The Flag-Off Ceremony for the Brunei Darussalam Expedition on Forest to Reef in conjunction with the Brunei
Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition (MYCE) 2025 was held on the morning of 19th May 2025 at Mangrove
Paradise Resort. Present as the Guest of Honour was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Abdul
Manaf bin Haji Metusin, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism. Also present were the High
Commissioners and Ambassadors, Permanent Secretary, Deputy Permanent Secretaries as well as Head of
Departments from the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism and representatives from various
government agencies.
The ceremony commenced with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat, followed by the flag-off
for the Brunei Darussalam Expedition on Forest to Reef and proceeded with a week-long scientific expedition
from 19th May to 25th May 2025 at Mangrove Biodiversity of Pulau Selirong and Marine Ecosystem of Pulau
Pelong-Pelongan. The research team consisted of experts from the Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental
Research (IBER) of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and Center for Ocean Plastic
Studies of Kyushu University Japan.
Mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs are often found together and work in concert as a single system
that keeps coastal zones healthy, as well as provide habitat for thousands of species at all levels of marine and
forest food webs. Despite the importance of the two distinct areas of Pulau Selirong mangrove forest to the
marine ecosystem of Pulau Pelong-Pelongan, reliable, accurate, and timely information of the two pristine
environments is not available. Threats from deforestation and the looming sea-level rise around the world
have been a major source of concern, as they may endanger the area's biodiversity.
Therefore, among the objectives of the scientific expedition was to extract more accurate data and to
document biodiversity hotspots in Pulau Selirong and Pulau Pelong-Pelongan which is important to enable
targeted conservation efforts to protect the most valuable and vulnerable habitats. In addition, the baseline
data would be used to assess the health and stability of ecosystems over time, detecting threats such as habitat
degradation, pollution, or climate change impacts.
The expedition was jointly organized by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism through the Forestry
Department and the Department of Fisheries, partnered with Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Poni
Groups aim to unite experts, researchers and policymakers, both local and international, to share knowledge,
discuss best practices and enhance collaboration in managing interconnected ecosystems from forests to
reefs. Scientific findings from this expedition will contribute to Brunei Darussalam’s biodiversity conservation
framework, support the Blue Economy, and explore eco-tourism as a sustainable development path which
later will be presented at the Brunei Darussalam Conference on Forest to Reef at the International Conference
Centre, Berakas from 17th to 19th June 2025.
