Sime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant ConflictSime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant ConflictSime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant ConflictSime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant Conflict
  • Who We Are
    • About Us
    • Sime Darby Plantation Worldwide
    • Our Journey
    • Our Products
    • Our Leaders
    • Our Awards and Recognitions
    • Corporate Governance
  • What We Do
    • Our Strategy
    • Our Businesses
  • Innovation
    • Overview
    • GenomeSelect™
    • Precision Agriculture
    • Automating Plantations
    • Eco-Solutions
    • Food Science
    • Innovation Challenge
  • Sustainability
    • Overview
    • Climate Action
    • Human Rights
    • Responsible Sourcing
    • Reports, Policies and Statements
  • Our People
    • Growing Together
    • Opportunities
    • What Do Our People Say?
    • Connect With Us
  • Investor Relations
    • Overview
    • Stock and Shareholder Information
    • Financial Information
    • Operational Information
    • Investor Resources
    • Analyst Coverage
    • ESG Index and Credit Ratings
    • Bursa Announcements
    • Annual Reports and Presentations
Procurement
#SDPnetzero

Sime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant Conflict

  • Home
  • Press Releases and Public Updates
  • Sime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant Conflict
18 February 2020

Sime Darby Plantation and partner MEME develop the world’s first mechanism to resolve Human-Elephant Conflict

Yayasan Sime Darby is funding RM8.11 million to support the 11-year research project

SEMENYIH, 18 February 2020 – The world’s first publicly available human-elephant conflict (HEC) resolution mechanism is set to be developed, thanks to the partnership between academia and the public and private sectors.

The science-backed mechanism in the form of standard operating procedures (SOP) will be made public by the end of this year and it champions co-existence between humans and the endangered species.

This is made possible by a collaboration between the Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME) project and Sime Darby Plantation (SDP).

MEME has been running since 2012 with support from Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD). YSD renewed its support for the project with a RM2.85 million commitment for three years from Jan 2020 until Dec 2022. The project’s phase 3 launch is commemorated by a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing between YSD and MEME at the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM).

YSD previously committed RM3.36 million for the project’s phase 1 (Jan 2012- Dec 2016) and RM1.9 million for phase 2 (Jan 2017- Dec 2019), bringing the total commitment to RM8.11 million over an 11-year period. MEME and SDP employee and YSD environmental scholar Nur Aida Ab Ghani are developing co-existence solutions to form the SOP by combining research findings from the project.

The project’s long-term goals are to increase capacity-building and tolerance among communities, smallholders and plantations; to promote human-elephant co-existence on a national scale; and to enhance the protection of wild elephants and their habitats. The project also aims to empower relevant communities to increase tolerance towards elephants, as this will address the rising death toll of the endangered species in Malaysia.

YB Teresa Kok, Minister of Primary Industries who was present at the launch lauded the initiative and said it addresses the rising HEC incidences among villagers, plantation workers and the elephants.

“The government appreciates the efforts of the private sector and academia to find solutions to tackle HEC. This endeavour fuses knowledge from the plantation industry with research findings on elephant behaviour and ecology to produce evidence-based resolution.

“Agriculture and conservation must work hand in hand to achieve sustainable development. SDP for example, has gone above and beyond to develop the mechanism with the interest of elephants’ welfare at heart,” she noted.

YSD Governing Council Member, Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said the SOP is being developed to form part of SDP’s Human-Wildlife Resolution policy under its Responsible Agriculture Charter (RAC). He announced that the SOP is set to be implemented across all SDP estates before the end of 2020.

“In the long run, this undertaking will empower plantations to understand Human Elephant Conflict patterns in their own area and enable adaptive management standards, as elephant behaviour and the nature of the Human Elephant Conflict may differ from one place to another.

“Once completed, the standard operating procedure will be made accessible to all relevant industries,” said Helmy who is also the Group Managing Director of Sime Darby Plantation.

MEME was established since 2011 as a joint research project between the University of Nottingham Malaysia and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN), with the aim to move towards evidence-based management and conservation of wild elephants in Peninsular Malaysia.

Dr Wong Ee Phin, the Principal Investigator for MEME said wild elephants require large roaming areas and a big portion of their habitat lies outside of protected areas. “In Peninsular Malaysia’s landscape where we still have elephants and humans living together, two-thirds are experiencing conflict.

“The continued support from YSD has allowed MEME to continue our momentum, to move from knowledge generation to implementation on the ground. We need to work together with agriculture communities to see how we can manage the conflict to a tolerable level that allows coexistence for long-term,” she said.

Professor Deborah Hall, UNM’s Vice-Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange said: “The MEME project represents one of our flagship sustainability programmes, working hand-in-hand with external partners to deliver pioneering research that changes lives.

“Our research enables local authorities and other policymakers to make evidence-based decision in elephant conservation and we are committed to building local capacity in conservation science and practice. We are delighted to sign this MOU in the year that we are also celebrating 20 years of a thriving global University in Malaysia."

MEME was involved in the drafting of the National Conservation and Action Plan (NECAP), which was launched in 2013, and is one of the key members of MyGajah, the steering committee led by PERHILITAN that oversees NECAP’s implementation. MEME supports the national Central Forest Spine Masterplan for ecological linkages, that aims to restore forest connectivity throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

Under its Environment pillar, to date, YSD has committed over RM153 million towards the protection of high conservation value ecosystems, vulnerable and endangered species as well as initiatives promoting the preservation of the environment and biodiversity.

Share

Related posts

3 February 2023

Sime Darby Plantation’s palm oil exports to United States given greenlight after review by US Customs


Read more
8 December 2022

Sime Darby Plantation announces 2050 net-zero commitment with clear roadmap


Read more
29 November 2022

Sime Darby Plantation, Intan Hebat Baru and Wild Asia Join Forces to Raise Palm Oil Small Producers’ Standards


Read more
WHO WE ARE

About Us
Sime Darby Plantation Worldwide
Our Journey
Our Products
Our Leaders
Our Awards and Recognitions
Corporate Governance

INNOVATION

Overview
GenomeSelect™
Precision Agriculture
Automating Plantations
Eco-Solutions
Food Science
Innovation Challenge

SUSTAINABILITY

Overview
Climate Action
Human Rights
Responsible Sourcing
Reports, Policies and Statements

INVESTOR RELATIONS

Overview
Stock and Shareholder Information
Financial Information
Operational Information
Investor Resources
Analyst Coverage
ESG Index and Credit Ratings
Bursa Announcements
Annual Reports and Presentations

WHAT WE DO

Our Strategy
Our Businesses

Web Design Company

MEDIA

Press Releases and Public Updates
Resource Centre
Notices

OUR PEOPLE

Growing Together
Opportunities
What Do Our People Say?
Connect With Us

CONTACT US

© Copyright Sime Darby Plantation Berhad.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms of Use Important Notice Personal Data Protection Act 2010

    #SDPnetzero



      This website uses cookies in order to offer you the most relevant information. Please accept cookies for optimal performance.

      Read More



      Accept

      Ignore


      Manage consent

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
      CookieDurationDescription
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
      viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
      Functional
      Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
      Performance
      Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
      Analytics
      Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
      Advertisement
      Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
      Others
      Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
      SAVE & ACCEPT
    • How we use Cookies

      A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

      We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

      A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

      You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.