IOI Corporation Berhad (IOI), along with major plantation organisations, a non-profit organisation and academia have agreed on cooperation to coexist with elephants.

IOI is a proud coalition collaborator to the Achieving Coexistence with Elephants (ACE) Project, and thank the Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME), University of Nottingham Malaysia, Earthworm Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme for driving fruitful multi-stakeholder collaboration to help support the management and conservation of wild Asian elephants in Peninsular Malaysia.

The ACE project is significant as it is among the first multi-agency human-elephant coexistence projects in Peninsular Malaysia using a large landscape approach, covering 19 estates with approximately 9,000 people.

In managing human-elephant conflicts, multiple stakeholders are needed to work closely together, especially more crucially while on the ground. By working in a coalition across several Johor districts, the ACE Project aims to increase the sense of safety for people, support the agriculture sector in mitigating human-elephant conflict responsibly, and carry out scientific research to study elephants’ roaming behaviour and habitat needs.

IOI and MEME have worked together since 2020 on building coexistence with elephants in Southern Peninsular Malaysia. Our signatory to the ACE project on 22 June 2022 reaffirms IOI’s strong commitment to protect rare, threatened and endangered (RTE) species, as guided by our Sustainable Palm Oil Policy (SPOP).

(From left to right) IOI Plantation Controller Encik Zakaria Arshad receiving a token of appreciation from MEME Principal Investigator Dr Wong Ee Phin, witnessed by Professor Andy Chan from University of Nottingham Malaysia.