The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Poachers threaten Maliau Basin’s teeming wildlife Posted: 30 Jun 2013 06:45 PM PDT Despite various efforts to monitor encroachment by the relevant authorities, the Maliau Basin Conservation Area, dubbed Sabah's 'Lost World', is still facing threat of environmental and wildlife disturbance as poachers and gaharu (sandalwood) collectors are occasionally intruding into the protected area. This was the shocking discovery during a 10-day intensive resource and wildlife inventory survey of the pristine rainforest by local researchers recently. Several members of the survey team, who included this writer, not only found hard and fresh evidence of encroachment, such as bullet casings, camping sites, hunting and fishing paraphernalia and graffiti on tree trunks, but even came into close encounters with a band of suspected poachers or gaharu collectors. In fact, three suspected poachers even 'registered' their presence by peeping into one of the 132 camera traps set up in scattered places by the survey team to capture wildlife presence in the Class 1 protected forest. "After we destroyed the suspected poachers' camping site, we were surprised when they suddenly appeared, and fearing for our safety, we had to run away," said Sharon Koh from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Malaysia), who participated in the field study. A check with the Maliau Basin Studies Centre, an administrative centre for the conservation area, revealed that the poaching and gaharu collectors' activities are mainly confined to the buffer zone area, which plays a critical role in the protection of the whole basin. The buffer zone is where most immediate threats to the 58,840-hectare conservation area are addressed in a tactical sense, including blocking the intrusion of hunters, loggers and gaharu collectors from entering the core areas. Yayasan Sabah rangers, with the cooperation of other government agencies, especially the Sabah Wildlife Department, have been regularly patrolling the buffer zone as well as the core areas to check out intruders, while rangers' posts were also set up in several places, including Sungai Kuamut and Lake Linumunsut. The intensive field survey however produced an impressive listing of mammals and birds, including rare and endangered species living in the untouched wilderness that is characterised by a diverse assemblage of forest types with complex river systems and dozens of beautiful waterfalls. The local researchers, numbering 137, were from Yayasan Sabah, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), Sabah Parks, WWF Malaysia, Sabah Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Program (HUTAN-KOCP), INIKEA and Sabah Environmental Trust (SET). The flora and fauna inventory survey, which started on June 14, covered almost the entir conservation area, except the 15,000ha heritage zone set aside for future generations to explore in the next 50 years (no sooner than 2050). The intensive study confirmed that the protected area, which is slightly larger than Penang island, is home to some of Sabah's most rare and endangered species, including pygmy elephants, orang utans and proboscis monkeys. Researchers also recorded the presence of other mammals through direct sighting or captured by camera traps such as clouded leopard, Malayan sun bear, barking deer, mousedeers, banded palm civet, bay cat, short-tailed Mongoose, Borneon gibbon, porcupine, pangolin and langur. The exciting list of birds recorded includes Bulwer's Pheasant, Giant Pitta, Bat Hawk, Red-Bearded Bee-eater, Borneo Ground Cuckoo, White-fronted Falconet, Crested Fireback, Bornean Bristlehead and Scarlet-rumped Trogon. Alim Biun from Sabah Parks, who is also an expert on birds, confirmed that all eight living species of Bornean hornbills, including the Helmeted Hornbill, are also found in the 588.4 sq km conservation area. SWD deputy director Augustine Tuuga said the survey, led by the department, was a huge success despite the many evidences of poaching activities. "These poachers are a real threat to the wildlife population not only at Maliau Basin but also all the state's conservation areas like Danum Valley and Imbak Canyon. These are not only a national heritage but of world interest and we must protect them at all costs," he said. Dr Waidi Sainun, Sabah Foundation group manager for conservation and environmental conservation, said the survey will provide baseline input about flora and fauna studies, human impact on the area, including rivers and morphology. "The findings will be documented to help charter the inter-Agency Maliau Basin Management Committee's management plan, while the inventory survey will be a regular affair at five-year intervals. "This (survey) is intended to be a regular affair, as we want to monitor the situation of the conservation area (including Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley conservation area) every five years. "Through this effort, we would be able to know the increase or decrease of the wildlife population within the conservation area," he told Bernama. Waidi, who also participated in this survey, said the field study was supported by INIKEA, a collaboration between Innoprise of Sabah Foundation, and Ikea, a Swedish organisation involved in environmental projects. According to Waidi, intensive field surveys on Maliau Basin started in 2000 as part of the preparation of the Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Plan, and in 2001 the first major expedition reached Linumunsut Lake in the northern part of the basin. - Bernama, 1 July, 2013. |
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