Paving way for progress – Balancing development with conservation in Sabah's road networks
A Bornean elephant grazing in the wild.
This regular op-ed column features WWF-Malaysia's perspectives on pressing environmental issues and events unfolding in Sabah. As an environmental conservation NGO, we also use this space to share our views on potential policy shifts that Sabah's leaders can implement to foster a greener and more sustainable future for the state.
Sabah is a land renowned for its lush nature and wildlife. Today, more than ever, the state stands at a critical juncture where the imperative for socioeconomic advancement with infrastructure development must be carefully balanced – with environmental and biodiversity conservation.
Roads and highways are arteries for progress. They facilitate trade and transport of goods, improve access to healthcare and education, and create better employment opportunities. However, the recent tragic death of a baby elephant on Mother's Day in Gerik, Perak, serves as a stark reminder of the dire consequences when infrastructure development proceeds without adequate consideration for biodiversity safeguards. The death of the baby elephant hit by a lorry highlights the pressing need for a paradigm shift in approaching road construction in ecologically sensitive regions like Sabah.
The impact of roads and highways on large species such as elephants is of particular concern. Elephants have large home ranges. They are known to feed along road shoulders due to the abundance of grass fodder found there. In Peninsular Malaysia, a staggering 2,361 wild animals have been killed by vehicles since 2020 (including eight elephants). In Sabah, the first known road accident involving elephants was reported in 2022.
As Sabah plans for more roads and highway projects such as the Pan Borneo highway that criss-cross wildlife habitat over the next few years, we can expect more wildlife-vehicle collisions and human-wildlife conflict.
Creating a safe coexistence between humans and wildlife
To prevent such wildlife-vehicle collisions, we need to create wildlife-friendly road infrastructure. Doing so requires wildlife data to determine locations of biodiversity hotspots so that the road can be aligned away. Where the roads must cross such hotspots, we need to construct wildlife-friendly road infrastructure.
While this is obvious, ongoing projects do not have them. For instance, Phase 1B of the Pan Borneo Highway project connecting Ranau to Sandakan. The alignment and budget was finalised before biodiversity concerns were fully addressed. The result: a 13-kilometre stretch cutting through the Tawai Forest Reserve, a Class I Protection Forest.
This vital forest is a sanctuary for highly endangered species, including Bornean elephants, Bornean orangutans, Bornean peacock pheasants, and Sunda clouded leopards. Under business as usual scenarios, in the absence of biodiversity safeguards, we will see roadkills on this new highway segment – exacerbating human-wildlife conflict, and posing a significant threat to these already vulnerable populations. Road users too are at risk, when they slam the breaks to avoid them.
On the Pan Borneo Highway, the planned Phase 3 serves to enhance connectivity in Sabah's southern interior. The new road links the main towns of Tawau and Keningau via the remote districts of Kalabakan and Pensiangan. While it ultimately improves access and supports drastically needed socio-economic development, the planned road alignment passes through vast intact Forest Reserves – habitats to many wildlife species.
We can prevent future occurrence of roadkills with proper road alignment and provision of budget for wildlife-friendly infrastructure. Pan Borneo Phase 3 is still pending confirmation, therefore presenting us a critical and timely opportunity. This is Sabah's chance to design road infrastructure that truly coexists with our iconic wildlife and minimises its environmental footprint.
The technical know-how is already there. Just recently on 6–9 May 2025, the Sabah Wildlife Department hosted a workshop on constructing wildlife-friendly infrastructure in Maliau Basin. The workshop was co-organised by WWF-Malaysia, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, and the IUCN WCPA/SSC Asian Elephant Transport Working Group.
The meeting featured an IUCN's 'Handbook to Mitigate the Impacts of Roads and Railways on Asian Elephants', and sought to enhance collective understanding and foster multi-stakeholder collaboration in addressing the impacts of linear infrastructure on wildlife. One of the key objectives of the workshop was to provide recommendations for Phase 3 of the Pan Borneo Highway Project.
Workshop participants reached a clear consensus on the need to integrate environmental screening assessments early in road planning to avoid environmentally sensitive areas and ensure effective mitigation measures. These measures include wildlife-friendly crossing structures such as viaducts and overpasses, anti-poaching safeguards, and speed management measures like rumble strips, speed cameras, optical speed bars, and electronic message signs, particularly in high-risk wildlife crossing zones. Additionally, proper motorist alert signage is essential to ensure the safe movement of both wildlife and road users.
Wildlife-Friendly Infrastructure: Applying the Mitigation Hierarchy
In 2023, WWF-Malaysia introduced the training module, Green Roads and Highways: Protecting Biodiversity, followed by the Green Budgeting Checklist in 2024. This initiative results from a collaboration between the Ministry of Works Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia and Aurecon Group, aimed at mainstreaming environmental considerations in road and highway projects. The IUCN Guidelines mentioned above provide invaluable practical resources on elephants.
In essence, all road and highway development projects should apply the mitigation hierarchy to manage environmental impacts responsibly.
First, using topography maps and wildlife data, efforts must focus on avoiding sensitive areas such as high conservation value (HCV) forests, water catchments, steep slopes, and key biodiversity zones. Second, where avoidance isn't possible, impacts should be minimised by realigning routes.
Third, in biodiversity hotspots, mitigation measures — like viaducts, culverts, and canopy bridges — can then help reduce harm and maintain connectivity. Finally, affected areas should be restored through habitat rehabilitation and reconnection. This comprehensive approach supports both biodiversity conservation and sustainable infrastructure development.
Far too often, it is only when roadkill has occurred 'too' frequently, and brought into media attention, that environmental experts are brought in to undertake damage control. By then, it's too late to influence road alignments or the design of critical wildlife crossings.
Road construction, causing upwards to tens of billions of Ringgit, always involves well-planned and budgetary development, involving multiple layers of decision-making and approval processes. We fervently hope that guiding principles, such as those mentioned above and insights gleaned from dedicated workshops, will constitute part of early decision-making, so that the final approved plan contains all the necessary attributes in ensuring a wildlife friendly infrastructure.
For sustainable infrastructure projects in Sabah to succeed, early involvement from all relevant government agencies is vital to integrate environmental and biodiversity concerns. Equally important are robust budgets for environmental and social safeguards, covering pre-construction wildlife assessments, temporary barriers, construction safeguards, and long-term monitoring.
Every future road project must include a thorough Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). This ensures long-term economic viability by factoring in not just immediate costs, but also potential environmental liabilities, social impacts, and the intrinsic value of natural heritage.
Through early intervention, comprehensive CBA, meticulous planning, dedicated environmental budgeting, and strong political will, we can build roads that serve the people without sacrificing Sabah's irreplaceable forests and diverse wildlife. Strategically avoiding environmentally sensitive areas also leads to more climate-resilient and cost-effective infrastructure.
WWF-Malaysia and NGOs like Coalition 3H are ready to collaborate, offering wildlife information and input to inform future infrastructure planning with agencies like the Public Works Department (JKR) to help inform future infrastructure planning and decision-making processes.
By embracing a collaborative and forward-thinking approach, Sabah can demonstrate to the world that economic development and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive but can be mutually reinforcing. The path to progress in Sabah must be paved with asphalt and a profound respect for nature. Moving forward, WWF-Malaysia is calling for a strong commitment from government agencies to ensure the survival of Sabah's iconic wildlife is a priority in all future infrastructure planning.
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