Donations to Malaysian orang utan conservation programme eligible for tax relief, says foundation

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox

FILE PHOTO: Juvenile wild Bornean orangutans swing from tree to tree searching for food in Sepilok, Malaysia August 17, 2024. REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain/File Photo

The donations will be used to preserve and conserve orang utans, including by establishing expert teams to monitor the endangered animals.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Follow topic:

KUALA LUMPUR – Donations to a Malaysian orang utan conservation programme will be eligible for tax relief, including on funds that come from palm oil industry players, the overseeing foundation said on Aug 21.

The tax relief would be in accordance with the Income Tax Act, the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation said in a statement, although the amount of relief was not specified.

The initiative overseeing the orang utan conservation programme is led by the plantation and commodities ministry.

Orang utans are critically endangered, with conservation group WWF estimating the population of the primates at less than 105,000 on the island of Borneo.

The foundation will use donations to preserve and conserve orang utans, including by establishing expert teams to monitor the endangered animals.

“Funds can also be used for the planting of forest trees and fruits that are a source of food for orang utans,” the foundation’s general manager, Mr Hairulazim Mahmud, said.

On Aug 18, the commodities minister said companies that import palm oil from Malaysia

would be able to adopt orang utans

but the primates would not be able to leave the country. REUTERS

See more on