Giving back 104ha to wildlife
Published on: Sunday, September 14, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: A one chain or 20 metre distance along the lower Kinabatangan riverbank encompassing 104 hectares will be rid of all oil palm vegetation from the middle of next month as part of a long-term exercise.The areas identified are within Malbumi Estate near Teragang Kecil, Bukit Garam, Pontian and IOI along Sungei Resay tributaries. The clearing of the riparian areas is necessary to facilitate the uninterrupted migration travel habits of wildlife like elephants and orang utans in search of food along the established Corridor of Life.
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This will be followed by community folks replanting forest trees with the participation of a willing plantation in Kinabatangan to communicate the message that riparian reserves with palms should be restored by taking out the palms and replacing them with forest trees.This was decided at a meeting of enforcement agencies and plantation owners at the Forestry Headquarters in Sandakan last Friday, chaired by Director of Forestry Department, Datuk Sam Mannan.Project RiLeaf Manager Kertijah Abdul Kadir said planting contracts had been awarded for half of the 104 hectares for September-October while another half would be covered towards the end of the year, if weather permits.The Nestle and Sime Darby funded Project RiLeaf will ceremoniously stage a dramatised chopping of mature illegal oil palms when launching the exercise.
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Friday's meeting was a follow-up to the first dialogue in late July where Sam appealed to plantations that had violated the riparian reserves to voluntarily start work on clearing the traditional one chain (20m) width land title condition stipulated in old title documents.The presence of a senior officer Bernard Liew from the headquarters of the Land and Survey Department, Kota Kinabalu, reaffirmed the legal position of the riparian reserves.
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Liew said the power of the Land Office includes prior permission from the department for anyone who enters riparian reserves for purposes which the department chooses to know.In terms of width, Liew said that actually a 50m minimum applies to Kinabatangan or even the width of the river. But to keep the initial job simple and move the project fast, Sam said work must start with the one chain or 20m first. A total of 16 representatives from the relevant government agencies such as Sabaah Wildlife Department, the Environment Protection Department, Ministry of Culture, Department of Agriculture, Tourism and Environment and Land and Survey Deparrtment attended the meeting, whereas the private sector was represented by Nestle, and oil palm companies such as Pontian United Plantation Bhd, Malbumi Development Corporation, Genting Plantation Bhd and also NGOs like Borneo Conservation Trust and the East Malaysian Planters Association (EMPA) . Sam said the Forestry Department would work closely with Land and Surveys, Borneo Conservation Trust, Empa and the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) to assist Nestle in identifying the remaining land owners along the Kinabatangan River to ensure that Project RiLeaf achieving its ultimate target of reforesting 2,400 hectares of riparian reserves under the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life initiative first hatched by WWF-Malaysia .The collaborative effort with the Land and Survey Department includes surveys of riparian reserves beyond the one chain or 20 metres to determine what the long term width should be, said Sam who indicated his aim for a "large scale" job that starts with the Lower Kinabatangan below the Lahad-Datu/Sandakan bridge. Once success here is achieved, the reforestation work will extend to upper Kinabatngan above the bridge. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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