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.
