Build road crossings for our elephants
OF late the issue of elephants has again made the headlines, this time about the animals being seen walking around in humanoccupied areas of Dumpas, Brumas, Cenderamata, Benta Wawasan, Kalabakan and Felda Untas in Tawau. This will happen more and more as these animals lose their natural habitats to plantations.
In the same day the story came out, the issue of forest connectivity also made a story in the local papers, citing the regrowth of forest in unproductive or abandoned oil palm areas as playing “a key role in restoring tropical rainforest connectivity.”
Connectivity here, of course, refers to the ability of wildlife in accessing various areas to graze or hunt.
The Forest Ecology and Management journal has published a study’s finding that “land naturally re-growing from abandoned oil palm plantations can regenerate forest canopy to levels often found in primary forest in as little as 17 years.”
What is amazing about this is that those involved in the forest management and wildlife conservations in Sabah seem to be going agog at this report, and taking it as a major revelation to be applied into their work.
After decades of forest management and wildlife conservations in the state, have we not learned enough to know this basic thing?
Haven’t those departments and agencies made their own study of such a fundamental matter and compiled reports over the tens of years until now?
Are we then expected to continue relaying on expatriate researchers and overseas reports to learn things which have been under our noses all our lives?
It’s quite amusing to read the report, issued by one of the report’s co-author, Luke Evans from the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS) who had carried out the study at the Danau Girang Field Centre: “The study also showed that natural forest re-growth can provide usable habitat for the endangered Borneon elephant.”
Isn’t this something obvious even to village folks? Do we need a scientific researcher to tell us that a regrown forest can become a “usable habitat” for wildlife?
Anyway, a major issue that has been troubling us with regard to wildlife conservation in the Lower Kinabatangan area is the problem of the potential loss of forest connectivity.
Some time ago, a major concern was expressed by our state leaders with regard to the plan to build an RM79 million road and bridge project in the ecotourism hub of Sukau in Kinabatangan.
“The project will more likely harm the wildlife, including the Borneo pygmy elephants that roam the area,” said the Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming.
Danau Girang Field Centre Director Dr Benoit Goossens lamented, “Seventeen years ago, the Kinabatangan was called Sabah’s ‘Gift to the Earth’ and in 2005, the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary was created to increase forest connectivity along the Kinabatangan River, protect several charismatic species such as the orangutan, the elephant and the proboscis monkey, some of them becoming, over the years, iconic species for attracting ecotourists to the state. The new public road that will subsequently follow the bridge will cut off the last remaining uninhabited route for elephants near Sukau, which will have catastrophic consequences for both the animals and the people. Major conflicts will arise, deaths (elephant attacks on people, elephants shot or poisoned) will occur.
Moreover, we will increase easy penetration of poachers into protected forests, especially by ivory traders. We just lost three bull elephants from poaching.
Can we decently increase the pressure on the elephant population in Sabah?”
In this regard, I was just wondering why those concerned have not yet spoken about the feasibility and practicality of constructing large wildlife passage structures to facilitate movement across roads for not just elephants but broad range of species.
Such structures have already been built in many parts of the world, such in Europe and North America. Several overpasses (flyovers or ecoducts in Europe, and a large wildlife underpass) have been built in Florida to facilitate movement by a variety of wildlife across highways.
In the case of ecoducts, the pathways for animals are earthcovered and overgrown with flora ‘trees and bushes’ to give the animals a sense that they are still in the jungle when crossing them. In the case of underpasses, the roads are built above the ground, leaving the area under them untouched.
Of course these would incur additional costs to road constructions but wouldn’t it be worth it for the sake of wildlife preservation which in the long term will bring in billions of ringgits in revenue for the state?
A report for adaptation strategies and actions in the maintenance of large wildlife passage structures says that the emphasis should be on restoring and maintaining a sufficiently healthy ecosystems and wildlife populations by allowing animal movements (individuals or their offspring) across the landscape.
With regards to climate change, care needs to be taken to prepare the many wildlife species to adjust to changing habitat conditions (temperature, rainfall and vegetation).
“Restoring and maintaining landscape connectivity sufficient to allow wildlife populations to adjust their distribution over time is a critically important strategy for adapting to climate change,” a report recommends.
While controlling the commercially motivated expansions of oil palm areas and road building, and implementing the many aspects of the conservation strategies, it would benefit the state to look into incorporating the idea of construction animal crossing over roads, either flyovers or underpasses.
Studies on animal behaviours and adaptability when they are given these artificial connectivity facilities have been carried out by various bodies worldwide, and many of their reports are available online. To fit these reports to the conditions in Sabah there will be the need to make our own additional (adaptive) studies.
Among the issues that require attention include, animal sizes, effect of light on various small species (salamanders and turtles), moisture (need for amphibians), substrate (rocks, sand, soil), traffic noise and fencing.
As to the problem of poaching on elephants for their tusks the practice of de-horning rhinos and de-tusking of elephants by government conservators have been highly successful in reducing poaching in Africa. This approach should have long been in the agenda of local conservators.