Orang utan not under threat, says Malaysian plantations minister

The Star 25 May 10;

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia refutes allegations that its oil palm plantations were wiping out the rainforest and causing the extinction of the orang utan.

“In Malaysia, large tracts of forest are being preserved permanently; for every hectare of oil palm, the country preserves four hectares of permanent reserves which is a healthy balance in terms of the land use policy,” Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said yesterday.

Taking on western environmental groups who say that oil palm plantations were destroying the rainforest, he said the displacement of orang utans cannot be attributed to palm oil development in general.

Speaking at the opening of the International Palm Oil Sustainability Conference hosted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council here, Dompok said Malaysia was committed to the United Nations Rio Earth Summit 1982 pledge of retaining 50% of total land area under forest.

He said there were laws to ensure that plantations operated in harmony with wildlife, biodiversity and the environment.

He said that a number of areas where higher populations of orang utans and other wildlife were present had been gazetted as wildlife sanctuaries, national parks or forest reserves.

“In addition, the oil palm industry has voluntarily taken steps to be involved in wildlife and biodiversity conservation,” he said, adding that they were involved in efforts to recreate riparian reserves and connect wildlife corridors.

He said Malaysian palm oil has overcome various challenges like dubious health claims by competing oils because successful research had debunked those claims.

Boost to Sabah wildlife centre
The Star 25 May 10;

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah Wildlife Rescue Centre has been set up at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here.

It was made possible through a joint initiative between the Sabah Wildlife Department, Shangri-La Rasa Ria and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

A memorandum of understanding was signed by the three organisations at the International Palm Oil Conference attended by 300 local and foreign participants here.

Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Ellorin Angin said the centre would be involved in wildlife rescue and translocation operations throughout Sabah.

“It will also conduct on site wildlife enforcement and monitoring as well as liase with other stakeholders like the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the plantation industry,” he said.

MPOC chairman Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said it would help finance the rescue centre.

“This is an excellent start and demonstrates our commitment to conservation efforts,” he said.

Lee added that the palm oil industry continued to be unfairly blamed for the loss of wildlife habitats and biodiversity.

“Major food producers have been pressured to drop palm oil as the public is being brainwashed into believing that our palm oil is the culprit,” he said.

He said MPOC had cooperated with the Sabah Wildlife Department and NGOs to conduct surveys on the orang utan population.

“The surveys revealed that there is still a sizeable orang utan population,”he said, adding that the industry was committed to taking steps to ensure the long term survival of orang utans.

The conference was opened by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who also launched the book, The Best Kept Secrets For Reversing Climate Change.

Local palm oil industry initiates mega wild life sanctuary
Hanim Adnan, The Star 25 May 10;

KOTA KINABALU: As part of an on-going initiative to prove to the world that Malaysia is a responsible oil palm producer, a mega wild life sanctuary involving 100,000ha of rainforest in an area of 300,000ha of contiguous forest zones in Sabah is currently initiated by the Malaysian oil palm industry and Sabah state government.

Malaysian Palm Oil Council chief executive officer Tan Sri Yusof Basiron said the proposed wildlife sanctuary would have 100,000ha of nucleus with rehabilitation and release function for orang utan and other wildlife.

“This (the size of the wild life sanctuary) is over three times the size of Singapore. “There are four million people in Singapore but only 11,000 orang utans in Sabah. This imply that if all the orang utans were to live in the mega sanctuary, they have potentially more land base than the people of Singapore by a factor of 1,350 times!,” said Yusof.

At the same time, Yusof has call for the zoos in New Zealand and Australia to start thinking of releasing orang utans back into the wild rather than imprisoning them in confined spaces under cold and non-tropical climates.

“Of course, they (orang utans) cannot complaint for being imprisoned in the zoos. How can they ...if only they can speak?” quipped Yusof.

He said Malaysia however will need to raise more funds for the mega sanctuary.

“The Malaysia Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund will continue to be ready to match any external funding for this purpose,” he said adding that the Western environment NGOs were also most welcome to make contributions towards this noble effort.

On Monday, a Sabah Wildlife Rescue Centre has been set up at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Sabah via a joint initiative between the Sabah Wildlife Department, Shangri-La Rasa Ria Hotel and the MPOC.

An MOU was signed by the three organisations at the IPOSC attended by 300 local and foreign participants here.