The Sarawak government, which is collaborating with the US-based Seattle HIV Vaccine Trials Unit to research and develop an HIV vaccine, has identified a site in Bau near Kuching for the bintangor tree plantation.

Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said the proposed project which was expected to begin soon, would enable local and visiting scientists to conduct clinical trials on the species, also known as 'Calophyllum', which was found to possess active anti-HIV agents.

"We are now at the final stage of the clinical trial," he said when officiating at the opening of the two-day biodiversity carnival organised by the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) in Kuching today.

He said the potent compound, which had potential to be developed commercially for pharmaceutical use, was patented by the state government to safeguard Sarawak's biodiversity heritage due to its economic value.

SBC was also filing a related patent that enabled the DNA identification of plant species that produced the Silvestrol compound, which was important in the event that the collection and mass propagation of such plants became neccesary, added Abdul Taib.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan said the Silvestrol, found in the Segera plant for its anti-cancer agent, had drawn frenzied attention from a number of high profile international research groups.

Dr Chan, who is also tourism and heritage minister, said the US-based National Cancer Institute, a leading agency in cancer research and clinical trials, had teamed up with the prestigious Ohio State University, known for its clinical development of therapeutic drug for cancer, to work with SBC to conduct pre-clinical and clinical trials on Silvestrol.

He said communities that participated in SBC's traditonal knowledge documentation programme were also encouraged to set up their own nurseries and gardens of useful plants, as part of conservation efforts, which could become tourist attractions.

Citing the Penan community of Long Iman near Mulu National park, he said, they were now charging a minimal fee of RM1 for a guided tour of their herbal garden, with the proceeds used for the garden's maintenance.

Another potential tourist draw was the establishment of a garden for useful plants and the distillation of aromatic essential oils by the Bidayuh community of Kampung Kiding in Padawan hear Kuching, said Dr Chan.

- Bernama