In the past decade, the rapid expansion of oil palms along the Kinabatangan floodplain, the largest remaining forested floodplain in Sabah, has significantly increased human-wildlife conflicts, with elephants encroaching into plantation estates in search of food and water.
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Conservation groups and government agencies have been working to mitigate the recurring problem, with experts calling for efforts to intensify efforts to reduce these clashes given the latest update by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that classifies a distinct subspecies of elephants living on the island of Borneo as endangered.
IUCN’s announcement last month confirms that the Borneo pygmy elephants, the world’s smallest elephants, are in danger of dying out as their population dwindles. These elephants are primarily found in Sabah with a current estimated population of just 1,000 remaining in the wild, and about 400 breeding adults.
The Borneo population of Asian elephants were identified to be genetically distinct from its other cousins on the refreshed IUCN Red List, having separated from them “tens to several hundreds of thousands of years ago”. Scientists say the recognition provides a strong impetus for their conservation.
“To secure the future of these unique animals, it is essential to protect and expand their forest habitats, support local communities in minimising conflict with elephants, and enforce anti-poaching measures,” said IUCN on its website.
In recent years, a strategy that non-governmental organisations in Malaysia have looked into is establishing wildlife corridors through the vast oil palm plantations – a solution supported by IUCN too – as these connectors can join forested patches, allowing the elephants to roam more widely, access more food, and mingle to preserve their genetic diversity.
On a recent visit to Sukau, Kinabatangan, one of the most biodiverse regions in Malaysia, conservation groups tell Eco-Business that wildlife habitat loss due to the expansion of oil palm sites continue to be a problem, while local communities and oil palm smallholders see elephant encroachment into their estates as a menace.
Social enterprise Animal Projects & Environmental Education (APE Malaysia)’s Sabah project manager Mark Benedict said that most human-elephant conflicts that happen in Sabah are driven by development which disrupts former elephant migration paths.
In the Kinabatangan district, what was once primarily forested land is now mostly agricultural, with oil palm plantations covering approximately 90 per cent of the landscape. Beyond oil palm expansion, experts also highlight how other development and mining activities are hurting wildlife biodiversity.
On strengthening corridor connectivity, Benedict shared that his team is looking to build these safe passages for the elephants to cross from one forest patch to another. “We have some areas where the entire plantation site is now used for conservation purposes,” he said, adding that he has been seeing a transformational change where the current generation of elephants now like to spend more time on plantation estates due to the easy access to food.
Palm oil smallholder Jumahali Limpisan speaking to reporters about the challenges he faces in the agriculture business, particularly human-wildlife conflict. Image: Siva Selan/Eco-Business
Establishing wildlife corridors can be highly effective in mitigating human-wildlife conflict and promoting biodiversity, particularly for species like elephants and orangutans as these corridors provide essential pathways that connect fragmented habitats, allowing them to move safely.
However, the effectiveness of these corridors depends on several factors, said Dr Nurzhafarina Othman, senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Dr Nurzhafarina said that in order for these corridors to work, all stakeholders must agree on the specifications, protection measures, and functions of the corridors which involves detailed planning so they meet the ecological needs of wildlife.
“The Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary consists of corridors that are protected to connect patches of Class VI forest reserves [also known as virgin jungle reserves] along the river. We should strive to increase the protected areas by purchasing land or collaborating with landowners whenever possible,” she said.
Apart from these corridors, Dr Nurzhafarina added that managing wildlife on the landscape level is the holistic approach to addressing human-wildlife conflict, as it integrates conservation goals with socio-economic development.
Since wildlife such as elephants have large home ranges and require extensive areas for food, water, and mating, establishing a network of corridors outside protected areas is crucial.
“Managing elephants at the landscape level involves considering the entire ecosystem and various land uses within it, rather than focusing on isolated areas like individual villages or plantations.”
“A landscape-level strategy ensures habitat connectivity, allowing elephants to migrate between different habitats without coming into conflict with human activities. By planning and managing land use across the landscape, we can reduce human-elephant conflicts, create buffer zones, and design wildlife corridors that guide elephants away from high-risk areas,” Dr Nurzhafarina said.
In June 2024 alone, there were reportedly four elephant encounters within Sukau, from a single elephant to as many as 80. Chasing these giants away from plantation sites remains a daunting and dangerous task for villagers.
The Kinabatangan wildlife department is providing assistance to farmers dealing with the situation. However, the sheer size of the district and the overwhelming number of calls make it difficult for the rescue team to get to location on time, said Kinabatangan district wildlife officer Sylvia Alsisto.
“Part of our mitigation measures to minimise conflict involves collaboration with NGOs. But this alone is not enough. The community needs to know how to handle the situation as well,” she said.
Kinabatangan district wildlife officer Sylvia Alsisto (third from right) responding to farmers’ concerns during a special stakeholder dialogue. Image: Wild Asia/Flickr
Long-term measures to minimise conflicts include installation of electric fences, but these require cooperation from the local community in terms of maintenance, so they can continue to serve the purpose of keeping elephants at bay, Alsisto said.
“But it is not easy to avoid conflict altogether because we can’t install gates in the entire area,” she said, adding that they continue to work with local communities and place their teams at various locations to address the issue.
Besides NGOs, the Sabah state government is also looking to start elephant corridor projects in Kinabatangan by the end of this year in its efforts to better protect the pygmy elephants.
Last month, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Christina Liew said the state is in talks with various stakeholders to create a food corridor by planting food plants along elephant migration paths, with the aim of reducing human-wildlife conflicts.
Dr Nurzhafarina noted that moving forward, resolving human-wildlife conflict and better protecting animals requires a paradigm shift in approaches taken, since such conflicts typically arise from disagreements among stakeholders over how to manage wildlife.
“Achieving coexistence ideally requires agreement or at least cooperation among stakeholders on management strategies. Coordinated and collaborative conservation actions are therefore required to deliver meaningful results and allow communities to shift from conflict to coexistence with wildlife,” she said.
Benedict stressed the need for the Kinabatangan wildlife sanctuary to stay protected as it is where there should be coexistence between humans and wildlife in the district.
“We need a lot of stakeholder involvement, especially from the plantation side, to comply with the existing criteria. If they can allow for safe passage within their landscape, it can help address some of the conflicts that we are seeing [today],” he said.
Other than the elephants, the Kinabatangan River Basin boasts a range of precious wildlife, such as the endangered proboscis monkeys, orangutans, pig-tailed macaques and hornbills.
Eco-Business’ access to smallholders and conservation groups in Kinabatangan as well as the sponsored trip to Sabah was facilitated by Wild Asia and Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).
