Hazril Rafhan (Department of Wildlife & National Parks Peninsular Malaysia – DWNP)

Acknowledging the human-wildlife conflicts in Malaysia, the government introduced two action plans.
1. National Elephant Conservation Action Plan (NECAP)
This plan was developed in 2013 due to the  need to integrate the Central Forest Spine (CFS) Master plan. NECAP aims to have elephants roaming freely in this habitat. The action plan has described 72 actions under 7 categories. Most of the actions are focused on effective habitat protection for elephants, stringent law enforcement and more effective human-elephant conflict management. This plan is monitored by Malaysian Elephant Alliance (MyGAJAH). It is led by Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) Peninsular Malaysia, while other team members consists of WCS-Malaysia, Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME), Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and WWF Malaysia. This collaboration enhances cooperation among government agencies, NGOs and research groups to share resources and expertise while improving effectiveness with less duplication of tasks or actions.

2. National Tiger Conservation Action Plan (NTCAP)
This plan was developed to ensure the survival of 1,000 wild tigers in the CFS by year 2020. The plan described a total of 80 actions under 4 categories.
i. Habitat Protection: Secure the CFS with strictly protected priority areas in landscapes connected with corridors.
ii. Species Protection: Provide effective and long term protection of tigers and their prey
iii. Human – Tiger Conflict: Promote and practice ecologically sound land use, compatible with tiger conservation outside the priority areas.
iv. Research: Apply science in monitoring the efficiency of conservation actions and improving the knowledge of tiger ecology.

The tiger landscape and priority area has been identified along the CFS, connecting all three forest complexes of Belum-Temenggor, Taman Negara and Endau-Rompin. MYCAT acts as the secretariat to the Division of Conservation and Environment Management of NRE to monitor the progress and implementation. It produces a bi-annual report to NRE and reports to the Central Stakeholder Meeting for necessary decisions.

NECAP and NTCAP implementation will ensure the co-existence between human-wildlife and the survival of tigers and elephants in the Malaysian landscape in line with the country’s commitment to care and conserve these species at the international level.

This paper was presented at the “Biodiversity Forum 2016“, with the theme “Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation and Action in the Agricultural Sector” jointly organized by Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) with Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia (PERHILITAN) in Awana Genting Resort on 23rd – 24th May 2016.

Reviewed by: Anthony K.Veerayan