Article: Documentary on saving orang utans

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s orang utan conservation efforts will be featured in a documentary on the National Geographic channel, which is seen by some 260 million households.

National Development Film Corporaration (Finas) has engaged Kuala Lumpur-based Novista Sdn Bhd to produce the documentary.

Novista director Lina Teoh said filming would begin in the middle of the year.

“There has been a lot of positive work done in Sabah to conserve the orang utan and the documentary will focus on this,” said Teoh, who had earlier briefed state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjum on the documentary yesterday.

Teoh said they had carried out research on orang utans for a year.

“We are discussing with some artistes to see who could be involved in the project,” she said.

Novista had produced a documentary on the Kuala Lumpur SMART Tunnel for the Mega Structures segment on the National Geographic channel.

Masidi said the state government supported the documentary as it would create more international awareness about Sabah.

“This project is good from the perspective of our conservation efforts and tourism,” he said, adding that his ministry would support the filming in logistics and ensuring that Novista obtained the necessary clearances

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Nation: 8th February 2009