FMU5 - A model for Sustainable Development is Greatly Needed

For the uninitiated, here is a summary:

• Forest Management Unit 5 encompasses more than 101,000 hectares in central Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo.  

• The area’s steep slopes and rich forests provide habitat for the Bornean orangutan and other endangered species and protect watersheds critical to downstream communities.  

• Conservation groups had been working with the government and the concession holder to set up a concept conservation economy on FMU5, but in October, the rights were acquired by Priceworth, a wood product manufacturing company planning to deforest 

The location of Forest Management Unit 5 in Malaysian Borneo (in white). Map courtesy of Global Forest Watch and Google Earth

Read the details of this interesting place and how Sabah-based conservation NGO Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP) have been working together to create model for sustainable development and concept conservation economy.