Annual Biodiversity Day celebration at SBC premises

KUCHING: Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) celebrated its annual Biodiversity Day on 4th May 2019 at its premises located at Borneo Heights, Semengoh here.

The celebration was held in conjunction with the United Nations’ International Day for Biological Diversity which is observed on May 22 annually to increase public awareness on biodiversity issues. The theme of this year event is “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, and Our Health”. It is one of SBC’s initiatives to encourage general public especially the young generation to be interested in biodiversity, science and research.

SBC has opened more than 30 booths comprising of educational science games, traditional knowledge activities, indigenous communities crafts and delicacies, and agencies that are of similar interest with SBC such as Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Wildlife Conservation Society, Malaysia (WCS), Forest Department Sarawak (SFD), and CRAUN Research Sdn Bhd.

A total of 22 children participated in the biodiversity colouring contest. Jacyntha Wong Xiao Xiao is the winner of the contest followed by Ng Man Ling (first runner-up) and Dhiya Zahirah Tony (second runner-up).
The indigenous communities that work with SBC in the documentation of traditional knowledge were also participated in the exhibition. These communities taught SBC how specific plants are used for various purposes especially medicinal.

Once SBC obtained the consent from the participating communities, only then the documentation project is initiated. SBC conducts research on the plants and biological resources obtained from the project in order to find application for use in the wellness industry, herbal drug or even pharmaceutical industry.

One such example of the application that was highlighted is the LitSara® personal care products. An equitable portion of the proceeds from the sale of these products is shared with the participating indigenous communities.

Besides, SBC also set up dedicated biodiscovery pathway booth where professionals, research communities and corporate bodies can engage into research collaboration.

This year, there were more than a thousand visitors attended the Biodiversity day which has shown an increased in number compared to the previous years. SBC hopes that this number will keep on increasing for more years to come.

More photos here.