25/05/2010 (The Star Online) - A Sabah Wildlife Rescue Centre has been set up at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here.

It was made possible through a joint initiative between the Sabah Wildlife Department, Shangri-La Rasa Ria and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

A memorandum of understanding was signed by the three organisations at the International Palm Oil Conference attended by 300 local and foreign participants here.

Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Ellorin Angin said the centre would be involved in wildlife rescue and translocation operations throughout Sabah.

“It will also conduct on site wildlife enforcement and monitoring as well as liase with other stakeholders like the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the plantation industry,” he said.

MPOC chairman Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said it would help finance the rescue centre.

“This is an excellent start and demonstrates our commitment to conservation efforts,” he said.

Lee added that the palm oil industry continued to be unfairly blamed for the loss of wildlife habitats and biodiversity.

“Major food producers have been pressured to drop palm oil as the public is being brainwashed into believing that our palm oil is the culprit,” he said.

He said MPOC had cooperated with the Sabah Wildlife Department and NGOs to conduct surveys on the orang utan population.

“The surveys revealed that there is still a sizeable orang utan population,”he said, adding that the industry was committed to taking steps to ensure the long term survival of orang utans.

The conference was opened by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who also launched the book, The Best Kept Secrets For Reversing Climate Change.