KOTA KINABALU: Borneo pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys surviving in strips of forests along the lower Sungai Kinabatangan area are getting a “helping hand” from the Land of the Rising Sun.
With contributions from Japan and other parties, a group called the Borneo Conservation Trust has begun acquiring privately-owned land along the waterway to expand the habitat for the animals.
Trust chief operating officer Dr Tsubouchi Toshinori said the group had so far acquired a 6ha plot and was considering buying a bigger 8ha area by the year-end.
An American firm had also pledged a donation to enable the group to acquire a 2ha plot where negotiations were ongoing, he said after witnessing the presentation of a boat and four-wheel-drive vehicle by Japan’s Itochu Corp to the Sabah Wildlife Department here.
Dr Tsubouchi said over the past two years, the group had been conducting awareness and fund-raising campaigns at all 120 aquariums and zoos in Japan.
“We have a campaign called ‘Tears of the Orang Utan’ in 27 zoos and even children donate coins,’’ he added.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Suzannah Liaw said a Cabinet paper would be drawn up for the purpose of gazetting the wildlife corridor.
She said preparing to gazette the area was complex as it involved not only the Wildlife Department but also the Land and Survey Department and Natural Resources Department.
“Hopefully, it will be done within this year,” she added.
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