Malaysia Fishing Club

By JULIA ZAPPEI,Associated Press Writer - Wednesday, October 7SendIM StoryPrint.KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia will bar companies from planting palm oil and other crops near rivers in a large state on Borneo island to preserve the habitat of orangutans and other endangered wildlife, an official said Tuesday.

The government of Malaysia's eastern Sabah state plans to start enforcing land laws to forbid the clearing of forests along rivers over the next three years, said Sabah Environment Minister Masidi Manjun.

The pledge came after wildlife groups and government officials held a meeting about orangutan conservation last weekend. The groups urged authorities to establish protected zones of at least 110 yards (100 meters) wide on each side of a river so animals can move between forest areas.

Activists say Sabah's orangutans, pygmy elephants, rhinoceroses, sun bears and other wildlife are at risk because their jungle habitats are increasingly taken over by plantations.

Some plantation operators have long flouted the law by expanding their crops to the edge of rivers, but officials plan to crack down on such actions and get the businesses to replant trees that have been cut down near rivers, Masidi told The Associated Press.

"We accept the fact that it will be a gigantic effort," Masidi said.

Marc Ancrenaz, co-founder of French-based conservation group Hutan, said laws should also be amended to ensure that protected areas are properly managed.

"It's a major project," he said. "At the end of the day ... there is no other way."

Hutan estimates there are fewer than 11,000 orangutans remaining in Sabah. There were up to eight times that number 15 years ago.