RSPO offers RM50,000 for info on Beluran jumbo killers

KOTA KINABALU: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – a regulator whose members include consumer companies, retailers, traders and oil palm growers – is offering a RM50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the killing of a Beluran elephant.

RSPO chief executive officer Datuk Darrel Webber, in a statement, said the reward will be coordinated through the Sabah Wildlife Department.

The killing of wildlife and protected species are symptoms of a larger problem, which will continue to grow if no one intervenes, he said.

Webber added that local stakeholders with appropriate resources need a holistic approach.

“We understand that balancing the needs of a large species that moves over great areas against the needs of the human population will be a challenging and thorny issue,” he said.

Webber said he hoped initiatives by the state government, industries and civil society to address the sustainability of the palm oil sector at a jurisdictional level can help contribute towards a holistic approach in managing the elephant population.

“Within this initiative is the identification of important conservation areas and hopefully corridors for elephant migration can be kept open or reopened,” he said.

He also reminded the public of RSPO’s whistleblower policy and complaints system which can be utilised by anyone, particularly for information relating to its members.

On Sunday, it was reported that an adult bull pygmy elephant was found dead with its tusks missing at a plantation in Beluran, Sabah.