PUTRAJAYA: The government is viewing the gloomy assessment of the fate of the Malayan tiger seriously, says the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry.
In a statement yesterday to mark Global Tiger Day, minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the government, through the ministry, will undertake nine extraordinary actions all the way to 2030 to save the Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris).
“This will be done through improvements in conservation management and the strengthening of the initiatives to ensure the survivability of the species,” he said.
The intensification of effort covers the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Task Force (MyTTF) that is chaired by the Prime Minister, patrols under Biodiversity Protection and Patrolling Programme or BP3 that has been allocated RM50mil this year, the appointment of 1,500 personnel for the Community Ranger team, and strengthening of collaboration in enforcement through the Khazanah Integrated Operations, the setting up of the Wildlife Crime Bureau under the police, as well as the ex situ conservation programme under the Malayan Tiger Conservation Centre in Pahang.
“These efforts have produced some encouraging results. For example, BP3 patrols since 2019 have detained 349 Malaysians, as well as 111 foreigners, with seizures worth RM112mil.
“In addition to this, 1,875 traps or snares were removed or destroyed,” said Nik Nazmi.
The strengthening of protection and habitat conservation for the Malayan tiger has also been emphasised by the Prime Minister in Budget 2023 by increasing the allocation to incentivise biodiversity and forest conservation through the Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation (EFT) to the various states.
For 2023, RM150mil was allocated compared with RM70mil last year.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Perak for its success in the Royal Belum State Park for being accredited under the Conservation Assured Tiger Standards.
“This achievement has placed Malaysia as the first in the region to get this recognition.
“We cannot be at rest until the crisis assailing the Malayan tiger is fully resolved. We need to continue efforts to save this icon which adorns our national coat of arms,” said Nik Nazmi.
The Malayan tiger is native to Peninsular Malaysia, and it has been classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2015.
