Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience

The period of 1970s was the time when Malaysia started to experience environmental problems including various threats facing the wildlife as a result of rapid economic growth, deforestation and urbanization. In an effort to solve these environmental problems, Malaysia took a number of countermeasure...

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Main Authors:	Mustafa, Maizatun, abu hanifah, norha, kamaruddin, hanim, loh, ing hoe, hashim, normawati, Ibrahim, Irini
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English English
Published:	2017
Subjects:	K Law (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/1/Cebu%20maizatun%202017.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/2/cebu%20proceedings%202017.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/12/abstract%20MM%20cebu.pdf

id	iium-57217
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-572172017-12-25T02:45:10Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/ Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience Mustafa, Maizatun abu hanifah, norha kamaruddin, hanim loh, ing hoe hashim, normawati Ibrahim, Irini K Law (General) The period of 1970s was the time when Malaysia started to experience environmental problems including various threats facing the wildlife as a result of rapid economic growth, deforestation and urbanization. In an effort to solve these environmental problems, Malaysia took a number of countermeasures including the enactment of the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972. Over the years, it was apparent that while the Act was meant to safeguard endangered species and wildlife habitats, it weak penalties, limited scope of enforcement, and low risk of prosecution created an insufficient deterrent over various wildlife crimes including hunting and poaching. Subsequently, continuous threats to wildlife and fulfilment of international obligation have managed to persuade Malaysia to re-evaluate the efficacy of its wildlife conservation law including to amend the outdated penalties and widen the law’s scope of enforcement. Finally, after 38 years, the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 was revoked, and a brand new legislation was passed, known as the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. The new Act is aimed to improve and strengthen Malaysia’s wildlife legislation and is considered to be one of the most important statutes on wildlife conservation for Malaysia. This paper makes a comparison between the revoked 1972’s Act with the present Act for the purpose of highlighting improvement made within the new law in terms of its scope of enforcement, and new types of offences, and punishment it provides. Analysis of the provisions of the mentioned Acts shows that the current law expands the extent of enforcement and penalties. With these expansion, the law can now be enforced on wider scope and range of actions or activities considered to be offences pertaining to wildlife. The conclusion that can be made from this paper is that such expansion which improve the legal situation of animals has greatly increased Malaysia’s ability to protect its wildlife and endangered species. 2017 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/1/Cebu%20maizatun%202017.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/2/cebu%20proceedings%202017.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/12/abstract%20MM%20cebu.pdf Mustafa, Maizatun and abu hanifah, norha and kamaruddin, hanim and loh, ing hoe and hashim, normawati and Ibrahim, Irini (2017) Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience. In: IUCN Academy of Environmental Law 15th Annual Colloquium, 29 May - 3 Jun 2017, Cebu, Phillipine. (Unpublished)
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English English
topic	K Law (General)
spellingShingle	K Law (General) Mustafa, Maizatun abu hanifah, norha kamaruddin, hanim loh, ing hoe hashim, normawati Ibrahim, Irini Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience
description	The period of 1970s was the time when Malaysia started to experience environmental problems including various threats facing the wildlife as a result of rapid economic growth, deforestation and urbanization. In an effort to solve these environmental problems, Malaysia took a number of countermeasures including the enactment of the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972. Over the years, it was apparent that while the Act was meant to safeguard endangered species and wildlife habitats, it weak penalties, limited scope of enforcement, and low risk of prosecution created an insufficient deterrent over various wildlife crimes including hunting and poaching. Subsequently, continuous threats to wildlife and fulfilment of international obligation have managed to persuade Malaysia to re-evaluate the efficacy of its wildlife conservation law including to amend the outdated penalties and widen the law’s scope of enforcement. Finally, after 38 years, the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 was revoked, and a brand new legislation was passed, known as the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. The new Act is aimed to improve and strengthen Malaysia’s wildlife legislation and is considered to be one of the most important statutes on wildlife conservation for Malaysia. This paper makes a comparison between the revoked 1972’s Act with the present Act for the purpose of highlighting improvement made within the new law in terms of its scope of enforcement, and new types of offences, and punishment it provides. Analysis of the provisions of the mentioned Acts shows that the current law expands the extent of enforcement and penalties. With these expansion, the law can now be enforced on wider scope and range of actions or activities considered to be offences pertaining to wildlife. The conclusion that can be made from this paper is that such expansion which improve the legal situation of animals has greatly increased Malaysia’s ability to protect its wildlife and endangered species.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Mustafa, Maizatun abu hanifah, norha kamaruddin, hanim loh, ing hoe hashim, normawati Ibrahim, Irini
author_facet	Mustafa, Maizatun abu hanifah, norha kamaruddin, hanim loh, ing hoe hashim, normawati Ibrahim, Irini
author_sort	Mustafa, Maizatun
title	Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience
title_short	Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience
title_full	Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience
title_fullStr	Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience
title_full_unstemmed	Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience
title_sort	strengthening the law on wildlife conservation: the malaysian experience
publishDate	2017
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/1/Cebu%20maizatun%202017.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/2/cebu%20proceedings%202017.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57217/12/abstract%20MM%20cebu.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:20:50Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:20:50Z
_version_	1777411870258364416

Strengthening the Law on Wildlife Conservation: The Malaysian Experience

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