TAWAU, Feb 23 — A wildlife conservation centre should be established in the Tawau Hills Park, here, as an effort to protect wildlife found around the district from being threatened and from going extinct.
State Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said the conservation centre should be set up soon as the Tawau Mini Zoo located at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Yuk Chin had closed.
However, the matter involved discussions with the department concerned to obtain its views on the plan, he said at the launching of Merotai Scientific Exploration and opening of a substation, here today.
Pang said the centre would enable the younger generation to get to know wildlife better and at the same time gave children greater awareness on wildlife conservation.
“It can also be a tourism product. We will get the cooperation of the corporate sector to help realise the project,” he said.
On the scientific exploration at Tawau Hills Park, he said it would help identify the flora and fauna which could be jeopardised by the construction of a dam in Tawau.
“The approved dam project will involve only a small portion of the Tawau Hills Park. With the exploration mission, conservation measures could be taken including recording new species found,” he said.
In another related development, Pang said the Merotai substation would help to update the boundary of the Tawau Hills Park from encroachment by neighbouring oil palm planters.
The use of drone technology to manage the recreational areas should be adopted by other departments to prevent government land reserves or areas from being intruded, he said.
Pang, who is Merotai state assemblyman, pledged to cooperate with the Forestry Department to reacquire reserved land near forest reserves from being cultivated by plantation companies. — Bernama
