File photo of a Sunbear.
KOTA KINABALU: A group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals have welcomed the Kota Kinabalu High Court’s decision on Nov 1 involving the possession of Sun Bear’s body parts.
In his judgment, the Judicial Commissioner Christopher Chin Soo Yin increased the imprisonment sentence imposed by the Sessions Court from two to four years, while maintaining the fine of RM50,000.
The NGOs and individuals – Danau Girang Field Centre/Professor Benoit Goossens, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre/Dr (Hon) Wong Siew Te, HUTAN/Isabelle Lackman, Borneo Futures/Marc Ancrenaz, Borneo Rhino Alliance/John Payne, WWF-Malaysia, LEAP, and Forever Sabah in a joint statement issued here yesterday said: “We take note of the fact that the enhanced imprisonment sentence was just short of the maximum five years, which is a far cry from another case in April 2019 also involving the possession of Sun Bear’s body parts, where the penalty imposed by the High Court was greatly reduced to only RM15,000 in fines.
“We hope that the harsher punishment in this case will send a message of deterrence to poachers who kill these totally protected animals for money (whether they are driven to do so by poverty or profit).”
“The courts are the culmination of the entire law enforcement process, and has a duty to uphold the environmental law. We hope that the laws will continue to be enforced by all relevant authorities in order to help prevent more tragedies, including the recent series of deaths involving many elephants in Sabah.
“Specifically with regard to Sun Bears, the public must know that they, like many other large, endangered mammals, are all slow-reproducing species. A female Sun Bear in the wild can only produce 3-4 cubs in her lifetime. Therefore, their fragile population simply cannot withstand any unnatural mortality caused by human.
“We in the civil society are only too eager to assist the government’s efforts to promote public awareness and education. Above all, in our development planning, we must always remember that it is in fact us, the humans, who are trying to invade the wildlife’s natural habitats through deforestation, instead of the other way round.
“We welcome the High Court’s progressive views on the natural environment. It is a tragedy of our modern epoch that artificial boundaries and barriers have been erected, over the years, separating the earth into ‘the human sphere’ and ‘the wildlife habitat’. This separation into ‘We vs The Others’ blinds us to the fact that our common coexistence on earth is in reality one and the same. This is why, Justice Christopher Chin spoke for many of us when he said: “We need to educate ourselves that our personal boundaries of human activity do not end at the fence of our houses. We are living in a single village called Sabah and any act or omission by anyone in any part of Sabah affecting the environment affects all of us.”
The NGOs said it was highly encouraging that the laws protecting the natural environment were viewed in such a holistic manner.
The NGOs added the judge had not only recognised the fact that harming the environment is against the public interest, but also went deeper, saying that, “Even the discarding of a plastic bottle into the sea damages the future for you and me and for our children… Our mindset must change to view the slaughter of endangered wildlife for profit as not just stealing from the forest but stealing from us.”
The NGOs pointed out that this is an unprecedented recognition that “we humans are only part of the earth’s biodiversity, and that the laws protecting our natural environment are not only designed for the present but also for the future generations – the most precious goal of environmental laws.”
“Only with such a deep and progressive conception of nature, which encapsulates the spirit of the environmental laws, that we could fully realise the objectives of making Sabah a sustainable economy while simultaneously protecting our pristine natural environment.
“We hope this judicial attitude would preside over all environmental law cases which will come before the courts. After all, the judiciary’s sacred role is to protect the weak and vulnerable in our society, and nothing is more weak or vulnerable than our defenceless wildlife and their endangered habitats, and the natural environment,” the NGOs concluded.