Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei - The Brunei government wants to retain its position as one of the world's top five countries in terms of forest cover, despite a pressing need for development, local media reported Tuesday. Tricia Parish, from the Nocturnal Primate Research Group, said urban encroachment was the biggest threat to the sultanate's wildlife. She highlighted the endangered Borneo slow loris, a species hunted for various uses, including in traditional medicines.
"If trees are chopped down, it makes it much easier to harvest slow lorises compared to other primates who will flee and run away, because the defence mechanism of slow lorises is just to freeze and hide," she said during a workshop on endangered species.
Mahmud Yussof, deputy director of Brunei's Forestry Department, said he believed the land-use situation was "still manageable," explaining that the country has plenty of forest reserves to balance deforestation.
Although Brunei marks 41 per cent of its forests as reserves now, the target is to reach 55 per cent to achieve "sustainable forest management," he said.
Brunei, a country famous for its wealth from oil and gas and the preservation of natural habitat, has forest cover over 76 per cent of its total territory.
