KOTA KINABALU – Building a highway through a protected forest and establishing viaducts to ensure wildlife connectivity between forest patches are issues that remain unresolved in the Sabah government’s eagerness to invest in wildlife conservation.
The Vibes has reliably learnt that state authorities have not decided on whether to bisect the Tawai Forest Reserve in Telupid with a 30km highway under the Pan Borneo Highway or go around the reserve area.
The proposed construction of viaducts – aimed at helping wildlife, including the state’s near-extinct elephants, to roam unfettered – has also become somewhat of an impasse for both conservationists and the government.
As far as conservation is concerned, all the problems boil down to finances, environmentalists say.
Actually, conservation does not come cheap, from advocacy to building facilities that would be sustainable,” said a WWF-Malaysia expert who spoke to The Vibes on the condition of anonymity during the seminar held here on Wednesday.
Two years ago, conservationists warned about the potential consequences of constructing the four-lane Pan Borneo Highway into the forest reserve, highlighting the risk of wildlife becoming roadkill and habitat fragmentation.
Thousands of elephants, orangutans, clouded leopards, Bornean peacock-pheasants, and other animals are feared to be affected by the construction of the road.
Costly
In 2019, the then state government had also proposed for the highway to be rerouted around the reserve.
However, there has been no clear decision on the matter until today.
WWF-Malaysia Sabah conservation head Robecca Jumin noted they had been invited to take part in the highway’s environmental impact review in 2018.
“WWF-Malaysia took part in several meetings until 2022,” said Jumin.
After raising their concerns and proposing alternative routes in these meetings, there have been no updates since, she said.
Jumin added that contractors noted that the cost of rerouting the highway around the forest reserve would be astronomical.
This would not have been an issue had all the environmental concerns been raised or an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report been included in the design and feasibility study stages, she said.
“We are proposing that if an EIA, and all of those (concerns were included), the project would be more feasible than what was done prior,” she said.
‘Balance’
Meanwhile, an engineering consultant said conservation has become a difficult problem, especially in Sabah, as all proponents involved constantly focus on saving costs.
Tan Kok Jyh said there is a need for a balance between cost-saving efforts and preserving the environment, including in the idea of constructing viaducts.
The viaducts cost millions of ringgit. Although we know how to build one, we are still unable to convince the government of the importance of conserving wildlife species in this region,” he said.
Tan noted that the current practice of the state is largely based on the translocation of wildlife from one location to another, which requires logistics, instead of allowing them to cross under viaducts.
A Mongabay report based on a study revealed that wildlife can be relocated from one place to another, but the animals will not necessarily remain in their new location.
Sabah has been at the forefront of conservation efforts, with the state government pledging 30% of its total land mass as Totally Protected Areas, of which 26% has already been achieved.
In the past, controversies have sparked over the construction of a bridge in Sukau, Kinabatangan, and in the rural areas of Sabah.
The plan to build a 350m bridge with an initial cost of RM223 million was scrapped in 2017 by the state government.
The area is famed for being the habitat of the Borneo pygmy elephants.
However, the widespread conversion of forest lands for oil palm planting has forced residents to demand for better connectivity. – The Vibes, June 16, 2023
