Guest guest Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 ***************************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=/2005/5/3/features/10578897 & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Tuesday May 3, 2005 We need more nature conservation people By HILARY CHIEW Malaysia may be rich in biological diversity but it lacks the knowledgeable and skilled people vital for protecting this natural wealth. The problem lies largely in the way natural science courses are taught at institutes of higher learning. As a result, graduates are ill-prepared for the job when they join natural resources management agencies. A recent workshop titled Future of Nature Conservation Education in Malaysia jointly organised by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme (WCS) discussed this matter with the hope of overcoming weaknesses. “One way is by ensuring that the natural resources curriculum in our tertiary institutions provide the necessary platform for the attainment of such knowledge and skills among our younger generations,” said Perhilitan director-general Datuk Musa Nordin. He said there was a conscious effort by the Government to beef up the capacity of Perhilitan and other natural resources agencies, hence providing greater opportunities for young graduates in this field. As the primary agency for wildlife and ecosystem conservation, Perhilitan has projected a staff increase of nearly 90%, from 788 in 2000 to 1,483 in 2006. Of this, 20% will be degree-holders. In Sarawak, the corporatised forestry agency – Sarawak Forest Corporation – is experiencing an aging workforce. Half of its staff will retire over the next five years. SFC general manager for Protected Areas and Biodiversity Conservation Wilfred Landong said the state was committed to expand protected areas, and has achieved half of the targeted 1 million ha. “We are urgently in need of 18 ecologists. To ensure a continuous workforce, we are starting an internship programme with local institutes of higher learning to meet our needs,” he added. The SFC appeared to be better prepared in addressing its human resource needs than its peninsula counterpart, Perhilitan. The corporation has tied up with the Lincoln University of New Zealand to provide university-level courses for experienced non-graduate officers since 2002. Dr Sivananthan Elagupillay, head of the Institute for Biodiversity in Perhilitan said the changing human resource needs of Perhilitan was reflective of its evolving role from wildlife controller in the 1960s to the broader conservation agenda since 2000. He said to live up to the conservation expectation, Perhilitan’s staff has to look at resource management from a sustainable use perspective rather than the prevailing exploitative model. To do this would require a major upgrading of knowledge and skills among its personnel. Sivananthan said the knowledge needed were tropical forestry, island biogeography, design of protected areas, traditional practices and history, population genetics, restoration ecology, ecosystem management, socio-economic assessment, technology and information, gap analysis, systematic biology and ecotourism. The skills needed are communication, ethics and values inculcation, conflict management, policy and legislation, budgeting and fund-raising and collaborative management. WCS’s Sarawak director Dr Melvin Gumal said the conservation field did not attract the best brains simply because of unattractive salaries and uncertain career development. “Some of our graduates gravitate into conservation because they cannot get into economic, finance, engineering or medicine. Since it is their second choice, we should make it exciting for these people and keep them in conservation, including giving them a good career choice and also attractive remuneration package,” he said. Well-qualified and motivated graduates do not stay for long in conservation as their priorities change, especially when they have to raise a family. “Good people then move into more lucrative ecological work such as in consultancies and overseas. We really need to create a career path for our best people,” said the former Sarawak forestry official. Environmental consultant Gopinath Nadaraj, however, is not optimistic that generating suitable graduates will raise the level of protection for biodiversity. “The institutional framework is flawed to begin with. Agencies that deal with natural resources are fragmented, economic-driven and do not have a focus on biodiversity conservation,” he said, citing the example of the Fisheries Department which was concerned more with fish catch than sustainable fishing activities. Gopinath said there was no clear human resource planning in these agencies. Personnel transfer, a common practice in the civil service, also hindered continuity of groundwork. He also pointed out that despite being a mega-diversity centre, the country’s expenditure on protected areas was only 30% of those spent by developed countries. He warned that in the current pursuit of biotechnology development, the country risked losing sight of the need for taxonomists, population biologists, resource managers and molecular biologists to manage its biodiversity. <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 1995-2004 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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