Press Release | IZW | 07-02-2011

Wildlife Conservation In Managed Forests

A Memorandum of Understanding will pave the road to continue an already successful collaboration of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) with the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD).

Wildlife Conservation In Managed Forests

Datuk Sam Mannan and Prof Dr Heribert Hofer DPhil exchanging the documents after the signing of the MoU at the Sabah Forestry Department Headquarters in Sandakan.

 

On Monday, 7th February 2011, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was

signed between the State Government of Sabah (Malaysia), represented by

the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo

and Wildlife Research (IZW) of Germany. This MoU will pave the road to

continue an already successful collaboration of the IZW, an

internationally renowned wildlife research institute, with the SFD by

assisting the SFD in their efforts to monitor the biodiversity in Forest

Management Units (FMUs) in Sabah.

Wildlife conservation beyond borders of parks or other fully

protected areas is paramount for the effective and comprehensive

conservation of biodiversity in the landscapes of Sabah. Forests are a

key habitat in Sabah, since more than half of Sabah’s area is covered by

them. As most forests are commercially used for the production of

timber, a sustainable management of these forests is of great importance

to ensure the long-term conservation of some of the most threatened

species in Sabah, such as the SundaClouded Leopard.

During the signing, Datuk Sam Mannan, Director of the SFD, pointed

out that the collaboration with the IZW has proven to be impressively

successful during the last years and that he is very pleased that this

collaboration will now be continued and expanded in the near future. The

results obtained during previous studies by the IZW in FMUs included

pioneering findings such as the first film of a SundaClouded Leopard

released in spring 2010, or the rediscovery in Sabah of the Hairy-Nosed

Otter – previously thought extinct – after a gap of more than 100 years.

“The research by the IZW assisted us to show how diverse some of our

FMUs are” mentioned Datuk Sam Mannan during the signing of the MoU. “We

know that there are orang-utans or elephants living in our forests but

our knowledge about other, highly threatened wildlife species such as

the endangered Otter Civet was very limited. With their research the IZW

showed us that these species occur in our forests and how to find

them.” Previous studies of the IZW mainly focussed on Deramakot Forest

Reserve and its neighbouring FMUs; the new MoU paves the way to expand

these efforts to other FMUs in the coming years.

Heribert Hofer, Director of the IZW, added “the biological richness

of Sabah’s forests is a great treasure and a heritage of worldwide

importance. It is therefore an important responsibility to manage these

forests in a sustainable way. Therefore, up-to-date scientific research

and wildlife surveys are important to understand the needs of threatened

species. Knowing and appreciating the diversity of these forests will

help to protect their richness for the benefit of all.”

Earlier in November 2010, the IZW signed anMoU with the Sabah

Wildlife Department (SWD), agreeing on close collaboration on research

and conservation of Sabah’s wildlife, particularly the highly endangered

Sabah Rhino. The MoU with the SFD now expands the research efforts of

the IZW to FMUs. “Very little is known about the ecology of wildlife

species in Sabah’s forests and how they respond to timber extraction.

Such research is of a very high practical value because the appropriate

management and protection of wildlife species requires such knowledge”

Heribert Hofer added. By 2014 the SFD aims to have all FMUs in Sabah

certified for Sustainable Forest Management. Wildlife monitoring and the

conservation of the forest’s biodiversity is one of the main components

of sustainability and therefore the SFD is optimistic that this

collaboration with the IZW will assist their efforts to reach this goal.

 

OttercivetteEndangered Otter Civet Cynogalebennettii photographed in Deramakot Forest Reserve with a remote camera trap. Photo courtesy: Wilting & Mohamed, SFD, SWD 

 

 

 

 

Contact:

Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW) im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17
10315 Berlin
Andreas Wilting: 0049 (0)30 51 68 619;
wilting@izw-berlin.de
Steven Seet: 0049 (0)30 51 68 108; seet@izw-berlin.de

www.izw-berlin.de