3 July 2023 (Monday) – The Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, has officiated the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) Forest Skywalk in conjunction with his official visit to FRIM this morning.

Forest Skywalk is a main ecotourism attraction at FRIM, which supports the country’s tourism industry in promoting the conservation of national biodiversity resources.

It is the first aluminum-built structure that is open to the public for ecotourism purposes in Malaysia. With this new ecotourism product, visitors will be able to enjoy the experience of being on top of the canopy within the world’s largest manmade tropical forest.

The 18-50 m high and 250 m long skywalk began its operation on 31 August 2020. The construction project for the skywalk was funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC).

Nik Nazmi also launched the Ciera insects repellent product line produced using FRIM technology. The successful strategic collaboration with Nature Profusion Sdn. Bhd. as the commercial partner has accelerated the government’s goal of popularising local research and development (R&D) output. This product has received numerous national and international recognitions.

The minister also witnessed the presentation of the Certificate of Registration of New Plant Variety and the Grant of Plant Breeder’s Rights for FAFAF01 by Azreen Basir, the Director of Plant Quality Control Division, Department of Agriculture (DOA), who was also the Secretary of the Plant Variety Board, to FRIM Director General Dr Ismail Parlan.

FAFAF01, an elite clone of kacip fatimah, is a new herbal plant variety patented under Plant Variety Protection (PVP) supervised by the DOA. This clone has good growth rates and high levels of active chemicals.

Nik Nazmi also planted a damar minyak (Agathis borneensis) tree to commemorate this visit.

Also present, NRECC Secretary General Dato’ Rosli Isa, former Bukit Lanjan State Assembly Member YB Elizabeth Wong, MOTAC Infrastructure Development Division Undersecretary Mohd Khairul Kassim, MOTAC Selangor Administration, Finance and Tourism Infrastructure Unit Officer Awang Daik Mohd Nor and Malaysia Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) Technology Development Director Mohammad Farish Nizar Othman.