SIBU: Sarawak Forestry Corporation hopes that the government will declare more land as Ramsar sites in the state.
Its chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton said in Sarawak, Kuching Wetland National Park was gazetted as a Ramsar site on Nov 8, 2005, and is the only Ramsar Convention Certified site in Sarawak, and the fifth in Malaysia.
“We hope that the government will declare more land as a Ramsar site in Sarawak as in the case of Bako and Kuala Baram Wetland,” he said in his welcoming speech during the World Wetlands Day 2020 at Bukit Lima Nature Reserve on Saturday.
Ramsar refers to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg officiated at the World Wetlands Day 2020 yesterday.
According to Zolkipli, Bukit Lima Nature Reserve is located in the centre of Sibu and opened to the public in July 2001 as a green lung and a nature-based recreational area.
He said the nature reserve was fully gazetted in Feb 2002 with an area of 219.22 hectares.
He hoped that in the future, some creative activities will be held here such as evening walk, to enable town folk get acquainted with the flora and fauna.
“Peat soil forests located in Bukit Lima are an important component of the wetland and also a habitat for many species of flora and fauna.
“It is now home to 58 species of birds such as ‘Burung Tiong Batu’, ‘Black Hornbill’, seven species of mammals, two species of mice, turtles, deer and many other protected animals,” he explained.
Bukit Lima, he said, is not only a recreational park but it has the potential to become a botanical park and a perfect place for bird-watching.
