THE recent death of an oil palm plantation worker trampled by a wild elephant in Temerloh was a tragic but isolated incident.
This is because the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry (MPIC) has undertaken various measures to ensure sustainable industry growth through numerous agencies such as the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF).
One of the measures is to set up the Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary to address human-elephant conflict and to create a controlled public access sanctuary to better understand and care for these animals, according to its minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin.
“Moreover, MPOGCF has also started a programme to plant elephant grass species to encourage the animals to utilise the wildlife corridors and eventually help mitigate human-elephant conflict,” she pointed out in a media statement.
“MPIC also supports the unique government-led Heart of Borneo initiative (formed in 2007) which features NGO (non-governmental organisation) support side-by-side that of the Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysian Governments.”
The programme aims to conserve the biodiversity of the Heart Borneo for the benefit of the people who rely upon it through a network of protected areas, sustainable management of forests and other sustainable land uses.
These efforts demonstrate the Government’s commitment to preserving Malaysia’s rich biodiversity, according to Zuraida.
Malaysia has both supported and participated in the Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use and the Global Methane Pledge at the 26th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP-26) held in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021.
“Malaysia’s participation along with 141 other countries in the declaration is in line with the country’s Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use to maintain at least 50% of Malaysia’s land area under forest cover and to strengthen commitments in conservation and sustainable management of forests and other ecosystems,” noted Zuraida.
Elsewhere, Zuraida said MPIC intends to seek more funding from the Finance Ministry under Budget 2023 to ensure a more concentrated effort toward environmental preservation. This is also in tandem with Malaysia’s commitment to achieve targets set forth by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Such efforts also repudiate criticisms – especially from the West – that Malaysia has been breaching global environmental standards for commercial considerations,” she pointed out.
“On my part, the ministry and I have constantly refuted these distorted views, especially during my trade missions abroad in line with our ‘Global Movement to Champion the Goodness of Palm Oil’ campaign.” – July 31, 2022
