Deep within the rugged forests of Sarawak, WWF-Malaysia’s Sarawak Wildlife Conservation Team braves tough terrain to place camera traps.
Their cameras have captured valuable photos of wildlife, including endangered animals such as the orangutans, langurs, and Bornean clouded leopards.
For their noble efforts, the team is named as one of the 10 winners of the Star Golden Hearts Award 2024, an annual award by The Star that honours everyday Malaysian unsung heroes.
For more details, visit https://www.sgha.com.my/
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Their cameras have captured valuable photos of wildlife, including endangered animals such as the orangutans, langurs, and Bornean clouded leopards.
For their noble efforts, the team is named as one of the 10 winners of the Star Golden Hearts Award 2024, an annual award by The Star that honours everyday Malaysian unsung heroes.
For more details, visit https://www.sgha.com.my/
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, we are from WWF Malaysia Wildlife Conservation Program in Sarawak.
00:07We are one of the winners of Star Golden Heart Awards 2024.
00:24Deep within the rugged forests of Sarawak,
00:26WWF Malaysia's Sarawak Wildlife Conservation Team braves tough terrain to place camera traps.
00:34Their cameras have captured valuable photos of wildlife,
00:37including endangered animals such as the orangutan, lenggar and Bornean clouded leopard.
00:43We do the camera trapping installation to conduct the wildlife survey.
00:50Also, we do a markedness count survey for orangutan to estimate the population of orangutan.
00:56This valuable data is crucial for understanding the endangered species inhabiting Bornean forests.
01:02We have a lot of endangered species, especially in Borneo.
01:07We have orangutans, proboscis monkeys, pygmy elephants, Bornean clouded leopards and so on.
01:16Orangutans have a very endangered population.
01:21We hope that our conservation efforts in the next 50 years or even 100 years,
01:27this wildlife will still maintain and grow.
01:35Started in 2016 as a solo effort by senior field biologist Lukman Hakim,
01:41the team has since expanded to include four program assistants.
01:45Afi Azlizan Senin, Muhammad Hishamuddin Nasir, Donny Janis and Indrian.
01:51Their work spans sites across Sarawak, including areas like Ulubale, Gunung Lesong, Ulu Ai and more.
01:59Indrian explained that about 20 cameras are installed a kilometre apart in an area,
02:04a process that takes up to two weeks,
02:07and they are left for two to three months to silently capture passing wildlife.
02:12What we do after that?
02:14We usually collect images from SD cards.
02:19We will sort and tag based on the species.
02:25From the species, we can do data analysis.
02:29Data analysis is usually used for a baseline.
02:33We call it a baseline.
02:35This baseline will be shared with partners and stakeholders
02:40so that they can understand the concept of wildlife conservation.
02:48Navigating rough forest terrain is one of the team's greatest challenges.
02:53Among all the forests, Ulubale, also known as the heart of Borneo,
02:57is unanimously considered the toughest.
03:00Not for the faint-hearted, Muhammad Hishamuddin shared
03:03that they were lost in Ulubale for six hours from 5pm to 11pm.
03:10As darkness crept into the forest,
03:12Hishamuddin said that he thought that both Donny and himself were done for.
03:16We separated with our programme assistant at that time,
03:20and it was raining season also,
03:23and we were actually at that time at the riverside,
03:27and we followed the river all the way back to our boat.
03:33And at that time, when we were going back,
03:36there was a flood coming to the river,
03:39so we had to up the hill,
03:42and our field assistant was on the other side,
03:45so we split up.
03:46So we had to find our own way.
03:52Besides setting up camera traps,
03:54the team also carries out orangutan nest count surveys
03:57in the Batang Ai area to estimate the primate's population.
04:01The nests are divided into types A, B, C and D,
04:06where A is the one that is most recently built
04:09and still has green leaves,
04:11while D is withering and black.
04:13Actually, this magnet count survey for orangutans,
04:16we're going to that site at least three times
04:19to improve the consistency.
04:21After the survey has been done,
04:23we calculate, estimate the population by doing some formula.
04:29Andrian said that before starting a project in the forest,
04:32the team must seek permission from the local community in the area.
04:36If the request is rejected,
04:38the team will avoid surveying that area.
04:41Sometimes these communities,
04:43they are not fully open to the ideas about conservation.
04:48They misunderstand our intention
04:50because some of the camera trap points,
04:53which we plan to install,
04:55it's more like their own nest.
04:58They think that camera trap is like CCTV to monitor their activities.
05:04So it requires a lot of time to explain to them,
05:08to make them understand that our focus is solely on conservation
05:13and not to monitor the people.
05:16In the past eight years,
05:18the team has installed hundreds of camera traps,
05:21with 120 more planned for 2025.
05:25Their efforts led to the first camera trap footage
05:27of orangutans in Gunung Lesong Forest,
05:30confirming local sightings.
05:32The team also contributed to the Sarawak Sentencing Guidelines
05:35for Wildlife Crimes,
05:37helping judges determine sentences for wildlife offences.
05:41Looking ahead, the team plans to study the Bornean Clouded Leopard,
05:45a species listed as threatened
05:47by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,
05:50emphasising the need for further research to aid conservation.
05:56Happy 10th Anniversary to the Star-Bornean Heart Award.
06:01Thank you for your support in conservation.
06:05Borneo loves you!
06:15Borneo loves you!