PROTECTION
| Forest Protection | Forest Fire Monitoring |
The protection unit was formed to prevent, monitor and control encroachments within the project area, such as illegal felling, illegal cultivation, illegal occupation, forest fire and poaching. Patrolling is done by ground patrol, river patrol and aerial surveillance. Illegal felling along the boundaries is still detected in small scale.
In 2019, a total of about 100 days of ground patrolling (day and night) were carried out which include boundary checking at the border of oil palm plantations. The efforts were also jointly collaborated Sabah Wildlife Department, Yayasan Sabah Group and WWF(Malaysia) through Anti-Poaching Lahad Datu Task Force. A special force i.e. PROTECT team which is engagement from many districts were deployed under the K(SPP) based on severity of case. A total of 9 poaching signs (spotted nonregistered vehicles via direct sighting and/or camera trapping mostly at Sg Taliwas FR and Lower Kawag) were detected in 1st and 3rd quarters.
Aerial surveillance was also conducted twice in first and third quarters of the year. From the aerial observation, a tree clearing was suspiciously spotted near forest boundary at the Compartment 363, Mt. Louisa Forest Reserve in April 2019. Ground inspection was carried out by USM Patrolling Unit and reported the findings to FRM for further verification and Investigation. Two (2) possibly entry points for motorbike were spotted at the Compartment 395 (Mt Louisa Forest Reserve) and Compartment 271 (Ulu Segama Forest Reserve). Patrolling Unit was deployed on site for ground inspection and destroyed the illegal entries.
River surveillance was carried out mainly at two major rivers i.e. Segama-Bole and Malua, as these were identified as entry hotspot and frequently used by poachers. A total distance of about 284 km and 240 km were covered throughout the year at Segama-Bole River and Malua River respectively. The surveillance observations show no detection of illegal activities or poachers.
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| Joint night surveillance with WWF-Malaysia and DaMal | |
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| Regular night surveillance by Kawag Patrolling Unit | |
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| Boundary Inspection and installation of Forest Reserve signboard at Bukit Piton | |
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| Destroying poachers'illegal entry at Compartment 271 | |
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| (Left) New gate was installed at KM4.5, Compartment 182; and (Right) upgrading of the existing gate at the Forest Checking Station 225 | |