KUCHING: The Malaysian Conservation Conference (MCC) 2026 is highlighting the importance of valuing biodiversity as a key step towards strengthening conservation financing and ensuring long-term environmental protection.
Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Sarawak (MUDeNR) Datuk Abdullah Julaihi said the environmental value of flora, fauna and biodiversity is often overlooked compared with land and commercial values.
He said recognising the true environmental value of flora, fauna and biodiversity is essential to attracting sustainable funding for ongoing conservation efforts.
“So our effort in this special conference, MCC 2026 is basically about how we value biodiversity, where we look at the component of finance to support conservation efforts and how we can sustain these efforts with the support of that finance,” he said.
He said this this in his welcoming remarks during the MCC 2026 welcoming dinner at a hotel on Tuesday (Jul 14).
He added that environmental challenges could not be addressed by any single organisation, making collaboration essential to achieving shared conservation goals.
“Indeed, we cannot do it alone. When we work together, we combine our knowledge, experience and efforts towards achieving one vision and one mission, especially as environmental challenges continue to emerge everywhere.
“Planning alone without action is nothing. And we are talking about how would we translate whatever we have discussed and agreed here into action,” he added.
The conference, he added, brought together more than 200 delegates from 37 organisations across Malaysia, including researchers, academics, representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), observers and strategic development partners.
Abdullah said the 25 technical papers and numerous research posters presented during the conference reflected strong interest in collaboration and highlighted the importance of collective efforts in advancing conservation.
He thanked the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and main collaborating agencies namely the Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Parks and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) for their commitment and teamwork in making MCC 2026 possible.
Also present were SFC general manager and Wildlife Sarawak controller and National Parks and Nature Reserves Sarawak controller Abang Arabi Abang Aimran; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak Morshidi Fredrick; deputy director (Conservation) of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (PERHILITAN) Datuk Fakhrul Hatta Musa; Sabah Parks director Datuk Dr Maklarin Lakim; Sabah Wildlife Department director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar; and Forest Department Sarawak director Datuk Hamden Mohammad.
