8/5/06 (Daily Express News)  - Kota Kinabalu: Oil palm companies in the Kinabatangan have been urged to ensure their plantation boundaries do not encroach riparian areas (along riverbanks) to avoid the risk of being penalised by the Government.

Making the call, WWF-Malaysia Project Manager for Sabah, Darrel Webber, said plantation owners have to police themselves and be proactive in this matter rather than having the enforcement agencies take necessary action.

"We urge plantation owners along the Kinabatangan River to re-examine their land title boundaries because the penalty we understand can be severe for any encroachment onto riparian areas and the newly-established wildlife sanctuary.

"Why wait for the enforcement agencies to come and check the boundaries when the plantation owners can do so on their own and leave the riparian reserve immediately. They must abide by the warning and be better corporate citizens," he said.

On April 4, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman called on oil palm plantation owners encroaching into State land reserves, especially riparian areas, to vacate the areas immediately or face the music.

He said the Government has received reports on the matter and appropriate steps would be taken to protect the riverine reserves.

The State Cabinet has ordered the Land and Survey Department (LSD) and the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to study the severity of the problem of riparian reserve encroachment along State rivers by planters.

It is understood that the width of riparian reserve from the riverbank should be at least about 20 metres clear. Although only a guideline, many plantations along the Kinabatangan and other riprarian areas in the State are said to pay scant respect to it.

Darrel said there is no exact figure on the the number of companies that have encroached riparian reserves in the Kinabatangan, except that there are 32 oil palm mills in the area.

The riparian reserve is essential to be protected as it serves as a buffer against floods and can act as a corridor and highway for wildlife like the elephants and orang utans.

By not encroaching into the riparian area can reduce human-wildlife conflict and less pollution on the riverbank.

Among the rivers affected, Musa said, is the Kinabatangan - the State's longest - where such encroachment can jeopardise water resources by affecting the water catchment as well as wildlife habitats that would affect the current tourism upswing.

Darrel said plantation owners can police themselves through the 'Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil' (RSPO), an organisation to promote sustainable development of palm oil in a conscientious manner and provide for a win-win situation to the environment and people.

"The owners need not have to worry about encroachment into State land reserves when everything they do have RSPO certification, where they can still make money and protect the environment at the same time.

"By doing this, the enforcement agencies like Lands and Drainage will have less headaches and the riparian reserves would be further protected," he said.

For a major river like the Kinabatangan, he said actually even the 20m that is recommended is not sufficient to conserve the area.

Darrel said the national conservation trust would like the reserve area width to be 500m along the Kinabatangan river, to be set aside as a corridor for the wildlife and buffer against floods.

"But as a compromise, we would be pleased with about 100m from the riverbanks along the Kinabatangan and 50m from the riverbanks along its tributaries.

"In fact, a lot of riparian areas in Kinabatangan are flood-prone areas and the plantation owners would incur losses from the destruction on their oil palm even up to 500m from riverbanks.

"So, what we are saying to these plantation owners is that it makes no sense to plant so close to the river bank, either 20 m or 100m, when they still face risk of floods and losses."