‘Draw up plan to manage and conserve hornbills’

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WORKSHOP: Len strikes the gong to open the workshop. With him are Said (left), Oswald (second right) and Professor Vijak (right).

BINTULU: A comprehensive Hornbills Strategic Management Plan for Sarawak should be drawn up after The Sarawak Hornbill Workshop 201.

Second Minister of Resources Planning and Environment, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan wanted participants and experts at the workshop to come up with recommendations that inculcate the state’s development needs and conservation realities.

In his text of speech read by Environment Assistant Minister Datu Len Talip Salleh, Awang Tengah called for interested parties to join forces with Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC) to address the issue of hornbills, the state’s emblem.

“There are six species in the state with the IUCN Red List of Threatened species categorising as ‘globally near threatened’ the Rhinoceros Hornbill, Helmeted Hornbill, Black Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Bushy-crested Hornbill and Wreathed Hornbill,” Awang Tengah said when officiating at the workshop on the minister’s behalf at a hotel here yesterday.

“There is also lack of studies and expertise on hornbills and that can pose a threat to the species. Scientific information and knowledge are critical in ensuring conservation policies and environment protection legislation achieve their objectives, plus the need to know the real issues and risks involved,” he said.

Awang Tengah called for recommendations to explore ecotourism that brought benefits to the local communities as frontliners in the state’s conservation efforts.

The minister said effective wildlife management and conservation could only be achieved by collecting and analysing data related to ecology and biology of wildlife, their habitats and food sources, and the impact of human activities.

He said biodiversity management and conservation could not be carried out by SFC alone but required the involvement of stakeholders.

“We have to work together as a team to overcome obstacles and constraints.”

The minister hoped conservation experts would help the state draw up a map for the survival of threatened species, while finding workable solutions to strike a balance between human and hornbill needs.

Senior assistant director of Forest Department Said Gapar pointed out that hornbills were listed as Totally Protected Species under The Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998.

Currently,  there are eight hornbill species in Sarawak: White-crested Hornbill, Bushy-crested Hornbill, Wrinkled Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill, Black Hornbill, Pied Hornbill, Rhinocerous  Hornbill and Helmeted Hornbill.

Said who read the speech of managing director/CEO of Sarawak Forestry Datu Ali Yusop said the hornbill had sadly been neglected relative to species like orang utans and turtles.

He hoped the workshop would provide practical and scientific information on hornbills that identify potential threats and gaps so as to draw up management and conservation plans.

Assistant Professor Vijak Chimchome from the Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University Bangkok, an expert on hornbills in Thailand gave a keynote address on the birds and how they conserve them.

The state government had been working with hornbill experts from Thailand since 1981.

A total of 29 papers were presented and 130 participants attended the workshop with invited experts and speakers from Singapore, Brunei and Peninsular Malaysia. The bi-annual event was themed ‘Hornbill Conservation: Threats, Gaps and Future Direction’ this time.

Among those present was SFC                acting deputy general manager Oswald Braken Tisen who is also chairman of the workshop’s organising committee, and Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC) regional manager Mohammad Jirin Anis.