About the World Flora Online project

Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) is one of the leading institutions in tropical forestry research in the world. Founded in 1929, the former Forest Research Institute became a full-fledged statutory body, governed by the Malaysian Forestry Research and Development Board (MFRDB) under the Ministry of Primary Industries, in 1985. From 2003, FRIM and MFRDB were placed under the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE). On 1 October 2016, the new FRIM Act came into force and the MFRDB was replaced by new Members of the Institute with four additional representatives from corporate sector to assist in its commercialisation endeavours. After the 14^th General Election in 2018, the NRE was restructured to form the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS) and in March 2020, KATS was reorganised to form the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KeTSA).

The Institute sits on a 545-ha site adjacent to the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve in the Kepong municipality, 16 km northwest of Kuala Lumpur. FRIM was awarded the MS ISO 9001:2015 certification starting 2017. It was gazetted as a Natural Heritage Site on 10 February 2009 under the National Heritage Act 2005, and officially declared as a National Heritage on 10 May 2012. FRIM is working towards attaining the recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its nomination to be included into the Tentative List of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites was accepted at the 41^st World Heritage Committee (WHC) Meeting held in Krakow, Poland on 7 July 2017.