Posted on September, 25 2001

Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia: The floodplains of the lower Kinabatangan on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, is noted for its natural beauty. The river which flows for some 560 km produces one of Malaysia's most productive wetlands. It offers the "Orang Sungai" (river people) of the Kinabatangan their livelihood from forest products to fisheries. But this area is threatened by human settlement. Most of the drier areas of the lower Kinabatangan floodplain are now covered with oil palm plantations. Over the past few years upstream logging activities has contributed to problems such as fragmentation of forests, degradation of wildlife habitats and flooding, and tourism is on the increase.

In mid 1998, the conservation organization WWF Partners for Wetlands Programme, funded by WWF-Netherlands, was set up here to advise on wetland management, conservation and restoration. WWF was aware that it couldn't undertake this task alone. The programme therefore first established partnerships with local decision makers in the oil palm industry, tourism industry, and major land owners and government.

The first positive steps were taken by the State Government of Sabah in 1999, when it identified about 27,000 hectares of land as a potential wildlife sanctuary and had begun the process of gazettement. The government also pledged this area as a symbolic Gift to the Earth during the WWF International Annual Conference being held in Sabah that year.

The sanctuary will go a long way towards protecting the floodplain and the animals that can be found here including orang utans, Asian elephants and proboscis monkeys. Plans are underway for establishing a wildlife corridor to link the coastal mangrove forests to the upland forests to provide shelter for migrating wildlife and a buffer to mitigate flood and soil erosion.

The Partners for Wetlands programme has assisted the government by undertaking hydrological surveys, investigating the economics of oil palm plantations, the commercial viability of tree planting to enhance the forest corridor, soil surveys, and establishing two model sites, in collaboration with two major oil palm plantations, for tree planting in floodprone areas.

A significant demonstration of the partnership was in the Land Use Forum held in April 2001. The forum was jointly organized by WWF, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage and Sabah Wildlife Department. Participants from the agriculture, government and business sectors agreed that there was a need for proper land use planning in the lower Kinabatangan floodplains and agreed to the development of a master plan for its management.

Representatives from the oil palm industry also agreed to the establishment of a wildlife corridor and expressed their willingness to give up the necessary land for this purpose. However, as they have made considerable capital investments in the property, they would expect to be duly compensated.

This marked the beginning of an integrated move to acknowledge that a common understanding is required to achieve beneficial results in the long term. It is also the vision of WWF Partners for Wetlands Programme, that these partnerships will inspire those who want to manage their investments wisely and will, in turn, inspire others.

The Partners for Wetlands is now providing the technical expertise to the building of the model sites. These sites are planned to demonstrate that the forest can be restored through natural regeneration, the planting commercially viable native tree species, and sound ecotourism practices.

Partners for Wetlands are confident they are building for the future of the Kinabatangan area - and that this example will soon be followed, not only in the rest of the country but worldwide.

(600 words)

Caroline Pang is the Communications Officer for the Partners for Wetlands Programme, Kinabatangan, Sabah, East Malaysia.