Irresponsible acts drive Sabah's marine life to extinction
LAHAD DATU: All parties, including the public, are urged to play responsible roles in protecting and maintaining wildlife to prevent it from extinction.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the government had undertaken various efforts to ensure that nature is maintained, including the wildlife, so that it can continue to play a contributory role to the economy of the people and the state.
Christina said these efforts include establishing protected areas such as Taman Kinabalu, Taman Banjaran Crocker, Taman Bukit Tawau, Imbak Canyon and many others.
She said the government had also gazetted areas as marine parks, established marine protected areas such as Taman Tun Mustapha in Kudat, Taman Tun Sakaran in Semporna and Taman Pulau Penyu in Sandakan.
“In addition to these efforts, the government had also increased the protected status of some protected animal species and made amendments to the enactments to provide heavier punishment to offenders.
“Despite our efforts, we still could not curb these wildlife criminal offenders from illegal hunting and smuggling,” she said.
Therefore, she said all parties must work together and actively play their respective roles to fight these wildlife criminal offenders in order to protect our natural resources.
According to Christina who is also Deputy Chief Minister, the illegal hunting and smuggling of wildlife have caused us to lose very valuable resources, and if these activities continue, wildlife species will eventually face extinction.
“We are all responsible to stop these illegal activities involving the wildlife. We are also responsible to ensure these irresponsible people are brought to justice to receive the appropriate punishment.
“I believe that all the people of Sabah want this state to continue to prosper with its natural resources,” she said in her speech delivered by her assistant minister, Assafal P Alian, at the launch of World Wildlife Day 2019, yesterday.
In her speech, Christina also called on the community to give full commitment, support and cooperation in order to maintain our marine biodiversity.
She said Sabah is lucky to have a rich marine ecosystem populated by various species, such as turtles, whales, dugong and others.
However, irresponsible acts of some individuals and parties and activities such as fish bombing and throwing garbage into the waters have led to extinction of some of these species.
These bad behaviour, she said, must be stop in order that that the marine life are protected and maintained.
She also hoped that this programme could raise the awareness among the community and foster the spirit to safeguard and protect these valuable natural resources.
Meanwhile, Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga, said the programme aimed to share the importance of protecting the wildlife in this state, which is facing various threats following irresponsible acts of humans.
Through this programme, various information could be conveyed through activities in line with the government's goals to create a community that is more alert and proactive against current issues.
The theme, ‘Life Below Water: for people and planet' is in line with the sustainable development goal that emphasizes the importance of protecting marine life and efforts to empower marine life conservation.