Wildlife Dept to set up intelligence unit

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) will set up an Intelligence Unit to boost the State’s wildlife enforcement capacity and expertise in wildlife forensic investigations, said its Director Augustine Tuuga.

It was initiated as part of the “Boosting enforcement and forensic capacity to deter wildlife trafficking in Sabah” project led by the SWD and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC).

The project had previously received an approved grant of RM4 million by the US Department of State through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

The Intelligence Unit will develop specific intelligence producers and will be responsible to systematically maintain a wildlife crime database that will be shared effectively with the relevant national and international agencies.

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Augustine said the department will also be securing the Wildlife Health, Genetic and Forensic Laboratory to comply with internationally accepted requirements to conduct wildlife forensic work.

“Both the Intelligence Unit and the laboratory will support and collaborate with other agencies locally and internationally.” He said this in his speech during the “Illegal Wildlife Trade and Counteracting Measures in Sabah” workshop, at Kota Kinabalu Marriott Hotel, here, Wednesday.

“The Intelligence Unit members will attend a number of specialised training sessions on criminal analysis and investigation.

“To make the most of this funding, key components of the training have also been offered to our partners in the illegal wildlife trade battle,” he said.

DGFC director and scientist Dr Benoit Goossens said the unit would be implemented this month (January).

“The Sabah Wildlife Department has assigned 11 the staff to the intelligence unit under the Head of Enforcement, Soffian Abu Bakar.

“The unit is going to be trained for two years,” he said, adding that a dedicated intelligence mentor from the United Kingdom will also be hired to facilitate the trainings.

He said the training would involve members of different enforcement agencies such as the Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Royal Malaysian Customs Department, Sabah Forestry Department and Sabah Parks.

“The RM4 million will cover all the trainings, the trainers and also equipment. We have vehicles for the enforcement unit and intelligence unit; boats, motorbikes and some allowances.

“We are also developing the forensic lab, so some of the funding will also be in that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Mission (US Embassy in Malaysia) Dean Thompson who represented the US Ambassador to Malaysia, Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, said workshop kicked-off the beginning of the two-year programme.

He hoped it would boost Sabah’s wildlife enforcement capacity and encourage inter-agency coordination amongst the law enforcement and non-governmental organisations.

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He added the INL’s monetary contributions towards such programs is part of the “End Wildlife Trafficking Act” passed by the US Congress in 2016, which instructs Federal agencies to develop a whole of government approach to counter wildlife trafficking, both domestically and globally.

“The United States has made a concerted effort to offer networking, support, and training to build capacity at the local, national, and international levels to tackle this global plague,” he said.

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