KOTA KINABALU: The Gibbon Conservation Society (GCS) is planning to build the world's first education cum eco-tourism rehabilitation centre for gibbons in Sabah.
GCS president Mariani Ramli said the construction of the green sustainable centre is estimated to cost between RM10 to RM15 million.
The centre will be sited on a 20ha piece of land in Kampung Kiau, Kota Belud, and will feature a clinic, rehabilitation site, interactive area for visitors and an eco station to carry out composting activities, she said.
"The centre will have the capacity to house 30 gibbons for rehabilitation and to conduct research and study of the primate," she told the media at an event today.
Also present were GOMPITO president Duin Limundok and Nepada Wildlife project manager Jennifer Shrestha.
Mariani said at the moment, they have begun the construction of five enclosures to house five gibbons with a funding of RM100,000 from Nepada Wildlife, a German organisation dedicated to assisting conservation efforts worldwide.
GCS is starting the Borneo Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Kampung Kiau with assistance from GOMPITO (preservation of environment and traditional heritage), a non-governmental organisation established in the village and supported by Kadamaian state assemblyman Datuk Ewon Benedick, she said.
She said GCS has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sabah Wildlife Department to carry out the rehabilitation project for rescued gibbons that were kept in captivity as pets.
"This will be the second gibbon rehabilitation project after the first one in Pahang in 2013 with 10 gibbons. Now, we are bringing the concept to Sabah.
"However, the centre in Pahang is more akin to a wildlife sanctuary," she said.
She said Malaysia has five species of gibbons in the wild of which the lar gibbon, siamang and agile gibbon can be found in the Peninsular while the Abbot's gray gibbon and North Bornean gibbon are in Sabah.
She said gibbons are a fully protected wildlife species. Under the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment, anyone caught keeping or killing such wildlife is liable to be fined RM250,000 or five years imprisonment upon conviction.
Mariani said they still do not know the estimated number of gibbons in Sabah as they move very fast, but they can be spotted in the primary forests in Kinabatangan, Tabin and Tawau.
"Gibbons are very special because they are the only singing primate, are faster and have the longest arms in the world as well as being important seed dispersers in Malaysia's tropical rainforest," she said.
She said all five species of gibbons in Malaysia are threatened by deforestation and the illegal wildlife pet trade.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), gibbons are listed as endangered species and are two steps from being extinct in the wild.
Mariani said she hoped the state government will give them full support in terms of funding and also collaboration with universities to carry out research and cooperation with volunteers from abroad.