Sabah's Kadaiaman constituency opens new eco-tourism destination

Joniston with Kampung Tengkurus community involved in operating Mindakod Eco-Tourism site.

KOTA KINABALU: Rural tourism activities in Sabah’s Kadaiaman constituency continue to grow, with yet another tourist attraction ground opened up.

Situated in the deeper parts of Kota Belud district, this new tourism site at Kg Tengkurus provides a camping ground with river recreational activities, including learning about the traditional tagal system and hiking as the main attractions.

The tagal is a natural rehabilitation system practised by locals, where a certain part of the river or forest is closed for hunting and other human activities each year and only allowed to be opened up during certain months.

Calling the area Mindakod eco-tourism, its chairman Yonggoi Andah said the tourism initiative involved the participation of 48 families.

"We have heard many villages in Kota Belud have started operating community-based tourism and are doing very well. This has encouraged us to start ours," he said.

Despite its infancy, the Mindakod eco-tourism is already receiving a steady stream of campers and hikers, especially on weekends.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the opening of the Mindakod eco-tourism shows that Kadamaian has lived up to the expectations as a pilot for rural tourism development.

Also present were Federation of Rural Tourism Associations Sabah (Fertas) President Walter Kandayon, Kadamaian Community Development Leader Demis Rumanti and Mindakod eco-tourism adviser Datuk Awadnir Matanggap.

Joniston, also the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman, said there are now more than 80 tourism operators in Kadamaian, most of which are community-based.

The aggressive development of rural tourism is part of the state government's effort to empower rural communities economically.

Kadamaian is one of Sabah's fastest-developing rural tourism attractions, intending to become a world-class rural tourism destination by 2025.

In January 2019, Kadamaian received the Asean Community Based Tourism Standard 2019-2021 award at the Asean Tourism Ministers' Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.

In 2018, Sabah decided to push for the Kiulu and Kadamaian rural ecotourism pilot projects as announced by the then Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman in the State's 2018 Budget.