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The Sabah Forestry Department said funding for the rehabilitation work would come from the state and federal governments, Yayasan Sabah, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private donors.

Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said the most important objective for the rehabilitation was the conservation of the region's 3,000 orang-utans.

Mannan said from a conservation and biodiversity point of view, the Ulu Segama-Malua ecological zone was among Sabah's "crown jewels".

He said apart from orang-utans the Ulu Segama-Malua region contained all the major wildlife in Sabah besides a diverse array of plants.

Earlier, Mannan handed over a letter of formalisation for the initial restoration works of the Ulu Segama-Malua region costing 4.5 million ringgit to be undertaken by Yayasan Sabah through its fully owned subsidiary Rakyat Berjaya.

The letter was handed to Rakyat Berjaya senior assistant director of forestry Albert Radin, who is also the Ulu Segama-Malua Forest restoration committee chairman.

The work will involve some 4,000 hectares of logged jungles near the Danum Valley conservation area as well as replanting 1,000 hectares of degraded forests in northern Ulu Segama.

The Management of Ulu Segama-Malua is steered by a Forest Management Planning Committee, headed by the Forestry Department and involves various NGOs and

the licensee, Yayasan Sabah, itself.

The first draft of the forest-management plan is expected to be ready by the end of 2007.

The 2.8-million ringgit Ulu Segama-Malua Forestry Complex is also being built in the middle of the project area, with funding from the state government.