Awang Tengah (second left, front) holds the 2014 World Wildlife Day Sarawak Level banner along with Sudarsono (second right) while witnessed by Sapuan (left, front) and Dr Mohd Kadim (right).
KUCHING: The theme of ‘Combating Wildlife Crime – Involving Stakeholders’ is in line with the government’s concept of wildlife conservation, protection and development.
Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan made this call in his speech at the 2014 World Wildlife Day Sarawak Level held in Semenggoh Wildlife Centre here yesterday.
“This theme will also serve as a constant reminder for us to persevere in conserving wildlife and stop the exploitation and destruction of wildlife,” he said.
He added that despite the unavoidable flow of development, conservation efforts should be made uniform to follow suit.
“If this matter is not given the proper attention, then wildlife extinction might be sped up due to factors like weather changes, environmental pollution, destroyed habitats and man’s own work.
“Since this is the first year that World Wildlife Day is celebrated all over the globe, I hope this would be the start of a more serious and better wildlife conservation,” Awang Tengah, who is also Industrial Development Minister, said.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) to carry out biodiversity research.
Additionally, a special fund was launched to strengthen wildlife conservation campaigns.
Also present were Forest Department director Sapuan Ahmad, Environment and Resource Planning Ministry Permanent Secretary Datu Sudarsono Osman and Unimas Vice-Chancellor Dato Dr Mohd Kadim Suhaidi.