KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- The recent death of an oil palm plantation worker trampled by a wild elephant in Temerloh was a tragic incident. MPIC wishes to extend our deepest condolences to the victim's family.
 
Over the years, MPIC, through various agencies like the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF), has undertaken various measures to ensure sustainable growth for the industry. This includes setting up the Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary to address human-elephant conflict and create a controlled public access sanctuary to better understand and care for these animals.
 
MPOGCF has also started a programme to plant elephant grass species to encourage the animals to utilize the wildlife corridors and eventually help mitigate human-elephant conflict. MPIC also supports the Heart of Borneo Initiative. A joint Declaration initiated this uniquely government-led and NGO-supported programme by the governments of Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia in 2007.
 
The programme aims to conserve the biodiversity of the Heart of Borneo for the benefit of the people who rely upon it through a network of protected areas, sustainable management of forests, and other sustainable land uses. These efforts demonstrate the Government's commitment to preserving our rich biodiversity. Malaysia has agreed to support and participate in the Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use and the Global Methane Pledge at the 26th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP-26) held in Glasgow, the United Kingdom, in November 2021. 
 
Malaysia's participation, along with 141 other countries, in this declaration is in line with the country's Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use is in line with country's commitment to continue to maintain at least 50 percent of the country's land area under forest cover and to strengthen commitment in conservation and sustainable management of forests and other ecosystems and land use including agriculture.
 
To ensure a more concentrated effort toward environmental preservation, MPIC plans to seek more funding from the Ministry of Finance under Budget 2023. This is also in line with Malaysia's commitment to realising targets set under the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 
Such efforts also repudiate criticisms, especially from the West, that Malaysia has been breaching global environmental standards for commercial considerations. On my part, The Ministry and I have constantly refuted these distorted views, especially during my trade missions abroad, in line with the "The Global Movement to Champion the Goodness of Palm Oil" campaign.
 

DATUK HAJAH ZURAIDA KAMARUDDIN
MINISTER OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES
31^st JULY 2022

Source: MINISTRY OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Mahdini binti Jaini
Tel: 03-88803325
Email: mahdini@mpic.gov.my

--BERNAMA