o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

INDRANEIL DAS & NORSHAM YAAKOB (2007)
incorporated into the curricula of local schools and universities, in which students are exposed
to the essentials of systematics, ecology, genetics, biogeography, anatomy and morphology,
in training in field studies, acquisition and curation of biological specimens. And above all,
what is needed is an encouragement of the appreciation of the great outdoors.
We summarise the primary activities for enhancing herpetological conservation as discussed
above:
• Continue herpetofaunal inventories, particularly in species-rich zones and ecosystems,
such as montane regions, lowland rainforests and offshore islands;
• Examine anthropogenic effects on the herpetofauna, including the role of land-use patterns,
habitat fragmentation and destruction, use of organochlorine pesticides and herbicides;
• Establish and support systematic research, in addition to research on ecology, conservation
biology, genetics, and related topics;
• Develop identification resources tools, such as monographs, field keys and field guides
to the fauna;
• Promote local capacity building;
• Prioritize conservation action, through regional Red Data Books, etc;
• Promote conservation efforts that focus on the herpetofauna; and
• Include herpetology and herpetological field techniques in the curricula of local schools
and universities.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We dedicate this paper to Lim Boo Liat, who supported our early efforts to study the Malaysian
herpetofauna, and continue to encourage and guide us. In the field, we received assistance and
advice from a large number of friends, Datuk Chan Chew Lun, Lord Cranbrook, L. Lee Grismer,
Alexander Haas, Robert F. Inger, Alexander Haas, Maklarin Lakim, Tzi-Ming Leong, Kelvin
K. P. Lim, Peter K. L. Ng, Robert B. Stuebing, Jeet Sukumaran, Tan Heok Hui, Paul Yambun
and Dennis Yong.
We are also thankful to the following additional colleagues for various courtesies: Aaron
Matthew Bauer, Villanova University, Villanova; Chris Austin, Lousiana, Lousiana State
University, Baton Rouge; Colin John McCarthy and David Gower, The Natural History
Museum, London; Robert Frederick Inger and Harold Knight Voris, Field Museum of Natural
History, Chicago; the late Ernst Williams, Jim Hanken, José Rosado and Van Wallach, Museum
of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA; Patrick David and Ivan Ineich, Muséum National
d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; Marinus Charles Hoogmoed, Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum,
Leiden; Ulrich Manthey, Society for Southeast Asian Herpetology, Berlin; Charles Leh Moi
Ung, Sarawak Museum, Kuching; Kelvin Kok Peng Lim, Tan Heok Hui and Peter Kee Lin
Ng, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore; Ronald Ian
Crombie and George Robert Zug, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.; and Miguel Vences and Leobertus van Tuijl, Zoological Museum,
Amsterdam.
Our researches on the herpetofauna of Malaysia as well as manuscript preparation were
supported by grants from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Forest Research Institute Malaysia.
Finally, we are grateful to Kraig Adler, Aaron Bauer, Patrick David, Genevieve V. A. Gee,
Lim Boo Liat and Robert Stuebing for reading and commenting on the manuscript.
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