Collaboration between Human Modified Tropical Forests Programme (HMTF)-Land-use Options for Maintaining BiOdiversity and ecosystem (LOMBOK), SEARRP and Sabah Government Agencies

Dr Slade & Dr Bicknell in a recent meeting with relevant state government agencies.

HMTF-LOMBOK scientists Dr Jake Bicknell and Dr Eleanor Slade from the Universities of Kent and Oxford are working with SEARRP’s policy team of Agnes Agama and Melissa Payne to expand their collaboration with government agencies in Sabah. In the last few months, the team have held several science-for-policy meetings with the Department for Irrigation and Drainage (Sabah), the Environmental Protection Department and the Department of Agriculture (Sabah) to discuss ways in which the scientific evidence base generated through SEARRP-supported research can inform policies for the design and management of riparian areas within the State. This collaboration began at the Heart of Borneo in 2016, and a year later, Assistant Director of DID, Miklin Ationg, and Dr Slade presented a policy brief outlining the science base for the benefits of riparian reserves for biodiversity. This work is now being expanded by Dr Bicknell to model how different policy requirements in riparian reserve widths can impact on gains and losses for biodiversity, functioning and production lands, with input from our government collaborators. The results will be presented at a workshop planned for June 2018, co-hosted by all partners, to which other key government departments, and local stakeholders and NGOs will be invited to provide input and share ideas.