About
Our vision
Elephants and people live in harmony.
Our mission
To create a society that is willing and capable to protect and coexist with elephants and other wildlife.
Pertubuhan Pemuliharaan Biodiversiti Sabah or locally known as “Seratu Aatai” was established in December 2018 under the Registry of Society Malaysia (ROS). The name “Seratu Aatai” is derived from Sungai lingo (River tribe living along Kinabatangan River) means “solidarity”, resonates with our mission to create a society that is willing and capable to take responsibility to protect and coexist with elephants.
After more than 15 years working with the Bornean elephant, the Founder of Seratu Aatai, Dr. Nurzhafarina Othman realized that short-term mitigation measures which are implemented opportunistically by individuals, groups of people, or organizations, without a collaborative process are no longer effective to mitigate human-elephant conflict. She also realized that most of the mitigation techniques applied without considering the ecological needs of the elephants and underlying social, cultural, and economic context will only continue to hinder support for elephant conservation.
In response, Seratu Aatai works with different stakeholders who are directly or indirectly involved in elephant conservation at the national, and international levels to develop a strategy for elephants that balances the needs of elephant conservation and socio-economic benefits.