Nor Ain Hassan
KOTA KINABALU: World Wide Fund for Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) yesterday marked the inaugural World Wildlife Day with a street performance, urging the public to pledge against consuming wildlife.
The event at Gaya Street here received strong support from CrackoArtGroup and Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD).
Aimed at raising awareness against wildlife poaching and consumption, it called on members of the public to make a stand against wildlife trade and crimes.
Activities that were held during the event included volunteers guised as poached wildlife animals, pledge-making by the public, acapella performance, storytelling, and colouring session.
An information booth was also set up by SWD as a one- stop location for the public to get more information about wildlife conservation.
“World Wildlife Day is an opportunity for us to celebrate the beautiful and diverse forms of protected animals and acknowledge the seriousness of wildlife crime,” said WWF-Malaysia’s head of Conservation for Sabah, Bernard Tai.
“We are losing wildlife at an alarming rate by widespread and dangerous criminal networks. It is high time we put a stop to the demand for wildlife parts and products,” Tai said.
“Since we launched the war on illegal wildlife trade and poaching last December, we have seized 160 kg of sambar deer and barking deer meat at Nabawan. We are participating in this event as proof of our commitment to combat the problem of wildlife crime and trade in Sabah,” said SWD’s deputy director, Augustine Tuuga.
“We are working hard to save the wildlife in Sabah. Hopefully, with the public’s participation in this campaign, more crackdowns on illegal wildlife traders and poachers in the state will take place,” Tuuga added.
The event, which is part of a year-long zero poaching campaign led by WWF-Malaysia, urged members of the public to become part of the solution, to speak up against wildlife poaching and trade. The public is also encouraged to upload photos and stories on wildlife crimes on their social media network by using the hashtag #Myzeropoaching.
“This is a global challenge that spans continents and oceans – Malaysia is no exception. We have already lost so much of our wildlife to poaching that is emptying the forests. Local communities who depend on wildlife for tourism or sustenance are being robbed of their livelihood,” said WWF-Malaysia’s executive director/CEO, Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma.
“We can’t fight this crime alone; we need everyone to spread the awareness and pledge to refuse to consume meat and purchase products made from protected wildlife. Together, we shall join forces to respect and protect these protected species,” he added.
On Dec 20, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 3 March, the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as World Wildlife Day, to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora.
In its resolution, the General Assembly reaffirmed the intrinsic value of wildlife and its various contributions, including ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic, to sustainable development and human well-being, and recognized the important role of CITES in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species’ survival.
Meanwhile, a couple of local visitors from Johor Bahru, Andrew Seah and Andrea Chi, took the opportunity to make a pledge to keep the world beautiful for their children.
According to Andrew, protecting endangered animals is everyone’s responsibility, and that all members of the public should take part in activities like this to spread the awareness and stop the killing.
As for Nor Ain Hassan, 25, a local Gaya Street Sunday market visitor, she said the venue for the awareness activities is perfect as the visitors are of different ages, races, religions and gender.
“I could see that it is receiving overwhelming response from the public and I think that this is an effective way to spread awareness in fighting against wildlife poaching and consumption,” she said.