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THE opening ceremony of the first Heart of Borneo (HoB) Youth Seminar was held yesterday at the Youth Centre in Bandar Seri Begawan. About 31 participants from Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia will be taking part in the three-day seminar to discuss the various challenges and opportunities for the HoB in promoting sustainable development through ideas. With the theme ‘Empowering Youth Leaders for Sustainable Development’, the seminar’s objectives include to develop an understanding of the Heart of Borneo Initiative amongst youths, as well as to identify potential areas to develop the economy. Moreover, youths are encouraged to take on leadership as a way to promote the HoB and ensuring sustainable development of their countries. The opening ceremony’s guest of honour was Wardi bin Haji Mohammad Ali, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Tourism) at…

THE Heart of Borneo (HoB) corridor project — a landscape connectivity project that will link a series of protected areas in Borneo under the HoB initiative — will be able to preserve the genetic diversity of the sultanate’s wildlife, said the initiative’s leader. In his keynote address during the opening ceremony of the Heart of Borneo Youth Seminar yesterday, Dr Henry Chan of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia and Indonesia said that the corridor project will benefit the sultanate in two main ways. The first, he said, was in relation to the conservation of the country’s biodiversity, namely in the corridor component that will link Brunei’s Sungai Ingei Conservation Forest with the protected forest in Sarawak that will be further connected to the forest of Indonesia. “This well…

SEBERAPA pedulikah kita dengan alam persekitaran? Apa yang kita lakukan ketika melihat sampah di merata tempat? Adakah kita akan membantu membuangnya atau kita abaikan sahaja? Dan apa yang paling penting lagi adakah kita rajin untuk mengitar semula barangan tersebut? Ya, barangan bekas sebagai contoh tin minuman kosong, kertas, botol dan barang yang boleh di kitar semula. Tidak semua mengerti akan faedah dan kebaikan untuk kita mengapplikasikan tabiat kitar semula di dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari. Bukan sahaja ianya boleh menjadikan persekitaran yang lebih sihat dan selesa, namun juga memupuk diri seseorang itu untuk lebih bertanggungjawab dalam memeduli persekitaran sekeliling dengan menjadi seseorang yang tidak camah mata. Apa yang sebenarnya menghalang seseorang itu untuk mengamalkan tabiat kitar semula di dalam kehidupan mereka terutama sekali para generasi belia kita? Walau sudah tersedia tempat…

LANDFILLS everywhere are rapidly filling up and the environment is increasingly affected in various ways as a result of this. It was stated in the Recycle 123 Handbook produced in 2015 by the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe) under the Ministry of Development that approximately 400 to 500 tonnes of waste goes to the Sungai Paku landfill daily. In fact, it has been estimated that by the year 2025, that very landfill will be entirely filled. In the nation, the waste generation is around 1.4 kilogrammes per person per day, comprising 36 per cent food waste, 18 per cent paper and 16 per cent plastic. We are at a point where we know that there’s a problem and have identified the causes of the problem but the question…

ANOTHER round of the Green Leaders Camp organised by Green Brunei will be held for 18-to-25-year-olds this September. This is the fourth camp of its kind since its inception in 2014. Green Brunei’s president Khairunnisa Ash’ari said 35 youths are expected to participate in the camp in mid-September. She said the camp will enable participants to understand more about environmental issues in Brunei through talks, discussions and field trips. Agriculture has been chosen as the camp’s theme following recent news reports saying local farmers are not aware of the impact of climate change on agriculture. “Participants are expected to have a better understanding about the many issues and environmental challenges in this country. Through dialogues with non-government organisations, participants are expected to develop a stronger interest in taking part in…

LOCAL non-governmental organisations are looking to adopt the best green practices from other international and local environmentalists when Brunei plays host to the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit that starts tomorrow. Green Brunei President Khairunnisa Ash’ari said she would be interested to learn about other countries’ green initiatives. “(In particular) the challenges they are facing with development projects and other issues, policies they have introduced to tackle this as well as success stories in relation to adopting green economy practices. “From a non-government perspective, we would also want to know how different stakeholders play a role in other countries if there are things we can learn from their experiences,” she added in a recent interview. The three-day summit, organised by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism with support from the Australian…

GREEN Brunei will be organising a Climate Camp for students on various sustainability issues and to highlight the reality of climate change. The non-governmental organisation’s president, Khairunnisa Ash’ari, said the camp will run from August 19-21 at the Sumbiling Eco Village in Temburong with students aged 14-18 from Yayasan Secondary School and Jerudong International School taking part. She said the students will participate in fun and exciting activities in local jungles and around rivers. “The Climate Camp offers an opportunity to gain a better understanding about the importance of addressing climate change issues and to learn more about environmental situations in Brunei,” she said. Khairunnisa said she hoped students will appreciate the value of the country’s natural resources and at the same time enjoy the serenity of Temburong and get…

A BRUNEIAN environment proponent earlier this month took part in the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) Sea and Earth Advocates (SEA) Camp in the Philippines. The US Embassy here had nominated Firdaus Ismail to attend the international environmental camp at Aklan, Boracay Island. During the camp from June 6-12, Firdaus joined 25 other youth leaders from the Philippines for an intensive environmental education and leadership training programme that saw participants engaging in panel discussions, outdoor activities and workshops. The participants also learned about mass tourism and unsustainable development that could threaten the oceans. “The region produces 55 tonnes of waste per day and that’s not much different in Brunei with 1.4kg per capita and other parts of ASEAN”, Firdaus was quoted as saying in a press release. “During a…

GREEN Brunei is looking into the possibility of getting alternative sources of funding, such as securing annual grants for more effective and worry-free activities. Green Brunei president Khairunnisa Ash’ari told The Brunei Times recently that the alternatives would replace their present efforts of sourcing for funds on a project to project basis. “We face financial challenges. Although our projects have mostly been funded by generous sponsors, we feel too much time had been spent on seeking sponsorship instead of focusing on the real issues,” she said. Discussions on suitable alternatives have already started among their core team members, said the environmental advocate. “It will take time given our respective responsibilities outside of Green Brunei but I’m looking at within two or three years before we can see significant changes. In…

LOCAL environmental organisation Green Brunei is calling on all relevant agencies to zero in on waste management issues in light of the growing population and housing areas in the country. Green Brunei President Khairunnisa Ash’ari told The Brunei Times it is imperative to look even more closely on managing waste which can be tied to recycling, so that the country’s waste management system will run more efficiently in the long run. “Waste management can potentially be a bigger problem in the future if not tackled effectively today. We often read about illegal dumping issues, water pollution and open burning in the media and these are all part and parcel of waste management,” she said. Khairunnisa said there are many success stories which Brunei can learn from with regards to tackling…