<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/18/making-tracks-how-linking-patches-of-wilderness-saving-borneo-wildlife-aoe>
"In 2011, the German conservationist Robert Risch was hiking along the banks of
a river at the northern limits of Tabin wildlife reserve, home to pygmy
elephants, orangutans and the Bornean banteng, an endangered species of wild
cattle. Risch was expecting to see long stretches of wilderness but instead saw
a swathe of palm oil plantations and electric fences.
“I found elephant tracks coming from Tabin following the river to the north
until they reached the electric fence. Then the tracks turned around back to
Tabin,” says Risch. “No choice.”
Located in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, this plot of
land lies between the Tabin and Kulamba wildlife reserves. But what should have
been a clear path between the reserves was blocked to wildlife.
Risch founded the Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF) in 2009 with the aim of
reconnecting Tabin with Kulamba and creating a 200,000-hectare (775 sq mile)
wilderness. Kulamba already abutted the Lower Kinabatangan-Segama wetlands, a
Ramsar site of international importance.
In 2019, the RFF bought 65 hectares (160 acres) of land and gave it to the
Sabah forestry department for conservation. Although RFF’s purchase was small,
it represented the first dryland connection between the two parks in decades,
providing wildlife with an 800-metre-wide corridor, large enough for elephants.
As soon as they took the fences down, elephants began moving through the area
again and previously disconnected populations were reunited. The region is home
to several hundred Bornean pygmy elephants, which have been isolated from
mainland elephants for 300,000 years and represent a distinct evolutionary
population."
Via
Future Crunch:
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-clean-energy-aids-big-cats-africa/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
