FRIM said today that Dr Saw received the award at the opening of the International Flora Malesiana Symposium held at the Edinburgh garden, whose director Prof Simon Milne presented the award.

“Dr Saw received the award on July 11 for his excellence as a taxonomist and his contribution to the understanding of Malaysian biodiversity and his key role in conservation initiatives over 30 years,” said the statement.

The Edinburgh botanical garden is a leading international research organisation delivering knowledge, education and plant conservation action around the world.

Dr Saw has 34 years of experience working on plant taxonomy, ecology and the conservation of Malaysian flora. He retired last year as director of FRIM’s forest biodiversity division.

This year he was appointed as FRIM research fellow to serve as the coordinator of monocotyledons for the Flora of Peninsular Malaysia project.

Dr Saw has published over 130 papers in journals, articles and contributed chapters in books as well as described 57 plant taxa. Four species of plants have been named after him: Begonia lengguanii, Orchidantha lengguanii, Schizostachyum lengguanii and Thrixspermum lengguanianum.