12 November 2024, Kuala Lumpur -  WWF-Malaysia is deeply grateful to be recognised with the prestigious Star Golden Hearts Award (SGHA) 2024, with our Tiger Anti-Poaching Team and Sarawak Wildlife Conservation Team among this year’s 10 honourees. 

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Star Foundation for celebrating the efforts of Malaysians dedicated to making a meaningful impact and fostering unity. This recognition, chosen from over 500 nominations nationwide, strengthens our commitment to conservation and community service.

"We are immensely proud of our Tiger Anti-Poaching and Sarawak Wildlife Conservation teams for their unwavering dedication to wildlife conservation. This recognition by the Star Foundation serves as a powerful validation of their tireless efforts to protect Malaysia’s endangered species and habitats. It is a significant milestone that highlights the importance of collaboration and community involvement in ensuring a sustainable future for both wildlife and people," said Sophia Lim, CEO/Executive Director of WWF-Malaysia.

She continued, "The recent tragic roadkill incident involving a Malayan tiger brings into sharp focus the urgent need for comprehensive conservation efforts to protect this national icon. Preserving the Malayan tiger remains a national priority, especially as the species faces critical threats from poaching, habitat loss, and other pressures."
Azlan Mohamed, Tiger Lead at WWF-Malaysia, said, "This award honours the invaluable contributions of the Orang Asli anti-poaching teams, who are on the front lines. Their immense courage, endurance and dedication are crucial in protecting the Malayan tiger from the persistent threats of poaching and habitat loss.”

He also emphasised the critical role of collaboration, saying, “Strong partnerships with law enforcement agencies, local communities, government bodies and corporates with a heart for conservation are vital to our mission. We want to acknowledge the invaluable support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, PERHILITAN, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Peninsula Malaysia Department of Forestry, the Perak State government, Perak State Parks Corporation, our corporate partners like Maybank, Procter & Gamble, and our partner NGOs who also work in the area, as well as other valued funders who make our work possible.”

To date there are about 130 individuals from local Orang Asli communities trained in anti-poaching and essential skills such as GPS handling and data collection, fostering both wildlife conservation and economic stability within these communities. The anti-poaching team has achieved a 98% reduction in active snares and deployed over 500 camera traps, providing critical data for monitoring tiger populations and ecosystem health within the Belum-Temengor forest complex. In 2022 and 2023, zero snares were detected in the forests, and in recent years, camera traps have captured footage of mother tigers and their cubs.

“Threats are ever present,” he continued. “We need to move faster and more decisively if we are to reverse the alarming decline in Malayan tiger numbers. As we celebrate this double victory with the Sarawak Wildlife Conservation Team, it’s a reminder that the fight to conserve Malaysia's endangered species is far from over. With threats like poaching, habitat loss, diseases and climate change increasing, there is an urgent need to accelerate conservation efforts and expand the scope of protection for our natural heritage.”

WWF-Malaysia Senior Field Biologist Lukmann Haqeem Alen, who leads the wildlife conservation work in Sarawak said, they are thrilled to be recognised for their conservation work in SGHA this year. 

“It’s a great honour to be acknowledged for our contributions, and it inspires us to continue engaging in and supporting nature conservation in meaningful ways. This award would greatly elevate our initiative by boosting its visibility and credibility in and outside Sarawak. Such recognition also inspires others to get involved, fostering a sense of community and collaboration.

The winners from Sarawak are Lukmann, senior programme assistants Affy Azlizan Senin and Mohamad Hisyamuddin Nasir, programme assistants Donny Janis and Anderian Alfonso, and wildlife and habitat conservation senior officer Philovenny Pengiran.

Lukmann said the team in Sarawak aims to learn more about the wildlife in priority conservation areas and this is carried out through installing camera traps. Between 2015 and 2023, the team has installed camera traps in Payeh Maga, Kuba’an, Pasin, Mujan-Julan, Melatai, Ulu Baleh, and Gunung Lesong, and retrieved over a million photos. 

“These camera trap images let us learn about where the wildlife live, how many there are, and how they are doing,” he said. He added that for orangutans, the team carried out nest count surveys - trekking through dense and rough forest in Pasin and Ulu Ai Kanan. 

He said it is the team’s hopes that the wildlife data collected from camera traps and orangutan nest count surveys would help in contributing to better conservation of those species and their habitats; and advocating for a holistic wildlife conservation management plan to be adopted and implemented by the state government.  

“A wildlife conservation management plan is essential to protect critical habitats from being disrupted by unsustainable development, especially as many of the animals captured on camera are endangered, rare, or threatened,” he emphasised.

He said their conservation efforts were also made possible with support from partners such as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Urban Development, Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Forest Department Sarawak, Sri Aman Development Authority, district offices, the private sector and academia. 

The team is also grateful to communities whom they hired as porters, boatmen and jungle guides who brought them in and out safely of their survey sites, as well as village headmen who hosted them at their longhouses during their field work, he said adding that they are also stewards and co-managers of the forests.  

WWF-Malaysia also extends heartfelt thanks to all individual and corporate donors for their continued support of our conservation efforts across the country.

 

- Ends -
 

Group Chief Executive Officer of Star Media Group, Chan Seng Fatt (right) presenting the award to Tiger Anti-Poaching team representatives Yahya Charol and Azlan Mohamed (left). © Carol Debra / WWF-Malaysia

From left: Sarawak Wildlife Conservation team members Anderian, Hisyamuddin and Affy receiving the award from Group Chief Executive Officer of Star Media Group, Chan Seng Fatt.  © Zora  Chan / WWF-Malaysia

Winners from the Star Golden Hearts Award 2024 posing for a group photo with the esteemed judges and  The Star Media Group representatives. © Zora Chan / WWF-Malaysia

The work environment for Sarawak’s wildlife conservation team is highly unpredictable and challenging. In this photo, team members and their field assistants are seen carrying, pulling, and pushing their longboat through impassable sections of the Upper Katibas River. 
© WWF-Malaysia 

  Changes and adaptations are often necessary during fieldwork. Here, plans were quickly drawn on the spot (ground) to ensure everyone was aligned with the new adjustments.  © WWF-Malaysia

  Lukmann (right) taught Affy (centre)  and former programme assistant Jim Wisco how to install a camera trap during their first fieldwork together as the wildlife conservation team in Pasin. © WWF-Malaysia
 
At the field house, preparing patrol routes in Royal Belum State Park. 
© Emmanuel Rondeau / WWF-US

  An anti-poaching team on patrol in Royal Belum State Park.
© Emmanuel Rondeau / WWF-US
  The teams spend at least two weeks at a time in the forest, keeping eyes and ears open for signs of snares and poachers - and tigers. © Emmanuel Rondeau / WWF-US
  Malayan tiger caught with its paw in a wire snare. © Lau Ching Fong / WWF-Malaysia
  Camera trap image of a female Malayan tiger, with her four tiger cubs in tow.
© WWF-Malaysia / Perak State Parks Corporation



About WWF-Malaysia
Established in 1972, WWF-Malaysia is part of WWF, the international conservation organisation. Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife, WWF-Malaysia’s efforts to conserve nature focus on six major goals - forests, oceans, wildlife, food, climate and energy, as well as freshwater – and three key drivers of environmental problems – markets, finance and governance. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

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