Destruction worse than initially feared
Published on: Saturday, July 23, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Destruction from the huge blaze that swallowed the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary at Lots 1 and 2 is much worse than initially reported."It burnt 365 hectares or about 1,000 acres of forests or secondary forests, not 50 to 100 hectares as earlier thought," said Director of Forestry, Datuk Sam Mannan, citing his department's findings via use of drones."The fire also wiped out 128 hectares and not five acres of our department's newly gazetted Trusan Kinabatangan Class 1 Forest Reserve adjacent to Lot 2," Mannan told Daily Express.
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First pictures of a massive ball of sky-high swirling smoke which enveloped the Lower Kinabatangan River with blinding haze near Abai emerged on the afternoon of 12 July and continued burning until a heavy afternoon thunderstorm extinguished it on July 14."Had we not sent 10 of our best forest fighters to the scene soon as we were alerted to suppress its spread, the destruction could be much bigger," said Mannan , citing the two-day fight led by Kinabatangan District Forestry Officer, Hi Hussin bin Tukiman.Illegal hunting followed by bon-fire cooking are strong suspects for the destruction as empty bullet shells alongside skeletal bones were found at the scene, Mannan said.The 25,102-hectare Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary which comprises 10 fragmented Lots spanning Abai near the rivermouth up to Batu Putih , was gazetted in 2005 under an enactment which gives the Sabah Widlife Department the sole legal mandate to manage it. Concerned environmentalists who spoke to Daily Express said this may have been a mistake.
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"If the Wildlife Department is serious, this would not have happened," said one reader. Another reader cited the past records of the department where it is not known whether it had even taken a statement from a Federal Minister in an official inquiry into turtle eggs served at a banquet two years ago. Nevertheless, the State Culture, Tourism and Environment Ministry should see this unprecedented hell fire as a big blow, step up its statutory duty to protect the last vestige of the sanctuary's 125 million-year old forests, its world renowned mega biodiversity nourished by a bosom river that crowns Sabah with world famous flagship wetland wildlife tourism destination.
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The 335-strong herd of Kinabatangan pygmy elephants very popular with tourists basically wanders and feeds between Lot 1 to Lot 7 and stay the longest in Lot 1 and Lot 2 because of its "bigger and better" forests and grasslands, while access to Lots 8-10 is blocked by the massive Batu Putih bridge and Lahad Datu-Sandakan Highway, according to local elephant expert Dr Raymond Alfred.It is not certain how the fire has impacted the elephant fodder or habitat and so far there is no information regarding impacts on other mega species like the Orangutan in terms of nesting and feeding trees destroyed nor that of the Proboscis monkey. Meanwhile, the Wildlife Department said it is working closely with fire forensics experts from the Fire and Rescue Department to determine the cause of the fire. In its estimates the fire that destroyed around 77 hectares of the Class1 Trusan Kinabatangan Forest Reserve and 120 hectares of Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary's Lot 2 ( Source Danau Girang Field Center). Its Director William Baya said they are leaving it to the experts to confirm whether it is true the fire was caused from poaching activities as stated by the Forestry Department. "What I can confirm is that the fire started from the forest reserve and then spread rapidly to the sanctuary." "Contrary to what was reported earlier by one of the local newspapers, both Sabah Wildlife Department and Fire Department personnel were also at the scene, bravely putting out the fire and brought it under control. "Thanks to their valiant efforts, together with personnel from the Forestry Department and of course some divine intervention, heavy rain fell the evening the fire broke. "The fire that could have spread out of control causing further destruction was finally put out," he said. Baya said he was also dumbfounded by the recent statements made by the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life Tourism Operators Association (KiTA) President Alexander Yee, that the department had told them to suspend the activities of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Patrol Unit. "I am actually very sad and dumbfounded by Yee's comments. "In fact there is no regulatory issue at all regarding the patrolling activities because they are Honorary Wildlife Wardens who are authorised under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 to do enforcement. "Why should the department ask the river patrol to be suspended if KiTA is willingly assisting the department? "We never asked KiTA to suspend their patrolling activities. I hope they can continue it," he said. Baya believed the issue with KiTA might be more about the cost of running these wildlife patrols which was supposed to come from the proposed Conservation Levy imposed on all tour operators in Kinabatangan that has not been implemented yet due to some technical glitches which the Wildlide Department and KiTA are ironing out," added Baya.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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