Letter to the editor: More support needed from other agencies to prevent poaching and end wildlife trade
WWF 29 May 09;
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and WWF-Malaysia applaud the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), particularly the enforcement team in Perak, for nabbing poachers in the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve in Perak (Poachers Nabbed in Perak Reserve, May 25).
Their efforts to safeguard protected areas and wildlife against poachers, is a clear commitment to tackling a problem that is an increasing concern for Malaysia.
Poaching is the first step in the chain of illegal wildlife trade and consumption that could leave us with empty forests one day. Areas like the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve where the Cambodian poachers were nabbed are home to many threatened species such as the Sumatran rhinoceros, clouded leopard and Sambar deer. It is also an important tiger landscape as outlined in the National Tiger Action Plan.
As previous enforcement actions have shown, it is not the only area under threat.
WWF-Malaysia has also found signs of local and foreign encroachment and poaching along the Grik-Jeli highway which provides the access points into the Belum-Temengor forest complex. In these areas, some animals are specifically targeted by poachers, others are killed opportunistically by poachers searching for non-timber forest products such as gaharu (agarwood).
Therefore the department’s move to step up enforcement efforts in the Hulu Perak district, including the Gerik-Jeli highway, is an excellent and timely move.
TRAFFIC and WWF-Malaysia urge the department to continue its good work and not to stop at nabbing poachers, but to further follow the trail of the illegal wildlife traders they supply.
Stopping armed poachers is dangerous and difficult work that needs the support of many agencies. TRAFFIC and WWF-Malaysia call on other national enforcement agencies including the police, army, Customs Department and Forestry Department to join in the fight to stamp out poaching and cross-border encroachment.
The public can do their part by reporting wildlife crime to the Wildlife Crime Hotline, via SMS to
019-3564194.
From: Dato' Dr. Dionysius S.K. Sharma D.P.M.P., Executive Director/CEO, WWF-Malaysia and Noorainie Awang Anak, Senior Programme Officer, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
