Malua is home to 650 orang utans and is connected to Ulu Segama and the larger population of 2,650 there and also has all of Sabah’s mega fauna species. LEAP helped initiate this project by bridging between the state of Sabah and New Forests. Spanning an area of 34,000 ha and a period of 50 years, and pioneering voluntary biodiversity credit efforts globally, it is a model which promotes the partnership between industry and conservation and the Biodiversity Credit Certificates (BCC) are now on the global market. The Malua Trust was set up by the project and an initial $10 million put in place to implement the Malua Conservation Management Plan over the next six years, after which the trust will be endowed from a percentage of the sales of BCCs. The independent body providing technical oversight to this project is the Malua Bio Bank Advisory Committee comprising some of Sabah’s most respected experts in conservation and forest management and chaired by Cynthia Ong with LEAP as the committee secretariat. The Advisory Committee reviews and approves wildlife monitoring plans, forest restoration plans, water quality improvement plans, budgets, etc. for the Conservation Management Plan and oversees implementation by the Project Steering Committee. The hope is that this project will succeed and break new ground for the sustainable financing of long-term conservation, and expand to other regions in the world of tropical rainforests. Please see the project website at www.maluabiobank.com for more information on the project.