KOTA KINABALU;People get the impression that Yayasan Sabah was one massive monster size licensed area (for logging) in the beginning of its genesis.
This is not true. It was only 3,300 square miles at birth – about 850,000 hectares.
Today, it is (the licensed area that is) only 250,000 hectares – so where is the ‘missing’ 600,000 hectares as alleged by the present state government?
It is locked-up, hopefully to perpetuity, under forest conservation areas such as Tabin, Danum Valley, Imbak Canyon, Nurod – Urod, Maliau Basin, etc.
Under the Forest Rules 1969, these locked-up area have been returned back to Yayasan Sabah to manage for conservation in perpetuity.
The locked-up areas actually stand at about 750,000 hectares as: Class I (protection), Class VI (virgin jungle), Class VII (wildlife), and other TPAS (Totally Protected Areas). Due to excisions of land for agriculture in the 70s’, the original 850,000 hectares under Tenegang Forest Reserve, Sungai Sapi Forest Reserve, Segaliud-Lokan Forest Reserve, Kretam Forest Reserve, etc. actually went down (in size, for a while.
The previous government compensated for this ‘loss’ by increasing the area of Yayasan Sabah by a hefty amount, from 850,000 hectares (original size), to about 1.1 million hectares (the major part, all but protected), as it is today.
Interestingly, the Benta area of about 150,000 hectares at Kalabakan largely belonged to colonial concessionaires (NBT, Wallace Bay, etc.) but was awarded to Yayasan Sabah in 1996, and was not part of the 1970 excision exercise.
If you are not convinced, I have no choice left but to seek Houdini’s advice. Nobody has succeeded yet to take away Yayasan Sabah license area and gazetted area per se.
However, there is always a first time.-
Datuk Sam Mannan
Former Sabah Conservator of Forests, Kota Kinabalu,
