(MY) making money out of monkeys

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Friday October 17, 2008 - The Star Big bucks from primates

 

KOTA KINABALU: Each orang utan living along a tributary of Sungai

Kinabatangan can help rake in more than RM81,000 a year in tourism revenue,

WWF Malaysia chief executive Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said.

 

He said Sabah could earn at least RM1.5bil in tourism receipts from the

Lower Kinabatangan region alone.

 

The revenue derived through the primates was based on an estimated 34,000

tourists heading to the Menanggul tributary every year to see the orang

utans there and spending RM700 each.

 

There are 293 primates living in the area.

 

Dr Sharma said each hectare of the 1,876ha forest at the tributary would

annually contribute nearly RM12,700 in tourism revenue as well.

 

He said these showed that the state's forests and wildlife was an infinitive

resource so long as they were managed in a sustainable manner.

 

He said this when presenting his paper titled " Preservation of the rain

forest, its costs and benefits towards the tourism sector " at the Sabah

International Business Conference 2008 here on Thursday.

 

Noting that Sabah's forestry revenue had declined from RM818mil in 1990 to

just more than RM355mil last year, he said tourism was a key alternative

income-earner as it provided jobs to locals in the food-and-beverage and

hospitality sectors and related industries such as handicraft-making.

 

Dr Sharma said employment in the forestry sector was largely limited to

skilled loggers.

 

" More conservation efforts are needed to protect our forests and unique

flagship species such as orang utan, Sumatran rhinos, orchids, and

Rafflesia, " Dr Sharma said, adding that a sustainable eco-tourism plan would

enable Sabah to enjoy long-term economic growth.