{"id":771,"date":"2021-01-29T15:51:55","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T07:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/?p=771"},"modified":"2021-01-29T15:51:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T07:51:57","slug":"protecting-our-forests-one-year-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/2021\/01\/29\/protecting-our-forests-one-year-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting our forests: one year running"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kota Kinabalu – After a year of active ground operations, Sabah Forestry Department\u2019s PROTECT team has notched significant achievements in its role as enforcement frontliners in combatting forest crime, wildlife poaching and trafficking in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased to report that between January and December last year, more than 200 enforcement operations have been carried out by our PROTECT team in forest reserves, protected areas and public roads, despite the Covid-19 pandemic,\u201d said Mr Frederick Kugan, Sabah Forestry Department\u2019s Chief Conservator of Forests. \u201cAs a result of these operations, 68 arrests were made with suspects handed to the police and Sabah Wildlife Department for various offences under the law. This includes the arrest and prosecution of two suspects detained in Tawau for possession of elephant tusks last January. Besides, the team also managed to confiscate about RM3.1 million worth of forest produces from various illegal activities,\u201d said Kugan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Roadblock training of PROTECT rangers. Courtesy: Sabah Forestry Department\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Four poachers were arrested under firearm act and the case was surrendered to the police. Courtesy: Sabah Forestry Department\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Poachers are often circulating on motorbikes in forest reserves. In this case, three suspects were handed to the police and motorbikes were confiscated. Courtesy: Sabah Forestry Department\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile we are unable to technically cover the whole state and have permanent presence in every forest reserve or protected area due to limited resources, it is undeniable that our rangers have put the pressure on poachers and illegal loggers,\u201d stressed Kugan. \u201cAt the moment, the PROTECT unit consists of (only) 50 forest rangers, out of which 25 members are currently funded by Yayasan Sime Darby for two years as part of its RM4 million grant for combatting wildlife crimes in Sabah,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe recent killing of a male elephant in Tongod shows that the task of protecting our wildlife against unscrupulous poachers is extremely challenging. We aim to further intensify our efforts in identified areas, working closely together with our partners. The Department is fully committed to put every effort in protecting our forest resources and in tackling poaching and wildlife crimes,\u201d said Kugan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project partner Dr Benoit Goossens, Director of Danau Girang Field Centre and Professor at Cardiff University echoes: \u201cThe challenge of fighting poaching and wildlife trade is immense and cannot be easily solved in a few months. It requires massive resources to enable intensive ground presence and intelligence gathering by enforcement bodies such as Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Wildlife Department, PDRM and many others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, \u201cEqually important is the participation and awareness of these crimes from the public. We all understand and acknowledge the importance of wildlife for Sabah, and it is through everyone\u2019s combined effort that we can fight wildlife crimes. I truly appreciate the commitment that has been shown by the PROTECT team and applaud their achievements so far.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith full commitment and proper financial support from the state government and other agencies, I am confident that we will be able to win this fight. And we are all hopeful that when the pandemic situation improves, we will be ready to welcome tourists again to appreciate what Sabah has to offer,\u201d concluded Goossens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kota Kinabalu – After a year of active ground operations, Sabah Forestry Department\u2019s PROTECT team has notched significant achievements in its role as enforcement frontliners in combatting forest crime, wildlife poaching and trafficking in the state.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m pleased to report that between January and December last year, more than 200 enforcement operations have been carried […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions\/776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}