Sabah Wetland Conservation Society

The Likas Wetland Sanctuary Management committee is now called the Sabah Wetland Conservation Society when it obtained approval from the registrar Of Society. It now has the status of a non government organization,receiving only moral support but no financial support from the government. The Sabah branch of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has formed a working committee headed by Sabah State Secretary,Datuk K.Y. Mustafa to plant more mangrove trees along Sabah coast lines. The Sabah Wetland Conservation Society is expected to be a key player in the project to be funded under the 9th Malaysia Plan. One of its subsidiary, the Kota Kinabalu City Birds Sanctuary's manager- Puan Ainon Salam is elected to sit in the committee also. She told reporters that Sabah will not have any problem in getting enough seedlings for the project because it has abundance of mangrove trees--about 1/3 of Malaysia's mangrove trees are found in Sabah. Puan Ainon also disclosed that the KK City Birds Sanctuary will open earlier by 2 hours every day on the suggestion of Tengku Datuk Zainal Adlin,Chairman of Malaysia WWF. In the past the Birds Sanctuary had received complaints from visitors that there was no birds in the sanctuary to watch. One reason could be due to the center opened only at 8.00am,by then the birds have all left to hunt for food or hiding in the redwoods forest (mangrove) from the hot sun. She also pointed out that the birds sanctuary is different from a birds park,where all the birds are kept within the vicinity with nesting or cages. Whereas in the birds sanctuary the birds are free to come and go as they like,the number varies with the hours of the day also with the seasons of the year. They will fly here to seek shelter when the climate in their home countries is getting cold and will go home when the climate at home gets warmer. The number of birds here are growing due to the good works of students from various school and volunteers who helped to clean up the rivers and the surroundings. As the water becomes clean,more fishes will grow and attract more birds to come. Keep up the good work everyone!