KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) is using elephant conservation to entice animal-loving tourists to the state – which has caught the attention of the state Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry for their creative approach.
Its Minister Datuk Christina Liew said that the NGO, 1StopBorneoWildlife, initiated the elephant conservation project this year.
"This NGO, founded in 2016, came up with a great idea of working with oil palm plantations in Tawau for its initiative known as #Plant4BorneoElephants," she said in a statement on Friday (Nov 23).
She said under this arrangement, tourists can visit plantations with the hope of seeing elephants as well as plant fruit and other elephant-food trees.
Liew said an important component of this conservation partnership was the development of a wildlife corridor within the plantation, where visitors plant native trees saplings cultivated by the plantations.
She said since its inception, some 300 trees have been planted.
"These are mainly fruit trees like figs and laran, and also dipterocarp trees. Elephants are able to feed on fast-growing plants within or on the borders of the plantation," she said.
Liew said the NGO's undertaking has boosted Tawau's economy in terms of tourism and has also created new jobs for locals like being drivers, chefs, community guides and photographers.
Shavez Cheema, the 1StopBorneoWildlife founder, said they had organised 20 such trips to the plantation since the project started.
"Apart from the elephants, visitors had the opportunity to plant trees as food for elephants as well as other wildlife such as hornbills," he said.
The local tour operator, Adventure Alternative Borneo, has so far brought in about 95 foreign tourists from all over the world.
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