Land secured as corridor for elephants, orang-utans

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KOTA KINABALU: A 5.7-acre land, identified as one of the key ecological corridor for elephants and orang-utans in Lower Kinabatangan, has recently been secured by Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT) with the financial support from Co-op Clean Co., Ltd of Japan.

Tan Sri Ibrahim Menudin, Chairman of BCT, expressed his appreciation to Hideyuki Oohira, the Managing Director of Co-op Clean Co., Ltd, for their support in securing the “link” to connect the fragmented forests, during the corporation’s visit to Sabah.

Ibrahim emphasised that this effort to purchase the forest land parcel is another positive step in achieving BCT’s vision to secure the ecological corridor for elephant and orangutan.

“This particular land parcel is important for the elephant migration from Lot 3 to Lot 4 of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary,” he said yesterday.

According to Oohira, the corporation consists of 250 key cooperatives supported by 20 million consumers in Japan. From the sale of each detergent product, the company pledged 1 yen to BCT-Japan as their contribution to the conservation project in Borneo.

He said Co-op Clean’s deep concern on the issue of sustainable management and conservation of the ecosystem has driven them to work towards achieving greater sales so that a bigger contribution can be made.

Takashi Yagi, General Manager (Sales Department) last year, meanwhile, said that Co-op Clean sold about 2.6 million of their detergent in Japan, which has contributed 2.6 million yen towards the purchase of this land parcel.

Raymond Alfred, Head of Conservation and Research of BCT, said that this CSR concept or model could be duplicated in Sabah or even in Malaysia, as long as corporations know where and how they can contribute.

“Part of our plan in the effort of securing the link is to invite the cooperation from sectors such such as agricultural developers and product suppliers to participate in our conservation effort and understand where their contribution is being used.

“Through land purchase, and securing and restoration of riparian reserve, we hope to re-establish the vital wildlife corridors linking key habitat and protected areas together”, Alfred added.