Guest guest Posted September 24, 2003 Report Share Posted September 24, 2003 ***************************Advertisement*************************** eCentral - Your Entertainment Guide http://www.star-ecentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2003/9/23/features/6308305 & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Tuesday September 23, 2003 A ray of hope <b>All that remains of the forests in Lower Kinabatangan are tiny tracts too small to offer much protection to the orang utan population. But a proposed management plan offers a glimmer of hope, writes TAN CHENG LI.</b> EDDIE Ahmad, 28, reveals that he never saw any orang utans when he was a kid growing up in Sukau village in Kinabatangan. This is rather odd, considering that today, orang utans and other primates such as the proboscis monkey, silvered langur and Bornean gibbon are the mainstay of a thriving nature tourism industry in the region. Sightings of these species and many others are almost guaranteed when visitors go on safari cruises along the Kinabatangan River and its many tributaries. But as Eddie & #8217;s revelation shows, the seemingly abundant wildlife disguises the true picture: encounters with wildlife have become commonplace only because the animals are squeezed into slivers of forest along the river as they flee the surrounding cleared land. One of the last forested floodplains in Sabah, the Lower Kinabatangan region stretches along a quarter of the river. Logged in the past, the regenerating forest is now home to some 1,125 orang utans. Hosting about 9% of Sabah & #8217;s orang utans, it is an important conservation site for the endangered primate. But the Kinabatangan orang utans suffer the same predicament as their cousins elsewhere. Unless protective measures are applied, their numbers will dwindle. Over 80% of the 330,000ha floodplain has been cleared for oil palm plantations, leaving pockets of forests which hold too few orang utans to create a thriving population. And although over three-quarters of Kinabatangan orang utans are found within the 26,000ha Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary and other small protected areas, these forests offer little refuge as they are carved up by roads, farms and plantations. Cardiff University geneticist Dr Michael Bruford projects that of the 10 forested lots which make up the Sanctuary, three are likely to lose their orang utan populations in the near future. It is bad enough that they each harbour fewer than 30 individuals, a number too small to form a viable population. They are also completely cut off from other forests. Bruford & #8217;s colleague, Dr Benoit Goossens, warns that the Kinabatangan population is likely to suffer significant loss of genetic diversity in the near future due to genetic drift (the loss of genetic diversity over many generations). The primates still display high genetic diversity, traits important for the primate to adapt to environmental changes, but Goossens notes that there is limited genetic differentiation among orang utans in the various forest fragments. “This shows that gene flow is not maintained and that some small sub-populations are already genetically isolated.” To maintain gene flow, he says the orang utans must be able to move from one forest fragment to another. “With sufficient migration, a fragmented population will behave just like a single large population of the same total size,” says Goossens. Without a migration route, he adds, the isolated groups face the risk of genetic erosion and in-breeding which leads to poorer reproductive fitness. Eventually, their numbers will plunge. To avert this dire prospect, the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) has taken heed of scientists & #8217; suggestion to link isolated forest patches through wooded corridors and build “orang utan bridges” across tributaries as these now prevent dispersal of segregated groups of orang utans. The department will initiate inter-agency collaboration to solve the problem of forest fragmentation and to assess land developments which pose a threat to the Sanctuary. Department deputy director Laurentius Ambu reveals that the proposals are among the steps outlined in a five-year management plan being drafted to conserve and maintain a genetically-viable orang utan population in the Lower Kinabatangan. For that, the plan will have to tackle the multiple problems which plague conservation of orang utans: habitat loss and degradation, habitat fragmentation, land use, poaching and low public awareness. Ambu says one urgent measure is to gazette the Sanctuary under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for tighter protection. Now it is only protected as a bird sanctuary under the Sabah Land Ordinance. To add another shield, the sanctuary will be proposed as a Ramsar site (wetlands of international importance). The Kinabatangan management plan also says land-use patterns must be dealt with to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Hemmed in by development, orang utans are left with little foraging ground and end up nearer to human settlements. Killing of orang utans for crop protection peaked at the height of the land conversion boom in the 1980s, according to Peter Malim, wildlife officer for the Kinabatangan district. He says between 1989 and 1999, an average of five orang utans were killed annually for entering farms and estates, particularly in the villages of Sukau, Bilit and Batu Putih and the Malbumi, Tenegang, Pontian and Gomontong estates. To reduce poaching and killing of the species, the management plan calls for stringent enforcement by wildlife rangers and volunteer wildlife wardens. Ambu says community squads such as the Wildlife Control Unit of Sukau should be set up in other villages since they have proved useful in preventing orang utans from entering farms and plantations, where they risk being killed. (See story on page 5.) The Wildlife Control Unit is one of many schemes under the Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Project (KOCP). Apart from research into orang utans, KOCP conducts educational programmes for schools and is now working with villagers to develop nature tourism. The goal is to promote peaceful co-existence between man and orang utan. “Such local community involvement is crucial since community development and nature conservation are inextricably linked,” asserts primatologist Dr Isabelle Lackman-Ancrenaz who started KOCP in 1998 together with her husband Dr Marc Ancrenaz, a veterinarian. Apart from supporting the local community, their work on a 5sqkm site near Sukau has contributed knowledge vital for conservation of the species. It shows that orang utans adapt to a secondary forest environment by changing their diet, habits and behaviour. Close observations of 35 orang utans in the research site have revealed that the apes feast on 350 species of fruits and tree leaves associated with a degraded forest. Also, they rarely build day nests and reuse their nests a second time, habits not seen in primary forests which would naturally have sturdier and more abundant trees. Orang utans, particularly males, are highly territorial and require a large home range. In the Kinabatangan, however, flanged males (dominant males which possess large cheek pads and a throat sac) appear to be more tolerant of others. “We see males in the same area with no aggressive response,” says Lackman-Ancrenaz. These findings, she adds, are vital for orang utan conservation as they give an invaluable insight into the long-term chances of survival of orang utans in secondary forests. However, just because orang utans can cope in a transformed habitat such as Kinabatangan does not mean that all is well. “We know a regenerating secondary forest can sustain a high density of orang utans in the short term but, in the long term, we don & #8217;t know,” warns Lackman-Ancrenaz. Further-more, she adds, there are different types of secondary forests with different degrees of disturbance & #8211; not all can support orang utans. To improve the orang utans & #8217; chances of survival in Sabah, she urges for restoration and expansion of their habitat. “We cannot place all our hopes in secondary forests. They do have value for conservation of orang utans and are worth protecting but we also need to prevent further habitat loss and fragmentation.” <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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