This month’s National Geographic highlights “Borneo’s Moment of Truth”. The respected journal says that “considering the island's unsurpassed biodiversity — from orang utan and rhinoceroses to tiny mosses and beetles not yet discovered -- and the rate at which its forests are being lost, Borneo's future may well be the most critical conservation issue on our planet".
Written by Mel White, with photographs from Mattias Klum, it says: “Time is running out … the message is complex, but ultimately clear. To protect Borneo's forests and wildlife will require rethinking old ideas, accepting new truths, and adopting new models of conservation.
“The majestic forests are vanishing in smoke and sawdust, but there’s still hope for the island’s fabled biodiversity – if the palm oil rush can be slowed.”
The article can be read at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/borneo/whitetext. Those who feel strongly about the lack of protection for our wildlife can sign an online petition posted by four environmental groups — the Malaysian Nature Society, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society and WWF-Malaysia — which are demanding that the Malaysian government improve and strengthen the country’s Protection of Wild Life Act 1972. (www.petitiononline.com/MYLaw/petition.html). Calling the Act “severely outdated and riddled with loopholes”, the petition targets 100,000 signatures by June 2009.
“There is a serious need for the Malaysian government to remedy the loopholes and beef up the law, as many species continue to be poached and illegally traded at alarming rates,” states the petition. “Wildlife offenders often escape arrest, prosecution and punishment. We understand that the government is in the process of revising this law.
However, we urge the government to seek public input in this process.”
The petition says the law should be amended to include bans on products containing parts of protected species as well as tougher sentences and fines for poachers and traffickers.
This article was taken from: The Malay Mail: News 7 November 2008
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