Bora wins The Hornbill Award, shares winnings with other finalists

KOTAKINABALU: Nongovernmental organisation Bringing Back Our Rare Animals (Bora) has won the inaugural The Hornbill Award Competition organised by Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM), beating five other conservation finalists.

Bora, which works toward preventing the extinction of endangered species in Malaysia, brought home RM105,000 in prize money for its submitted project to create feeding grounds for wild elephants in the Tabin wildlife reserve, during the finals held virtually on Sunday.

Through the award, CGM wanted to fund the winner on its project to benefit biodiversity, while impacting the environment and livelihood of communities in the areas concerned.

However, Bora executive director Datuk Dr John Payne said it plans to share some of its winnings with the other five finalists: Stopborneo Wildlife, Kelab Alami Tanjung Kupang, Marine Research Foundation (MRF), Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) and Regional Environmental Awareness of Cameron Highlands (Reach).

“We had planned to give RM10,000 each to the other five finalists because everyone involved agreed that all the proposals were excellent and worthy of support.

“One of the other finalists just graciously said it is best that Bora keeps the funds.

“Two have accepted,” he said, adding that it would depend on the finalists themselves whether they accept the gesture.

“We will also give RM10,000 to the new NGO Responsible Elephant Conservation Trust, which will initiate a similar project (as ours) near Telupid,” he told The Star.

Of the remaining prize money, RM15,000 will go to daily paid labour to continue developing the planned elephant feeding grounds in Tabin that involves the removal of unwanted weeds as well as planting figs and nutritious grass species, he added.

About RM11,000 will be used for portable solar-powered electric fencing for two sites, as they need to keep elephants away for the first few months to allow the planted materials to grow to the initial “eatable” size and quality.

“RM6,000 will go to supplies while RM13,000 would be for Bora’s running costs,” said Payne.