Forests outside protected areas in Lower Kinabatangan vital to save endangered species

An aerial view of a forest sandwiched by oil palm plantations in Lower Kinabatangan, Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: Environmentalists are calling for the conservation and rehabilitation of forests outside of protected areas in the Lower Kinabatangan home to a wide range of endangered species in Sabah.

Borneo Futures co-founder Dr Marc Ancrenaz said animals including the orang utans, Borneo Pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys were losing their homes due to fragmentation of their habitat, and studies has found that non-protected forests were good home for orang utan.