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MAJOR NEWS - Kuala Lumpur, 28th August 2007 The Royal Society SEARRP signs a 7-year, £1 million sponsorship agreement with Malaysia's Petra Foundation
 Mel Gibson, Datuk Vinod Sekhar, Professor Rory Walsh and The Earl of Selborne at the MoU signing ceremony between the Petra Foundation and Royal Society SEARRP The Royal Society SEARRP has today signed a major sponsorship agreement with the Malaysian-owned Petra Group, via the Petra Foundation and the Group's UK subsidiary Green Rubber Global. The agreement will see the Petra Foundation and Green Rubber Global take over as the main sponsors of SEARRP with effect from 2008. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on behalf of the Petra Foundation by the Petra Group's Chief Executive, Datuk Vinod B Sekhar, and the actor and director Mel Gibson, who is involved with the Petra Foundation in supporting rainforest conservation initiatives in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Signing on behalf of the Royal Society SEARRP were Professor Rory Walsh, the Programme's Research Co-ordinator, and the Earl of Selborne KBE FRS. Lord Selborne is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Witnessing the signing were the British High Commissioner to Malaysia, His Excellency Boyd McCleary, and Dr Waidi Sinun, Secretary of the Danum Valley Management Committee and Group Manager of Yayasan Sabah's Conservation and Environmental Management Division. The support of the Petra Foundation and Green Rubber Global secures the future of SEARRP until at least 2015 and will more than double the Programme's existing budget. The extra resources will be used to improve opportunities for young Malaysian scientists to work at Danum Valley, expand the scope of the Programme to cover new research sites in Sabah, northern Borneo and the wider region, improve research facilities and co-ordination at Danum Valley and to expand the SEARRP team of research assistants. At the signing ceremony, the Petra Group's Chief Executive, Datuk Vinod Sekhar, said "Danum Valley is recognised as one of the top five tropical research forests in the world. Our sponsorship of the Programme will enable researchers to gain understanding of the physical and biological processes operating within tropical rainforests and contribute not only to the science base, but also the conservation and sustainable use of rainforests. Additionally the Programme will help promote the training of young Malaysian research students and technical staff as they assist and learn from the international scientists involved with the Programme". Professor Walsh described the Petra Foundation and Green Rubber Global as "the ideal partners for the Royal Society SEARRP" and gratefully acknowledged, on behalf of the Royal Society, the generous support of the Petra Group and its President, Datuk Vinod Sekhar. The Petra Foundation supports a wide range of charitable causes in the fields of education, development, cultural exchange and the environment. Green Rubber Global, a UK-based subsidiary of the Petra Group, has developed a process which allows rubber to be de-vulcanised and hence vehicle tyres, in particular, to be recycled. |
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