinabatangan Orang-Utan Conservation Project, Hutan, will mark World Environment Day 2007 celebration with the local communities of the Kinabatangan Floodplain, Sabah, Malaysia. The Kinabatangan floodplain in northern Borneo harbours a rich natural heritage including one of the largest orang-utan populations in Sabah. Over the past decades however, habitat degradation and escalating human-wildlife conflicts have increasingly threatened many rare species and is now also affecting the traditional way of life of the local community.

The Kinabatagan Orang-Utan Conservation Project (KOCP) is an initiative by the Kinabatangan community, the French NGO Hutan and the Sabah Wildlife Department. Over the past ten years, we have been working to involve the local people in the conservation-oriented management of the Kinabatangan wetlands.

For the first time, the KOCP will celebrate World Environment Day on 5 and 6 June with all the villages of the region. Villagers will visit exhibitions on the local natural heritage, its current conservation status and threats. Children will participate in games and competitions and see puppet shows and films. Visitors will be taken along educational jungles trails and will participate in the forest restoration effort by planting of native tree seedlings in degraded forest areas. The “Fishermen for Conservation” programme and community-based ecotourism initiatives will also be presented. The celebrations will be concluded by a competition of decorated river boats on the theme of “Kinabatangan wildlife and forest”.

In Malaysia, a home grown non-governmental organisation, Malaysia Nature Society, has been educating the public with various programmes and has earned international reputation for their efforts.
Tags: World Environment Day 2007, Environment, Nature, Malaysia Nature Society, Climate Change, Conservation, Sandakan, Village of Sukau, Sabah, French NGO Hutan, Kinabatangan, Natural Heritage, Forest Restoration, Wildlife