Sandakan has potential to be regional hub for wildlife research, says tourism association head

Sandakan Tourism Association president Teo Chee Kim (second right) handing over a donation to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre officer Adrianus Tim Onong.

KOTA KINABALU: Sandakan has the potential to attract regional and international research institutions to set up operations in the Sabah east coast district.

Sandakan Tourism Association president Teo Chee Kim said the district, which was already home to a number of world-renowned conservation centres, is well poised to be the regional hub for wildlife conservation and research.

Teo said among the wildlife conservation centres rooted in Sandakan were the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Rainforest Discovery Centre, Turtle Islands Park and Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.

“This is such a unique position Sandakan is in (therefore) we must fully capitalise on this to establish Sandakan as the premier wildlife conservation and research hub,” he said, in a statement here on Tuesday (July 12).

By doing so, he added, the district could then subsequently attract conservation experts and research fellows to be based in Sandakan to conduct their studies.

Teo said this after handing over a RM1,000 donation to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in conjunction with the Musang King YouTube Channel filming at the centre recently.

The Musang King YouTube Channel filming was part of the Sandakan Tourism Association’s efforts this year to promote Sandakan to a greater audience in Peninsular Malaysia, in order to boost the district’s profile among domestic visitors.

Teo thanked the Sabah Tourism Board and Sabah Wildlife Department as well as Sandakan MP Vivian Wong for support on the YouTube promotion project with the Musang King Channel.

To date, he said, more than 100,000 viewers have watched the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre video on the Musang King Channel.

“We hope that through this video, more people will get to know more about our conservation effort here in Sandakan, and in turn, more people will be attracted to visit the district,” he said.

Sandakan, which was declared a Nature City by the Sabah government in 2004, is set to become Sabah’s second official city after Kota Kinabalu sometime this year.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin had previously said the upgrading of Sandakan to city status will be done between August and October this year.

He said that among the state's aims for granting the district a city status was to boost Sandakan’s economy in terms of tourism and participation of small entrepreneurs.