Cabinet paper on Orang-utan Conservation Alliance

Tuaran: The Sabah Wildlife Department will prepare a Cabinet paper on the setting up of a Sabah Orang-utan Conservation Alliance (Soca) that will assist the Government in implementing all the recommendations of the Sabah Orang-utan Action Plan 2012-2016.

"I will personally bring this Cabinet paper to the attention of the State Cabinet so that Soca can be established ASAP," Said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi at the closing of the SOCD, here, Thursday.

Also present at the dialogue were Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad and Sabah Wildlife Department Datuk Laurentius Ambu.

The SOCD proposes that the Sate Government officially establish, empower and mandate Soca under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and led by the Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department. The proposal also suggests that Soca members comprise local and international NGO's, government departments, academic institutions, tourism players and the agriculture industry.

In his speech, Masidi said there is no denying that the number of Orang-utans in the Stae is declining. "I would be foolish and won't be truthful to myself if I said there is no problem and the biggest problem is that the number of orang-utan is declining mainly due to forest fragmentation affecting the food source and reproduction system of the orang-utans.

"This is good thing the NGOs are doing here, to sit down and discuss how to solve the problems. This is the reason why we invite people (to the dialogue) who have the expertise and passion to pinpoint to the Government how we can conserve our orang-utans", he said.

One of the recommendations made by SOCD is to call plantation owners to sign an agreement adopting a zero tolerance of wildlife (especially orang-utans) killings in their respective estates. Masidi said he does not think it would be too much to ask from the plantation owners to sigh the agreement. "If they are not guilty, then they should not be afraid. But unless they have something to hide, then probably that's the reason why they would not sign it."

"Let's just put it in this way. We love our country. Many of you have made tons of money from your investment. Why can't we just say, I hereby agree that I won't allow any of my staff to endanger the lives of the wildlife. " I think this is very simple. If they found their staff doing it, report it to relevant authorities so proper action can be taken," he said.

Masidi also said that while he is aware of some killings of orang-utans by irresponsible quarters he regretted some accusations made by certain NGOs saying that orang-utans are killed indiscriminately in the state. " It is unfair to just throw baseless allegations from far away countries saying this and that. We invited them to come to Sabah to prove to us so we can take action against the culprits but they did not come. " We have nothing to hide, just come here and assist us. We want to do the right thing even if it is painful to do, ' he said.

Meanwhile, Masidi also explained that conservation efforts in Kinabatangan area is made complicated due to the fact that many of the lands in the area have land titles. Therefore, he said, the Government has to come up with other options in the land use for the area.

' We need to ensure that the land use can conserve the wildlife in the area while at the same time could benefit that land owners. The Government would have to come up with an idea on how to cleverly use the lands in the area," he said.
Masidi also stressed the importance of riparian reserves for the benefit of wildlife conservation as well as to preserve the rivers in the State. The riparian reserve is the designated width from the stream where restrictions on what can be done are placed in order to protect the functions of the land and water in that reserved area.

Source: Daily Express

Photo: Pubsub