KINABATANGAN: There is a need for forests in the Lower Kinabatangan region to acquire protection to ensure the survival of elephant population here.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Dr Nurzhafarina Othman said the 49 square kilometre radius of unprotected forest located on state land and various land titles were at risk of being converted.
A new study published in the journal 'Scientific Reports' also stressed that effectively managing areas outside of protected areas was necessary for the long-term survival of the Kinabatangan elephant population.
In that study, the authors used Global Positioning System (GPS) collared data from 14 elephants and developed land use/land cover data, to assess the elephants' use of oil palm-dominated landscape in the Kinabatangan floodplain.
"Protecting these forests is an essential and efficient way to secure key elephant habitat since all collared individuals were using these forest fragments in their entire range. On average, 24 per cent of time was spent in unprotected forests within hot spots.
"In fact, five females had large proportions of their hot spot in unprotected forests, spending substantial periods of their time (33 to 61 per cent) within these threatened areas.
"It is therefore critical for the survival of the elephant population in the Kinabatangan that these unprotected forests are preserved and acquire protection status as soon as possible," she said in a statement.
Nurzhafarina, who is the founder of Seratu Aatai, said it was crucial to identify hot spots or areas most frequented by the elephants when designing appropriate management practices which organisations such as HUTAN, Seratu Aatai, Danau Girang Field Centre and Forever Sabah, together with Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Forestry Department have been working on for several years.
Meanwhile, Danau Girang Field Centre director Professor Benoit Goossens also expressed concern over the Sukau bridge and road construction.
"If the road/highway (and the bridge) goes ahead it will have a significant impact on the elephants' behaviour.
"By disturbing their ranging patterns and segmenting the entire elephant range, there will be dire consequences for these animals and their family groups." Goossens said.
Currently, a new road is under construction on the northern bank of the village of Sukau and this has already cleared areas of unprotected forest.
"For the Kinabatangan, creating a public highway will cut the elephant population range into two parts".