KOTA KINABALU, Sept 7 ― Sabah Parks director Jamili Nais is the first Malaysian selected to be a member on the prestigious International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Heritage panel.
This panel is responsible for reviewing World Heritage Site nominations.
Jamili, 52, hails from Ranau and has a background in plant ecology and has been with Sabah Parks, the authorities in charge of Sabah’s nature and marine parks for some 29 years working in conservation.
He is also the only representative from Asia on the current 13-member panel for the next four years.
“I was very shocked to be accepted. It is a big responsibility and applications are really competitive. I did not expect to be selected out of all the worldwide applications,” said Jamili when asked by reporters during a Press conference here today.
“I applied for the position last September, with the support of the Minister last year and went for an interview. After a year, I was finally told I was accepted. I was quite shocked,” he said.
The panel evaluated World Heritage nominations as well as reviews conservation reports, and make policy recommendations for the World Heritage Committee under the World Heritage Convention.
Jamili has extensive experience in conservation, having worked with Sabah Parks for 29 years, including 11 years in Kinabalu Park, the first Malaysian World Heritage Site. His academic background includes a Bachelors degree in botany, from University Teknologi Mara and a PhD in plant ecology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
He has been in the current position of director for three years.
“But the criteria to be a member of the IUCN panel is very strict. You have to have a lot of experience working with World Heritage Sites including a current position, experience in the nomination process, evaluating a nominated site, facilitating a nomination process and vast geological, natural science and biology knowledge,” he said.
Aside from Sabah’s own Kinabalu Park and other nature reserves, Jamili has evaluated the Tubbatha reef in the Philippines as a nominee and facilitated the nomination of Hiroshima in Japan.
He will be attending the next IUCN panel meeting in Gland, Switzerland this 4 to 8 December.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun congratulated Jamili on his appointment and said it was another milestone for Sabah’s conservation status.
“It is a very prestigious appointment and one needs to be very credible and professional to be appointed.
“To have a Sabahan on the world panel is indeed something to be very proud of,” he said.
