BCCK employees gearing up for Ride4TheWild 2016.
KUCHING: About 260 cyclists took part in a Ride4TheWild 2016 programme held last Sunday in an effort aimed at wildlife conservation.
It was organised by the Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme, Sarawak Biodiversity Centre and Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak campus in collaboration with the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK).
BCCK sponsored a total of 300 sandwiches for the event which saw the cyclists including BCCK employees, taking part in a 13-km and 38-km ride which began and ended at Swinburne.
“BCCK is honoured to be part of the conservation work and help the Society to reach their goals in raising funds and promoting awareness on the plight of wildlife in Sarawak,” said Eric van Piggelen, CEO of BCCK.
Among those present were director of Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme Dr Melvin Gumal and Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak campus deputy vice-chancellor and chief executive officer Professor Janet Gregory.
Ride4TheWild 2016 aimed to encourage members of the public and corporations to participate in wildlife conservation, in particular, of the iconic orang-utan and also to voluntarily conserve sharks. The event celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity.
The ride also incorporated a green element to reduce plastic waste where participants used their own water bottles with re-fills provided and cotton T-shirts were given rather than microfiber to avoid pollution.
Activities at the transit of the 38-km route included conservation awareness presentation at the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre.
The 13km route transit point activity involved the signing of pledge by 13 organisations to support orang-utan and shark conservation, of which BCCK was one of the signatories.
Organisations that signed the pledge on wildlife conservation efforts were the Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme; Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak campus; Sarawak Biodiversity Centre; Aiman Batang Ai Resort and Retreat; Borneo Adventure; Borneo Convention Centre Kuching; Hilton Kuching; Raw Kitchen; Sarawak Energy Berhad; Orangutan Project Sdn Bhd; Permai Rainforest Resort; Royal Malaysian Police, and Ulu Ai Conservancy.
All proceeds from the event were channelled to conservation education activities to create awareness among the community.