Ensuring there's enough food and ecology is safe By Joniston Bangkuai
BIMP-EAGA’s new focus is on the environment
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman (left) at the launch of the international conference on ‘Sabah Heart of Borneo Green Economy and Development’ in Kota Kinabalu last year. BIMP-EAGA should link up with this initiative. Pic courtesy of Chief Minister’s Department
IT is heartening that the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) has adopted environment management as one of its strategic pillars for sub-regional cooperation.
It is in addition to the three existing core pillars of BIMP-EAGA covering food basket/food security, ecotourism and enhancing connectivity as the regional grouping's main economic drivers.
Considering the global issues on climate change, it is indeed a bold move by BIMP-EAGA, which was launched in 1994 primarily to close the development gap across and within the region as well as across the Asean member countries.
BIMP-EAGA covers the entire sultanate of Brunei; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya of Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao region and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.
The decision is significant, taking into account that BIMP-EAGA covers a land area of 1.6 million sq km, with an estimated population of more than 60 million.
The inclusion of the new strategic pillar was proposed by the Philippines and received the full support of the Malaysian, Indonesian and Brunei governments.
"The new environment pillar will significantly lay the foundation for food security and ecological integrity in the sub-region," Mindanao Development Authority chairperson Luwalhati Antonino said.
BIMP-EAGA's decision to focus on environment management will be a boon to the existing environment-related projects in the region such as the Heart of Borneo (HoB), Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) and the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Eco-Region (SSME).
Perhaps BIMP-EAGA should set up a coordinating link with the working groups involved in the implementation of the HoB, CTI and SSME initiatives to ensure a synchronised effort to achieve the desired objectives.
An ambitious conservation programme, the HoB was initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature to protect a 220,000km forested region on Borneo island.
The region provides habitat to 10 endemic species of primates, more than 350 birds, 150 reptiles and amphibians and 10,000 plants. From 2007 to 2010 a total of 123 new species have been recorded in the region.
Known as the "Amazon of the Seas", the CTI encompasses 5.7 million sq km of ocean waters in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.
Its resources are critical for the economic and food security of an estimated 120 million people, including those in BIMP-EAGA. It was reported that these resources are at immediate risk from a range of factors, including the impacts of climate change and unsustainable fishing methods.
Assessments of the CTI showed that up to 88 per cent of reefs are under threat from harmful human activities, resulting in major losses for the fishing and tourism industries.
The Philippines, as the prime mover of the new strategic pillar, is taking the lead by advancing the country's environmental priority programmes and projects for Mindanao through its watershed management programme called "Nurturing our Waters", which it intends to expand across the sub-region.
The flagship environmental undertaking pushes for the adoption of river basins and watersheds as key platforms for planning. It seeks to provide an enabling mechanism for achieving environmental integrity and sustainable economic development.
Antonino, who also serves as the Philippines signing minister for BIMP-EAGA, said her country's Working Group on Forestry and Environment had recently crafted a list of possible projects under the new strategic pillar.
Among the main projects being looked into is a carbon sequestration mechanism through massive tree planting in BIMP-EAGA areas. An exploratory study on establishing a carbon trading bank for BIMP-EAGA countries was also proposed.
While it is heartening to note the numerous proposed projects under the new strategic pillar, it remains to be seen if they are translated into reality.
It is of utmost importance for the BIMP-EAGA member countries to work in concert to ensure all planned initiatives towards attaining its objectives are implemented successfully.
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