Royal Belum State Park, Under the Jurisdiction of Perak State Parks Corporation, Receives Prestigious Accreditation in Partnership with WWF-Malaysia

Posted on 31 March 2023

~ Collaborative conservation efforts earns state park international recognition ~

30 March 2023, Ipoh – The Royal Belum State Park, under the management of the Perak State Parks Corporation (PSPC), has been awarded the prestigious Conservation Assured |Tiger Standards (CA|TS) approval, in recognition of its exceptional conservation efforts and commitment to tiger conservation. This milestone has been achieved through a fruitful partnership with WWF- Malaysia, who provided guidance and support throughout the accreditation process. This certifies the commitment of PSPC and the Royal Belum State Park in supporting tiger conservation efforts, and places Malaysia on the map as the very first country in Southeast Asia to implement CA|TS. WWF-Malaysia has worked with PSPC since 2017 to achieve this approval, by facilitating the standards implementation and closely monitoring the standards compliance.

CA|TS is a global accreditation scheme that encourages tiger conservation areas to meet a set of standards and best practices that will lead to successful tiger conservation. Being CA|TS approved shows that effectively managing a site according to best practises enables tiger conservation and where possible, population recovery. PSPC has implemented a series of initiatives to meet the standards compliance such as strengthening its management, staffing, stakeholder relationship, community engagement, and protection of the tiger population. These initiatives include intensive patrolling through the WWF-Malaysia Project Stampede, where Orang Asli were mobilised to regularly patrol the deep forests of the Royal Belum State Park, and setting up of the all-indigenous Jahai Asli patrol team - MENRAQ - for tiger protection. Apart from that, continuous monitoring of tigers and their prey population is also being conducted by WWF-Malaysia to assess the impact of these initiatives.
In his statement, Mohamed Shah Redza Husein, PSPC Director said, “We are honoured to receive the CA|TS approval and grateful for the invaluable support provided by WWF-Malaysia. This recognition reflects our dedication to protecting the majestic and critically endangered Malayan tigers in Royal Belum, and hopefully the park can continue to be the stronghold of tiger population in the country in years to come.”

According to WWF-Malaysia Executive Director and CEO, Sophia Lim, “This is a big step towards creating a long-term conservation impact for the Malayan tiger. With the CA|TS approval, we are confident that on-going conservation efforts in Belum-Temengor will be strengthened significantly. This also sends a strong message to the world that we are committed, and now join the likes of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Russia and China, to protect our tigers. We were delighted to see WWF-backed action in other countries paying off: a win-win for people and nature. We are hopeful that together with PSPC, our efforts will see Malayan tiger numbers doubling or, at the very least increasing, in the near future.”

The CA|TS approval comes at an opportune moment, in conjunction with the upcoming Global Tiger Day on 29 July 2023. Apart from cementing our commitment in the protection of the Malayan tigers, this CA|TS accreditation will also hopefully pave the way for other sites to strengthen their management and protection. Royal Belum State Park is a model CA|TS site not only in Malaysia, but also in the Southeast Asia region.

The Malayan tiger conservation efforts in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex is a collaborative initiative with multiple stakeholders, including Perak State Government, PSPC, WWF-Malaysia, Maybank Foundation, Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN), Economic Planning Unit of Perak, Forestry Department of Perak, Royal Malaysian Police, and Malaysian Armed Forces, among others.

A Malayan tiger (c) Shariff Mohamad/ WWF-Malaysia

Royal Belum State Park (c) Shariff Mohamad/ WWF-Malaysia

Royal Belum State Park, Under the Jurisdiction of Perak State Parks Corporation, Receives Prestigious Accreditation in Partnership with WWF-Malaysia

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