The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak

The protected areas of Sarawak now contain the best examples of what were once some of the most diverse and continuous mature rainforest in the world. Excluding proposed sites and marine reserves, Sarawak boasts 26 protected areas comprising nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and national park...

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Main Authors: Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan, Lawes, M.J
Other Authors: Mazlin, Mokhtar
Format: Book Chapter
Language:English
Published: LESTARI Publisher 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/1/The%20Efficacy%20of%20Protected%20Areas%20%28abstract%29.pdf
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author Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan
Lawes, M.J
author2 Mazlin, Mokhtar
author_facet Mazlin, Mokhtar
Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan
Lawes, M.J
author_sort Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The protected areas of Sarawak now contain the best examples of what were once some of the most diverse and continuous mature rainforest in the world. Excluding proposed sites and marine reserves, Sarawak boasts 26 protected areas comprising nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. These are the only line of defence in efforts to protect Sarawak’s biodiversity and prevent local extinction. The protected areas cover about 0.5 million hectares of forest, or 4% of Sarawak’s total area. Accelerated land conversion to agriculture, agro-forestry and urban development has confined the residual biodiversity to protected areas and human-modified or secondary habitat. With protected areas being fragmented and isolated, even minor threats to these areas could potentially have large impacts on their biodiversity. The ability of species to persist within such remnants is an issue of concern. With the rapid pace of anthropogenic land use change, Sarawak is running out of potential sites for new high quality protected areas. In light of this, and based on past and present experience, a decisive approach to conserving the remaining diverse mature rainforest is urgently needed. New criteria for reserve selection based on basic principles of ecology are critically needed to maximize conservation gains and priorities.
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spelling unimas-161662018-08-06T02:20:59Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/ The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan Lawes, M.J GE Environmental Sciences QL Zoology The protected areas of Sarawak now contain the best examples of what were once some of the most diverse and continuous mature rainforest in the world. Excluding proposed sites and marine reserves, Sarawak boasts 26 protected areas comprising nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. These are the only line of defence in efforts to protect Sarawak’s biodiversity and prevent local extinction. The protected areas cover about 0.5 million hectares of forest, or 4% of Sarawak’s total area. Accelerated land conversion to agriculture, agro-forestry and urban development has confined the residual biodiversity to protected areas and human-modified or secondary habitat. With protected areas being fragmented and isolated, even minor threats to these areas could potentially have large impacts on their biodiversity. The ability of species to persist within such remnants is an issue of concern. With the rapid pace of anthropogenic land use change, Sarawak is running out of potential sites for new high quality protected areas. In light of this, and based on past and present experience, a decisive approach to conserving the remaining diverse mature rainforest is urgently needed. New criteria for reserve selection based on basic principles of ecology are critically needed to maximize conservation gains and priorities. LESTARI Publisher Mazlin, Mokhtar Sharina, Abdul Halim 2012 Book Chapter PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/1/The%20Efficacy%20of%20Protected%20Areas%20%28abstract%29.pdf Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan and Lawes, M.J (2012) The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak. In: RIMBA2: Regional Sustainable Development in Malaysia. LESTARI Publisher, pp. 136-146. ISBN 978-967-5227-50-9 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301883801
spellingShingle GE Environmental Sciences
QL Zoology
Jayasilan, Mohd. Azlan
Lawes, M.J
The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak
title The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak
title_full The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak
title_fullStr The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak
title_full_unstemmed The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak
title_short The Efficacy of Protected Areas and Future Challenges for Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak
title_sort efficacy of protected areas and future challenges for wildlife conservation in sarawak
topic GE Environmental Sciences
QL Zoology
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16166/1/The%20Efficacy%20of%20Protected%20Areas%20%28abstract%29.pdf