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4 - A Master Plan for Wildlife in Sarawak: preparation, implementation and implications for conservation

from Part I - Conservation needs and priorities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2009

By
Melvin T. Gumal ,
Elizabeth L. Bennett ,
John G. Robinson  and
Oswald Braken Tisen
Edited by
Navjot S. Sodhi ,
Greg Acciaioli ,
Maribeth Erb  and
Alan Khee-Jin Tan
Melvin T. Gumal
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society Sarawak, Malaysia
Elizabeth L. Bennett
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx, NY 10460, USA
John G. Robinson
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx, NY 10460, USA
Oswald Braken Tisen
Affiliation:
Sarawak Forestry Corporation Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Navjot S. Sodhi
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Greg Acciaioli
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Maribeth Erb
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Alan Khee-Jin Tan
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
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Summary

Introduction

Considerable research has been conducted on the causes of wildlife decline in the Malaysian State of Sarawak on the island of Borneo (e.g. Dewan Undangan Negeri 1985; Caldecott 1988; Bennett 1992; Meredith 1993; Bennett & Dahaban 1995; Dahaban 1996; Bennett et al. 2000). These studies documented the decline of many species, and the importance of wildlife to rural peoples and to the State of Sarawak. In 1994, no comprehensive plan existed to determine how to apply that knowledge to conserving Sarawak's wildlife. Hence, the Government of Sarawak took the unique step of requesting that a ‘Wildlife Master Plan’ for the State be prepared. As far as we know, this is the only comprehensive, officially adopted, cross-sectoral master plan for wildlife anywhere in the tropical world.

We describe how the Master Plan was developed and became official government policy, was implemented, and the long-term effects of the Master Plan on wildlife management and conservation in Sarawak. The chapter concludes with an assessment of successes of the Master Plan to date, and the problems that still need to be addressed. Implementation is still continuing, and data on the full impacts of the process on wildlife populations, and on rural peoples, are still being collected.

State of Sarawak's wildlife populations prior to 1994

Sarawak has amongst the highest number of species of animals for an area of its size anywhere in the world: about 185 species of mammals (Payne et al. 1985), 530 species of birds (MacKinnon & Phillipps 1993), 166 species of snakes, 104 of lizards and 113 of amphibians (Dewan Undangan Negeri 1985).

Type
Chapter
Information
Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods in Protected Areas
Case Studies from the Malay Archipelago
 , pp. 36 - 52
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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References

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