The Star 13 Feb 12;
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s move to stop logging operations at the Ulu Segama-Malua forest reserve in the state’s east coast is a crucial step towards conserving the Borneo elephant population, state Widlife Department director Laurentius Ambu said.
He said a six-year study involving the satellite tracking of the state elephant population showed that the animals were sensitive to habitat disturbance.
“For example, in Gunung Rara forest reserve in central Sabah, logging activities were carried out during the tracking period and elephants moved greater distances than in forests that were not being logged,” he said.
Four adult females from Kalabakan, Taliwas, Ulu Segama-Malua and Gunung Rara Forest Reserves and one from the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary were fitted with satellite collars and the size of their home ranges were determined using the location data gathered from the satellites since 2005.
In Kinabatangan, since 2008, the department together with a wildlife non-governmental organisation, Hutan and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), also collared another nine elephants to identify the best approach to reconnect the elephants with the forest.
Based on the study, wildlife experts are urging the state to retain all remaining lowland forests which support elephants under natural forest management and not convert these areas into plantations.
DGFC director Dr Benoit Goosens said forest disturbance needed to be minimised in areas where there were wild elephants.
Borneo Conservation Trust research and conservation head Raymond Alfred said elephants had travelled longer distances in disturbed areas in search of food and water.
Keep some forests for elephants' sake
New Straits Times 14 Feb 12;
KOTA KINABALU: The tug of war for territory and resources is just one manifestation of the growing tension between economic development and biodiversity conservation.
Researchers and conservationists in Sabah and the United Kingdom conducted a study which shows the home range and movement rate of the Bornean elephants are influenced by the degree of habitat fragmentation.
Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), Cardiff University and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and WWF-Malaysia carried out the study which was published in the scientific journal Public Library of Science One (PLoS 1).
In 2005, SWD and WWF initiated the first satellite-tracking programme to investigate the movements of wild Bornean elephants in Sabah.
The team placed the satellite collars on four adult females from Kalabakan, Taliwas, Ulu Segama-Malua and Gunung Rara Forest Reserves and one from the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.
Head of Research and Conservation at Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT) and study leader, Raymond Alfred, said the satellite-tracking device was used to gather location data and determine the size of these elephant home ranges.
"Home range size was smaller in non-fragmented forests than in fragmented forests because once a habitat was cleared or converted, the availability of food plants and water sources was reduced, forcing the elephants to travel to adjacent forest areas," said Alfred.
This indicates that wildlife has to adapt to landscape changes and that elephants are very sensitive to habitat disturbance.
For example, in Gunung Rara Forest Reserve (central Sabah), logging was carried out during the tracking period and elephants were found to have moved greater distances than in forests that were not being logged.
The team believed that the decision to stop logging in Ulu Segama-Malua Forest Reserves would have a positive impact on the elephant population in the area.
"Forest disturbance needs to be minimised wherever wild elephants are found in Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve (SLFR).
"The elephants in Lower Kinabatangan were separated from SLFR for 25 years due to habitat fragmentation and BCT is in the process of getting the key oil palm plantation companies to support the initiative to set aside a corridor to connect the fragmented forests."
DGFC director and a senior research associate at Cardiff University Dr Benoit Goossens highlighted two recommendations to ensure the long-term conservation of the Bornean elephants.
"Firstly, all remaining lowland dipterocarp forests which support elephants should be retained under natural forest management and must not be converted to plantations; and, secondly, forest disturbance needs to be minimised wherever wild elephants roam.
"In timber production forests, this can be achieved by limiting the extent and frequency of logging operations in any given management compartment," he stressed.
Following these recommendations, BCT is now working in partnership with KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd in monitoring the elephant population and developing best management practices.
In the past four years, SWD, DGFC and Hutan had collared nine elephants in Kinabatangan to identify the best approach to reconnect forest fragments in the highly-fragmented areas.
It was supported by Houston Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Elephant Family, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and US Fish and Wildlife Service.
