KOTA KINABALU: More than 120 international youths will help in the creation of Sabah’s first sun bear conservation centre in the east coast Sandakan district.
Over the next several months, youths from the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Britain and Malaysia will take turns in building the centre adjacent to the orang utan conservation centre in Sepilok, some 45km from Sandakan town.
Conservation effort: Artist’s impression of the sun bear house to be constructed by the youths from Malaysia and around the world.The volunteers from Raleigh International will construct fences and a boardwalk at the facility.
They will also be involved in other environmental and social projects all over Sabah starting this week.
Raleigh Borneo country programme manager Mac McCarthy said the youths would be joined by 29 volunteer managers from around the world in the upcoming 10A Expedition, which is among the largest in terms of participation.
Jungle inhabitant: One of the projects to help protect the sun bears like the one shown here.Other environment-related projects involving the venturers include building facilities for researchers at the pristine Imbak Canyon in southwest Sabah and a suspension bridge across Sungai Imbak.
McCarthy said another group of volunteers would be involved in a re-forestation project at Kampung Bawang Jamal in Kudat District.
“This is a new conservation programme involving the collection, cultivation and replanting of forest trees to reclaim barren areas,” he said.
He said that Raleigh International planned to build accommodation for future volunteers and a nursery to grow trees and house saplings from surrounding areas.
The social projects are the building of a kindergarten and installing three gravity water-feed systems.
Some volunteers will construct the kindergarten at Kampung Salit in Paitan district from ground up to provide generations of children with early literacy skills to enter the school system.
In Kampung Kopuron, other groups are set to install a water system to provide clean water straight from the tap.
This is the first time this system is being tried in Sabah and it is hoped that it will be a model for future projects.
The venturers will also build a new water system in Kampung Vunui Locos and a new pipe network supplying water to people of Kampung Lingka Bugan 2.
Meanwhile, three youth groups will spend a day or two carrying out underwater clean-ups under the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park conservation programme.
McCarthy said the projects reflected Raleigh International’s commitment towards making a positive difference for the environment and communities around the world.
source: The Star Online
date: February 10, 2010
story by: Ruben Sario
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