Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Sept 27 (NNN-Bernama) The United States will continue to cooperate with the three Borneo states of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia on the "Heart of Borneo" project to preserve one of the oldest rainforests in the world.

US Ambassador to Malaysia Christopher LaFleur said the 220,000 sq km
rainforest spread across the three countries is important to the entire world because it is one of the very few that remain in pristine form.

He said that according to scientific estimates, it is older than the
rainforest in the Amazon, South America.

The three Borneo states are also very important in Southeast Asia as key members of Asean and good friends of the US, he told reporters while visiting the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre in this capital of the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah Tuesday.

Last month, US State Secretary Condoleeza Rice pledged USD100,000 to support "Heart of Borneo" through the project initiator, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia.

LaFleur said the US government had also contributed about USD217,000 in financial aid for the protection of elephants, gibbons, orang utan and
rhinoceros in Sabah since 2005.

WWF Malaysia vice president Tengku Zainal Adlin Tengku Mahmood, who
accompanied LaFleur on the visit, said "Heart of Borneo" is meant for the world and the commitment of the US is significant to the organisation.

However, he said, WWF Malaysia only acted as the catalyst and it was still up to the individual government to best manage forest sustainability in their own area.

He said "Heart of Borneo" had not been officially accepted yet by the
governments of the three countries.

Hopefully, the three countries would reach a consensus to launch the project during the Asean Summit in the Philippines this December, he added.