Boustead Plantations Berhad (BPlant) has stepped up its conservation efforts by training estate workers on how to handle encounters with wild elephants.

BPlant Tawai Business Unit in Sabah recently hosted the Wildlife Conservation and Elephant Monitoring, Control and Escorting Training Programme in collaboration with the Sabah Wildlife Department.

The programme focused on raising awareness of elephant behaviour, addressing conflict issues, and providing guidelines for responsible monitoring, control and escorting. Estate teams were also trained to map conflict hotspots, use mitigation tools and apply ethical escorting techniques to guide elephants safely away from plantation areas.

The initiative forms part of BPlant’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments. By strengthening wildlife management practices, the company aims to protect biodiversity, reduce human–wildlife conflict and promote coexistence between plantations, local communities and the natural environment.

The training brought together estate managers, assistant managers, field staff and sustainability officers from BPlant’s Sabah region, alongside officers from the Sabah Wildlife Department, reflecting a strong collaboration and shared commitment to responsible wildlife management. In addition, BPlant has also engaged surrounding stakeholders on this issue through its annual stakeholder engagement sessions, reinforcing collective efforts to address human–wildlife conflict in a holistic and sustainable manner.