The fate of a forest tract in Malaysia may have shifted dramatically in just the last few months.
For three years, a group of conservation NGOs in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, has been working to keep the forests from an area known as Forest Management Unit 5 out of the sawmills.
And they appeared to be on the cusp of preserving one of the best-protected stands in Sabah harboring an important watershed, as well as orangutans, clouded leopards and gibbons. They had even sought collaboration with the company that owned the rights to exploit the area for timber.
But when that company suddenly sold those rights in October 2016, it took them completely by surprise, say the conservationists, demonstrating just how difficult the transition toward conservation can be.
This excerpt from a news article appeared in and is courtesy of Mongabay.com and can be read in its entirety here.
