Aimed at balancing the needs of humans with that of wildlife, wildlife damage management plans have been formulated for decades to ensure harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.
But that has not always been easy to do in Malaysia though.
Apart from habitat loss and poaching, rapid urbanisation and the conversion of forests for agricultural purposes are among the leading factors contributing to human-wildlife conflict.
Speaking to FMT in conjunction with World Wildlife Day today, WWF-Malaysia elephant conservation manager Cheryl Cheah and Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Terengganu chairman Wong Chee Ho both called for innovative solutions to address wildlife damage management in the country.
Celebrated annually since 2013 to raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants, this year’s World Wildlife Day seeks to promote forest and forest wildlife management models and practices that accommodate both human well-being and the long-term conservation of forests and their species.
In an email interview with FMT, Cheah noted that human-elephant conflict (HEC) in Sabah has been an issue since the 1990s when the state started to convert more forests into oil palm plantations.
She said the diminishing size of their natural habitats has left elephants in Sabah with “no choice” but to venture into plantations and human settlements adjacent to forests in search of food.
“Conflicts between people and elephants result in the loss of elephant lives every year,” she said.
“According to the Bornean Elephant Action Plan 2020-2029, the highest number of elephant deaths in Sabah was reported in 2018 when 31 elephants died due to various causes, mostly as a result of gunshot wounds and suspected poisoning linked to retaliatory killing due to HEC.”
She said although loss of human lives in Sabah due to HEC is “very rare”, there is a significant impact on crop and property damage, especially for villagers or smallholder plantations that do not have the resources to mitigate HEC.
Various methods have been employed by plantation companies and local communities in Sabah to guard their crops and property with varying levels of success, including physical barriers such as electric fences and trenches, deterrent methods such as using noise cannons, spotlights, and translocation of problem elephants.
The establishment of ecological corridors, especially in plantations that lie between two forest reserves, is another example of wildlife damage management best practices with regards to HEC in Sabah.
WWF-Malaysia installed satellite collars on 20 Bornean elephants to better understand their movement patterns in 2013, and this information has been used to provide recommendations for the government and plantation owners on proper land-use strategies, which include the placement of electric fences and the establishment of wildlife corridors to mitigate conflicts.
“Our collared elephant data shows that the agriculture landscape dominated by oil palm plantations is increasingly being used by elephants,” said Cheah.
“Therefore, it is an urgent priority to engage with this industry to improve the management of Bornean elephants within these areas.”
Cheah outlined the need for more awareness programmes for plantation owners and local communities so they can better understand elephant behaviour and the safety precautions they can employ when encountering elephants.
Crucially, she said, estate managers need to see elephants as an opportunity (for their ecotourism potential) rather than a liability, adding that successfully managing elephants within an agricultural landscape will also result in an improved perception of the palm oil industry.
Wong, meanwhile, is pushing for a policy to address birds’ nests on electricity pylons or telecommunication towers, which can cause fires and lead to service loss for the public as well as expensive repairs for the companies involved.
Apart from being sturdy and able to support large nests, such towers are taller than many of the surrounding trees and give birds of prey a better vantage point to survey their territory, making such structures attractive nesting grounds.
In a recent statement, Wong said that power and telecommunication companies need to think outside the box when dealing with birds’ nests on electricity pylons or telecommunication towers, instead of just removing them.
The solutions he proposed include adding a platform to the towers to make the location suitable for birds of prey to use as nesting platforms, and installing cameras to record videos of the nesting birds, which could then be shared as a live feed to generate interest among the public and showcase conservation activities of the corporations involved.
“We want to create a policy to better manage this problem in a way that protects wildlife and ensures the safety of all, including meeting the needs of the corporations and the services they provide,” he said.
“The costs of monitoring all towers and keeping them nest-free is much more than the cost of supporting new and innovative ways of learning to live with the birds.”
Speaking to FMT, Wong said there needs to be a rethink on how to best invest in wildlife damage management practices instead of paying high prices for repairs.
“Right now we’re just treating the symptoms and not the cause,” he said. “We have to address the base issue.”