Bandar Seri Begawan - Additional funding and the formation of a Heart of Borneo (HoB) "Secretariat" are two critical hurdles in achieving the goals stated in the HoB declaration, Adam Tomasek, HoB Initiative Leader, has told The Brunei Times.

The Heart of Borneo covers 220,000 sq km of forest that spreads across the borders of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia and is the only place in the world where rhinos, orangutans and elephants co-exist.

The three nations signed the HoB Declaration, which affirmed the countries "will ensure an effective management, development and conservation of the areas", on January 12, 2007.

"The most important area of improvement is the establishment of the Trilateral HoB Secretariat," said Tomasek.

"This cooperative body is necessary to realise the regional commitments and goals under the HoB Declaration and now embodied in the HoB national action plans in each country," he added.

Tomasek pointed out successes in other parts of the world achieved through "the establishment of a coordinating body (or Secretariat)". Establishing such an agency has proven to be "very effective where multiple countries agree to collaborate across political boundaries on environmental issues," he said.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) expert, progress in establishing a tripartite agency would potentially open the door for the three governments involved to attract more large-scale investments.

The problem of additional funding also needed addressing, Tomasek. "The simple answer is: Yes, more money is needed to properly manage the areas and boundaries," he said.

He said that a trilateral technical working group was still refining the official boundaries of the entire HoB region. But added that the governments of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia have each already set the boundaries for HoB areas within their own jurisdictions.

"In each country the boundaries are 'managed' in different ways, all relating to national and sovereign laws and procedures. But in each country there are multi-ministry and agency bodies established to coordinate the HoB regions," he said.

Tomasek said he And the rest of WWF, were anticipating the upcoming third anniversary of the HoB Declaration on January 12, 2010.

The anniversary is expected to be considered a milestone and reason for additional commitments by the three participating countries.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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