Annual Review 2010: President´s message

2010 has been a busy year for WWF-Malaysia, with conservation successes achieved through engagement with partners and stakeholders as diverse as the ecosystems we are trying to conserve. We welcomed the WWF Tiger Network Initiative to our Petaling Jaya headquarters and hosted the WWF Annual Conference in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. WWF-Malaysia also had the privilege of hosting the WWF
Annual Conference in May 2010, for the second time in 11 years. The 150 delegates from the global WWF Network had the opportunity to experience conservation realities on the ground, especially in the Danum Valley Conservation Area. We are confident that the fruitful discussions during the conference will motivate WWF staff to deliver conservation results with even more drive and passion. Our successes would not be possible without our 45,000 individual supporters, 5,000 more in the Financial Year from July 2009 to June 2010 than the previous Financial Year, representing a growth of 12.5% despite the economic challenges of the past two years. WWF-Malaysia truly thanks our supporters. We received much public support for the on-going “Tx2: Double or Nothing!” campaign in Malaysia, which is aimed at raising awareness and funds for tiger conservation to help double the number of wild tigers in the world by the next Year of the Tiger (2022). On the ground, we have worked closely with the authorities in the Hulu Perak District to form the first district-wide joint enforcement taskforce to combat poaching and encroachment in and around the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex. Wildlife conservation within Malaysia received a significant boost with the passing of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. The passing of this act celebrated WWF-Malaysia’s five-year-long aggressive advocacy with this act. Our concerns about weak clauses of the preceding bill which could result in weakened enforcement were recognised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. WWF-Malaysia is now confident that the current act is much stronger and will lead to better protection of endangered species. This Year of the Tiger did not see marine conservation neglected. In 2009, our “Egg=Life” campaign garnered more than 100,000 signatures from the public in support of WWF-Malaysia’s call for better legal protection of our nation’s endangered turtles through Federal laws. Pursuant to the campaign, a memorandum was presented to the Prime Minister on 7th April 2010. Our advocacy for the gazettement of the Tun Mustapha Marine Park in Sabah, Malaysia has gained much momentum with the increased involvement of state government agencies, local coastal communities, commercial fisheries and more recently, several politicians. This has allowed for the creation of a holistic collaborative management frame-work which will pave the way for effective management of the marine park once it is officially created. In addition to our policy and advocacy work, business and industry engagement wins have also been encouraging. An increasing number of oil palm and timber industry players are investing funds in better and sustainable management practices such as establishment of riparian corridors, increased commitment to certification of palm oil and timber and enhanced steps to promote biodiversity conservation in plantations and concessions. From March 2009 to May 2010, more than 11,000 trees were sold to various companies for reforestation work in the Kinabatangan by the Komuniti Anak Pokok Kinabatangan/Seedlings Community of Kinabatangan (KAPOK) programme established by WWF-Malaysia, hich comprises small-scale nursery owners in the area. Ecotourism operators are also increasingly participating in the voluntary conservation levy scheme spearheaded by WWFMalaysia. WWF-Malaysia is grateful to our partners and supporters who helped us achieve these conservation wins that spur us in our efforts to leave our children a living planet.
Dato’ Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin
WWF-Malaysia President