Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF), an agency under the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (KPK), has allocated RM1.2 million to finance a study of the orang-utan population in Sabah for a period of two years, starting this year.
KPK Secretary-General Datuk Mad Zaidi Mohd Karli @ Sukari said the study was important to obtain the latest number of the orang-utan population.
“The study will be carried out soon, to obtain facts related to the protected animal, which have become iconic in Sabah, such as their activities and locations.
“Even though there have been various studies conducted in the past, we will conduct this study, and we want to see how the population trend is. Hence, when a comprehensive study is conducted, we have data which can be shared,” he said.
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The International Orang-Utan Day observation is a continuation of the RM1.1 million sponsorship by the country’s oil palm industry, through the MPOGCF, to fund the upgrade of the Borneo Orang-Utan Exhibition at the Zoo Negara, last year.
“The purpose of the International Orang-Utan Day observation today is to inform everyone that we are not only giving priority to the oil palm industry but also preserving the biodiversity of wildlife, including the orang-utan. We want to counter claims by outsiders that the oil palm industry is an industry which threatens wildlife,” he said.
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