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Poaching: Many <b>Sabah</b> shops found selling bear items - The Borneo <b>...</b> Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

Poaching: Many <b>Sabah</b> shops found selling bear items - The Borneo <b>...</b>

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:30 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Numerous shops in Sabah were found selling bear products, which show wildlife poaching is rampant in the state, the 5th East and Southeast Asian Wild Animal Rescue Network (WARN) Conference was told.

The event, the first in Sabah, was organised by Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) at Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort, Tuaran on Nov 26-27 and sponsored by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, EcoOils, Sabah Tourism Board and Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort..

Dr Benoit Goossens, Director of DGFC and co-organiser of the conference, said a discussion on wildlife trade and poaching in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Sabah, was co-chaired by him and Dr Marc Ancrenaz from HUTAN.

"We took the opportunity to present some recent data from surveys carried out by TRAFFIC in Sabah (and other Malaysian states) on pangolin trade and sun bear bile trade," said Goossens.

"The results were astonishing, out of 21 shops visited in December 2010 in Kota Kinabalu, eight were selling bear bile products. Moreover, in a survey carried out in our State in 2012, 10 out of 24 shops surveyed were selling sun bear products. More astonishingly, a TRAFFIC report published in 2010 on pangolin trade in Sabah, including analysis of trade syndicate's logbooks seized by SWD in 2009, showed that 22,200 pangolins were traded by the syndicate in 13 months," added Goossens.

"We also have evidence of illegal hunting in several forest reserves and national parks in Sabah not only at iconic protected areas such as Crocker Range National Park, Tawau Hills National Park, Maliau Basin Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve, but also Malua BioBank and Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. This is extremely serious and we – government, NGOs, research institutions – need to tackle this issue as quickly as possible if we don't want to see our wildlife ending in bowls and/or in medicine products," said Goossens.

"It is paramount that the millions recently invested in our protected forests are used for wildlife protection and wildlife trade and poaching enforcement. Shall we wait for another iconic species (such as the Sumatran rhino) to disappear in Sabah before reacting?" concluded Goossens.

"WARN is a network of wild animal rescue centers, wildlife law enforcement groups and officials and animal protection groups in East and Southeast Asia," said Professor Kurtis Pei, Interim Board Chair of WARN and professor at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan.

"I'm very proud to say that WARN was established as a registered international NGO since August 2013 and that we have members in the following countries: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, and many representatives from wildlife rescue centers in those countries attended WARN 2013 in Sabah," added Professor Pei.

"The purpose of WARN is to enhance the capabilities of East and Southeast Asian wildlife rescue centres to rescue and conserve wildlife, provide conservation awareness education for the public and advocate minimum standards for wildlife rescue centres," concluded Professor Pei.

"WARN 2013 was a great opportunity to showcase our very own Wildlife Rescue Unit that was set up three years ago, a team of local boys and girls working tirelessly to save and protect wildlife in Sabah," said Dr Sen Nathan, Assistant Director at SWD, and head of the Wildlife Rescue Unit.

"Sabah sees the potential of WARN as an organisation that would be able to bridge all Asian countries together in terms of wildlife conservation matters and also assist government authorities in respective countries monitoring illegal wildlife trade," added Nathan.

"SWD is actually looking at setting up a Wildlife Enforcement Unit, working in a similar way to the Wildlife Rescue Unit, but focusing on wildlife trade, illegal hunting and bushmeat trade, using the best existing tools against wildlife smuggling and poaching and having a permanent presence in all protected areas in Sabah. We are currently looking for institutions interested to support this unit," said Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu, Director of SWD.

"We might seem to have lost many battles, but I can assure you, the buck stops here and the war for wildlife conservation is being fought hard by a very dedicated group of people here in Sabah in whom I give all my trust to be successful in tackling the problems caused by wildlife trade and illegal hunting in our protected areas. This has to stop and we will use every means to end it," said Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment when opening the WARN conference.

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EU, <b>Sabah</b> launch RM16 mln forest management – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 04 Dec 2013 05:37 PM PST

by Jenne Lajiun. Posted on December 5, 2013, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: The European Union (EU) and Sabah Forestry Department yesterday launched a RM16 million programme to work together on tackling climate change through sustainable forest management and community development.

