KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 15): There have been over 57,000 human-wildlife conflict reports over the past five years, which is a 40% increase from the previous five years, said Ahmad Afandi, fellow at Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, at the “Exploring pathways towards human-wildlife co-existence in Malaysia” panel at the PRAXIS 2024 conference.

These conflicts involve a wide range of species, from small animals to large mammals, and have resulted in significant losses, injuries and fatalities.

Addressing human-wildlife conflict requires an approach that involves collaboration among government agencies, non-governmental organisations, local communities, and the private sector, said speakers during session. This is to strengthen policy implementation, improve capacity building and raise awareness.

Securing adequate funding is also critical to address these conflicts, noted Zara Phang, sustainable economy lead at WWF Malaysia. These could be through funding mechanisms such as carbon markets and nature-based solutions.

It is essential that the funds are channelled effectively towards conservation efforts, she added.

Transparency, accountability and monitoring systems are necessary to prevent the misuse of funds.

“There are questions around credibility, monitoring and reporting, which I think are very important. There’s a lot of accusation of greenwashing and whether the money is actually going to effective conservation. Good governance is extremely important here,” said Phang.

This is because the human-wildlife conflict disproportionately affects vulnerable communities. Farmers and rural residents bear the brunt of livestock and crop losses, said Ahmad Afandi. Over RM47 million in losses have been incurred due to this.

Habitat loss and fragmentation, which are driven by deforestation and development, are some of the factors that lead to the escalation of human and wildlife conflict.

“The usual causal factors are habitat loss, which basically means that wildlife don’t have enough space or the space is being fragmented by linear infrastructures like roads or railways. The land use change that happens impacts the space the wildlife needs,” said Mark Rayan Darmaraj, country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia Programme.

The East Coast Rail Link project has incorporated wildlife crossings and tunnels into the project to minimise its impact on wildlife, said Datuk Seri Darwis Abdul Razak, chief executive officer (CEO) of Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd. Twenty eight wildlife crossings and 25 tunnels have been built so far.

Effective implementation of policies are crucial to address human-wildlife conflict, said Mark. For instance, biodiversity considerations need to be incorporated into development plans, while enforcement and monitoring need to be strengthened to deter illegal activities that contribute to wildlife decline.

The National Policy on Biological Diversity 2022-2030 aims to address the crisis by addressing spatial planning, habitat conservation and biodiversity assessment to prevent and mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

“With the emphasis on spatial planning, we can improve on the planning stage [of development plans], so that the focus is more on the preventive instead of the reactive… Another key point is to ensure that the development of linear infrastructure must include measures to address, avoid,
mitigate and ensure that we take care of habitat fragmentation to avoid wildlife-conflict,” said Khairul Naim Adham, undersecretary of the biodiversity management section at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability.

“The key challenge is always about translating the policy and legislation framework into effective implementation… The Cabinet has decided to make use of the national biodiversity council as the key platform to strengthen national biodiversity strategies and policies.”

Before policies and guidelines are introduced, Mark said some key components of human-wildlife management include avoidance, understanding conflict, mitigation and response.

Empowering local communities through knowledge sharing, capacity building and livelihood support is also essential.

“We work with the indigenous [community] to set up a low-cost and low-tech siren fencing. It is basically a line fence that you attach to a siren. If the elephant touches the fence, it will alert the farmers. We found that is a 75% successful intervention,” said Mark.