Four wildlife species to receive fully protected status in Sarawak

KUCHING (Dec 1): The Sarawak government, through the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), will amend the 1998 Wildlife Protection Ordinance to upgrade the status of four wildlife species from Protected Animal status to Fully Protected Animal status.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Len Talif Salleh said the amendment, which is currently under final review, will cover pangolins, sun bears, colugos, and wild cats.

“In terms of enforcement, the Sarawak government, through SFC and relevant enforcement agencies, will continue operations using the latest technology.

“These efforts extend across international borders, with collaboration strengthened with Indonesia and Brunei,” he said when delivering the winding-up speech for his ministry during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here.

Len Talif noted that between April and November, SFC opened 59 investigation papers on offences related to Fully Protected Areas (TPA) and wildlife crimes.

Of these, nine cases were brought to court, 15 were issued compounds, two were referred to the State Attorney General’s Chambers, and the remaining 33 are at various stages of investigation.

During the same period, eight cases initiated the previous year were also prosecuted, bringing the total number of court cases to 17.

Among these, 21 defendants pleaded guilty and were fined, while 13 offenders received custodial sentences.

A total of RM39,000 in compounds were collected, while court-imposed fines amounted to RM216,700.

He added that from Nov 4-8, SFC and the Royal Malaysia Police collaborated with Indonesian enforcement agencies to combat wildlife smuggling along the Malaysia-Indonesia border.

During the operation, 313 wildlife items were seized, including ironwood, Casuarina equisetifolia, and deer antler ferns.