The contract was signed by EU which was represented by EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation, His Excellency Luc Vandebon and with Sabah Forestry Department director, Datuk Sam Mannan.

The four-year programme is aimed at contributing to the sustainable and low carbon development of the state.

Both parties will also cooperate on the REDD+ strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, promote the sustainable management of forests, as well as the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

According to Mannan, the programme had been designed to meet the needs of Sabah, in particular to support Sabah's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forest degradation and deforestation.

"It will also help us to effectively engage local communities in forest management and rehabilitation both on government and community lands. I believe that this will generate valuable experiences and enhance our capacity to further develop and implement the planned Sabah REDD+ strategy," he said.

Mannan further added that the programme would benefit the poorest people in Sabah – those who are dependent on the forest for their livelihood.

"Through this programme, they will appreciate the environment better, not that they don't already, but we want to prove that by conserving the forest and by sustainable management on the ground, this would also improve their livelihood. There is no point having conservation and what not at the expense of the people's livelihood and people's standard of living. This must be addressed. This is part of the objectives and goals."

He said the importance of the project was not what was achieved but that it could lead to and to expand to other areas in need of a similar boost.

"Hopefully by that time we have acquired the practical skills and human relations skills that can be quite difficult," he said.

He also disclosed the areas that would be involved in the programme. They are Batu Putih at Kinabatangan, Kampung Gana and Kinabalu.

On the REDD+, Mannan said they were not just addressing at local levels but stressed that the activities involved would benefit the whole world.

Meanwhile, Vandebon highlighted the EU's active engagement with Sabah through various cooperation projects.

"This is the first EU project in Sabah of such a scale. It addresses pertinent issues for Malaysia, such as climate change, sustainable forest management and community development. The European Union is in the lead of the global climate change negotiations and strongly supports actions aiming to curb emissions from deforestation. REDD+ is a relatively new concept and we need to demonstrate that it can bring concrete benefits, in particular, for forest dependent communities," he said.

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More funds needed to equip <b>Sabah</b> poor with skills – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 04 Dec 2013 05:32 PM PST

by JohanAziz. Posted on December 5, 2013, Thursday

KENINGAU: Director of Human Resource Development Department (HRD), Billy Yumbod has requested that community leaders, including the leaders of Barisan Nasional (BN) be allowed to ask the government to provide more allocation in the department's efforts to expand its services to the people of the state.

He said so far the HRD has been relentless in providing skills training to enable the people to generate more income to lift them out of poverty.

"The concept adopted by the department is to go to the ground and organize courses and training for the villagers in order to gain the skills to generate income," he said when closing the Body Treatment Therapy course held at the Pensiangan Regional Library here yesterday.

He is confident that with more financial provisions the people in rural areas of the state can acquire skills and improve their standard of living and economy.

Billy said that since the HRD was established in the state over the past 25 years, it has provided many valuable services to the people in which the responsibility of the department is to conduct courses and training to help the villagers become self-sufficient through the knowledge given to them.

He said the body treatment therapy course was hard to find in the state, adding that the lucky participants who attended the course can benefit by opening a business and community service.

"The participants can open a therapy business at home or mobile services that do not require a license unless they conduct business in the open, then they need to get a business license," he said.

Billy also reminded participants not to misuse the services and that the HRD does not encourage illegal business services.

Besides benefiting from gaining therapy skills, they also increase their skills by learning about physiology, he said.

He believes that through the skills in both these areas, it would be able to generate more income for the people. Customers would not doubt their skills as they received certificates to prove that they have knowledge on proper techniques when doing body therapy treatment.

"The program conducted by the HRD will be expanded to all the districts in the state with skill courses that can provide benefits to rural communities.

"For me, the department is also the first institution in the state that has been striving to nurture successful human capital up till today and I am confident that more people will benefit from the skills training offered by the HRD in future," he said.

The 10-day course organized by Pensiangan Puteri Umno in collaboration with the state HRD was participated by 20 people from the area.

Also present at the event was Pensiangan Umno information chief, Sakim Ibrahim representing the Pensiangan Umno Chief, Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohd Yassin; representative of Puteri Umno Chief, Sarah Lakadan; Director of Green Bay Services, Sabdin Noordin and course instructor, Roseline Sapai.

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