Interactive piece. Pretty cool. (The Star btw introduced some dumbass jscript -I think - to disable ppl highlighting and copying their text. For reasons of… Tak nak orang promote their journalism? IDK)

Speaking in fluent Malay and throwing in a few English terms, the confident Ardi is among the few older members in the Men-raq team, most of whom are in their 20s.

The team leaders recently won the IUCN WCPA International Ranger Award 2023, the first time that a Malaysian team has won.

The award, which is in its third year running, is held in conjunction with World Ranger Day on July 31. This year, there were 114 nominations from 52 countries. The Menraq received the US$10,000 (RM45,495) award for exemplary achievement in community-led conservation of tigers.

The team’s win, which was announced during an online ceremony on July 26, earned praise from the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, who extended his congratulations and deepest appreciation to every member of the patrol unit.

The award, hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) specialist group, recognises the remarkable work of rangers in protected areas around the world.

The Jahai people, explains Ardi, has lived in Royal Belum for generations.

“And I believe that we should be responsible for the well-being of this forest. No one else should be on the Menraq team but us,” he says.

Ardi hopes that his children as well as those of his community members will carry on the work in the future.

“It is our hope that our children would want to carry the same responsibility as their fathers. Being able to protect this forest is what is in our blood and we are proud of what we are doing,” he says.