New findings by the Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT) show that orangutans are surviving in pockets of forest within the oil palm plantations in Sabah and that it is possible for the orangutans to travel and live within the plantations.

“This initial finding is part of the effort to realise our goal towards creating a contiguous forest within the landscape and thus will benefit a wider range for wildlife habitat and movement,” said BCT Chief Executive Officer, Cyril Pinso.

BCT has been commissioned by Malaysia Palm Oil Corporation (MPOC) to undertake a survey of the orangutan population in Sabah, including those residing within oil palm plantations.

Pinso said recent reports that majority of the isolated orangutans in the Kinabatangan area would go extinct in less than 50 years if nothing is done is true.

BCT is a state-mandated tax-exempt NGO established in 2006, and promoted by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment. It was incorporated under the Trustee’s Ordinance 1951, Cap. 148 (Sabah), to deal with the pressing needs to preserve the habitat and the migration route of Borneo’s most endangered wildlife along the Kinabatangan and the Segama Rivers.

This migration route referred to as BCT Green Corridor is part and parcel of BCT’s mission.

As a first token step, BCT has bought five acres in the Kinabatangan area to connect this corridor, supported by funds from Japanese individuals.

At the same time, it also raised awareness to deal with the continuing challenges concerning our conservation efforts for the benefit of wildlife and the environment, including restoring Malaysia’s image in the oil palm industry.

In recent years, Sabah oil palm plantation companies have been accused of being insensitive to the existence and the well-being of the highly endangered large mammals of Borneo such as the orangutan, Sumatran Rhino, Bornean Elephant and Probocis Monkey.

 

As a result of this negative portrayal of the industry, the MPOC (responsible for marketing and promotion of oil palm products worldwide) has taken a serious interest and affirmative action to environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation and wildlife preservation.

 

Pinso said the survey was in collaboration with the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project (KOCP), a conservation project operated by a private non-governmental organisation called HUTAN, which is based in Kinabatangan Sabah, and has been working towards the conservation of the OU in Sabah since 1998.

In addition, the recent signing of a Tripartite Agreement between BCT, MPOC and Bursa Malaysia at the recently concluded International Palm Oil Sustainable Conference (IPOSC) at Kota Kinabalu in April 2008 is “timely and applauded”.

Further conservation measures undertaken through this networking would be to ensure that oil palm plantations are doing their part in ensuring that the building up of good wildlife corridor in the Kinabatangan / Segama areas, planting fruit trees as food sources for wildlife, re-stocking the river reserves with trees species helps increase biodiversity and food sources for these animals.

(Source: Malaysia Daily Express News)