KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — The Wildlife Management Plan is implemented to address the impact of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project on the country’s biodiversity, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said through the plan, mitigation measures were implemented along the ECRL alignment, including creating ecological corridors to allow wildlife to move safely and reduce habitat fragmentation.
“The Peninsular Malaysia Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department of (Perhilitan) has signed an agreement with the developers of the ECRL project in the implementation of wildlife mitigation.
“This agreement is valid until 2027 to guarantee the sustainability of wildlife and its habitat,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.
He was responding to a question from Setia MP Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadirs about the impact of the ECRL project on biodiversity in the forest reserve, which has led to conflicts between wildlife and humans.
Nik Nazmi said other mitigation measures included conducting an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before the project started, continuous monitoring and control of human and wildlife conflict through advisory services, and the installation of traps against certain wildlife species.
He said a study on human-elephant conflict was also carried out by installing satellite collars on elephant herds to find out their movements and routes to provide suitable wildlife corridors.
Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi said 80,375 complaints of human and wildlife conflict have been received since 2018, involving losses estimated at RM62.5 million.
He said a total of 7,925 complaints were reported in 2018, followed by more than 9,700 complaints in 2019, 11,800 complaints (2020), 12,800 complaints (2021), 13,000 complaints (2022), 13,670 complaints (2023) and 11,341 complaints so far this year.
— Bernama
