Daniel Chong

Daniel Chong

A biotechnology graduate shunning the big-money draw of corporate science by caring for wildlife? Stranger things have happened, but happen they did for Daniel Chong, who never would have guessed that he would wind up working for the world's premier global environmental conservation organisation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

He is currently working on an environmental conservation project to promote a proposed national study on ecological corridors to the Malaysian government to improve the overall connectivity of forests in Peninsular Malaysia. Spending a bit of his time in the forests of Jeli and its surroundings, another one of his project components focuses on understanding the conflict between wildlife and the local community by studying the different types of land uses.

Trekking off-road into the forests is no monkey-business; Daniel relates past experiences getting stuck in his 4WD several times in the mud and needed rescue. "It's handy to have a local guide when my colleagues and I go off-road. You’ll never know what type of help you may need sometimes, but I'm getting the hang of it", he grins.

Using satellite images as a map is also something that Daniel has learnt to do when visiting Sabah's oil-palm plantations for his previous project. "When there are no road maps available, you just don't have a choice", he grimaces.

The intrepid Daniel also developed a manual on managing elephant intrusions in oil-palm plantations for Malaysia and Indonesia, and this groundbreaking tome is now used by plantation owners and the 'Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil' (RSPO) – an association of stakeholders promoting growth and use of sustainable palm-oil.

"My experiences are very different from those of my friends in the corporate world. It's more laid-back, but I don't mean lazy! The office dress code is more casual for instance, and I work with people who are truly passionate about what they do. It's never just a job; that's all important to me, and I love it!"

Although Daniel has always liked animals, it was not that which has steered him in this direction. "It was my first job offer after graduating in 2003, and I thought I should give it a chance". Being a person who loves travel and photography, Daniel finds that his job fits his interests and lifestyle very well. He had recently backpacked to exotic locales in South America and South Africa, and enjoys nature and wildlife watching and plans more travel to indulge his passions.

"When I see something going wrong, I feel compelled to change it. Working with WWF has enabled me to see more significant outcomes from my actions."

Daniel can be reached at dckf13@gmail.com