All articles of environment in Sabah

07Aug

More jellyfish off Sabah’s west coast due to hot spell

KOTA KINABALU: Beware if you plan to go for a swim off Sabah’s west coast – the chances of getting stung by jellyfish in those waters are high. Typically, jellyfish season is between March and July but the prevailing hot weather has caused a large number of the marine creature to remain there. While jellyfish can be found all year round in the waters here, their numbers appear to dramati­cally increase during those five months, research by Universiti Malaysia Sabah concluded. The university’s Borneo Marine Research Institute senior lecturer John Madin said the po­­pulation of certain jellyfish species also increases in December and January. “The areas to watch out for are protected bays where the water is calmer,” he said. State Fisheries Department director Ahemad Sade cautioned beachgoers against going into the water because a sharp rise in the number of jellyfish has been noted. On July 30, five children aged between five and 12 were stung by jellyfish while swimming off Tanjung Aru beach. Madin also said that the sting of the two most common jellyfish species – Lobonemoides robustus and Catostylus townsendi – is not potent but that of the species Carybdea sp. and Chironex sp. could be fatal. Source: The Star
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07Aug

RM315K public toilet to lead the way in public facilities

KOTA KINABALU: A new public toilet worth RM315,000 was launched today at Tamu Ground in Putatan. Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique said that the toilet was the third public toilet developed in Sabah. The toilet was designed to be comfortable and includes a room for people with disabilities and a diaper changing room. Halimah said that the government effort to produce the newly designed public toilet was to provide the people with better public facilities in a comfortable environment. She also said that with this new concept, the people would feel responsible and reluctant to do unpleasant things towards it. “So, whenever we speak of toilets, it does not mean that it is a place to answer nature’s call and has to be in a dirty state. “But don’t think that you could do as you like in a public toilet. After you are done answering nature’s call, you have to be responsible. Just because there is a cleaner, it does not mean that you can pass the responsibility to the cleaner. We need to be a responsible user of the public toilet. It is self discipline.” “If the we able to discipline ourselves in using any of the public facilities developed by the government, we can educate our children at home to be responsible citizens in the future. Without responsibilities there is no use of having everything (public facilities). So we have to educate the people and create awareness,” she added. Other than that, she also mentioned that future improvements will be made on the new Putatan public toilets, such as making it more child friendly and adding grab bars for the disabled. She added that she would keep monitoring the usage of the newly developed public toilet and would make consultation on the placement of more such public toilets to be built in Putatan as requested by Putatan District Officer Awang Abdul Ghani Pg Yusof and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin. Source: The Borneo Post
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03Aug

Sabah Offers Fresh Air for Tourists Escaping Pollution

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is offering itself as a “lung cleansing” destination for tourists needing a breather from pollution in their home countries. Tapping the growing Chinese, Japanese and South Korean markets, Sabah Tourism Board is offering tourists fresh mountain and river air in village settings along the Crocker Range. “We are working with the local communities to host tourists in a wide range of nature activities – from camping by the river to trekking hills,” board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said of plans for the Rural Tourism Road Show from Aug 4 to 6. Bangkuai said the key focus for the back-to-nature product was in Kadamaian, Kiulu, Ranau and Tambunan at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, along the range that stretches from north to south of Sabah. He said community-based organisations in these areas were offering a variety of products from whitewater rafting, camping, trekking, fishing, besides a chance to experience local cultures, food and outdoor living to visitors. “The focus is for villagers to earn more while also ensuring that the tourists stay longer in the rural areas,” Bangkuai said, adding that the move would also encourage local villagers to appreciate and preserve their natural environment. Bangkuai said the board was working with district office tourism committees to identify more areas for this plan. He said there was a market for such tourism products as in the case of the Kampung Talungan community in Kota Belud that earned some RM100,000 from 30,000 visitors camping by the Kadamaian river and other outdoor activities. Source: The Star
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01Aug

Eyes of the World on Sun Bears’ Hero

KOTA KINABALU: A wildlife researcher’s tireless efforts to ensure the survival of the sun bear – the smallest bear species in the world – is getting international attention. For nearly a decade, Dr Wong Siew Te quietly cared for sun bears that were orphaned by poachers or seized from those keeping them illegally as pets. His efforts are now in the spotlight after Dr Wong was named a CNN Hero. CNN describes its heroes as everyday people doing extraordinary things to change the world.
The 48-year-old wildlife biologist founded the Sun Bear conservation centre in Sepilok on the east coast of Sandakan in 2008. Since then, the centre has cared for 55 bears. Among those, two have been put back into the wild while 10 died due to various causes. Dr Wong said the centre intends to release four more bears this year. The majority of the bears there are not likely to readapt to their natural environment because they have become domesticated, he said. For example, some of these bears have lost their ability to forage for food and others cannot even climb trees anymore. The Penang-born researcher came to Sabah about 30 years ago as a University of Montana student tasked with studying what was then the little-known sun bear. Over that period, he noticed that the population was declining by as much as 30% and this spurred him to set up the rehabilitation centre. Wong told CNN: “Sun bears became part of my family. When they’re endangered, I care for them. When they are in trouble, I speak for them. “I want to be the voice of the sun bear, to fight for the sun bear, to ensure the survival of the sun bear. But my ultimate goal is to save the entire forest ecosystem ... that is so important to the survival of mankind.” The CNN feature on Wong and his work can be viewed at goo.gl/gsrVHK Details on the rehabilitation centre are available at www.bsbcc.org.my
Source: The Star
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31Jul

1,000kg of Milk Powder Donated to Feed Bornean Elephants

KOTA KINABALU: The cost to feed the orphan Bornean elephants at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre has been eased with donation of 1,000kg of milk powder. Following the increasing trend of orphaned Bornean elephants by being taken in by the Sabah Wildlife Department into the care centre, the biggest challenge faced by the government agency is to provide best husbandry care for the babies. These baby elephants were rescued throughout the elephant habitat across the state by the Wildlife Rescue Unit. Currently these orphans are being cared for in the Elephant Care Unit, Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) through the Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) also has been working hard to reach out to the corporate bodies for possible collaboration in assisting the department to fund for daily care and feeding of the babies. “Last year, WRU in association with the Rotarian Action Group for Endangered Species (RAGES) has been investigating the best milk powder food option for the endangered orphan Bornean elephants.  A few products were tested during the trials. After the trials, it was decided that the Unit is going to use Fonterra milk as the main product to feed the baby elephants,” said Dr Diana Ramirez, acting manager of WRU. The first shipment came last year with initial donation by BCT-Japan towards the cost of purchasing 1.2 tons of milk powder from Fonterra New Zealand. And after seven months, Fonterra and RAGES continued their support towards the plight of Bornean elephants through the second shipment of one tonne of milk formula directly from New Zealand. The milk powder arrived at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on July 25 and sent to Sepilok. This will help to feed the orphaned elephants for the next six months and saving the department up to RM100,000 on the feed cost. All were made possible by continuous support of South East Asia RAGES’ Project Director, Debbie Mair. “We at RAGES-SE Asia are committed to preserving and investing in the conservation of the endangered Bornean elephants and at the same time through the collaboration to boost eco-tourism and boost economic growth,” said Debbie.   Source: TheBorneoPost
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