Borneo Bound

My graduate program, Project Dragonfly (through Miami University of Ohio) chooses to take students to various corners of the world to share conservation success stories. These all share one component, community involvement.

The sites I saw in Borneo was both inspiring and terrifying, as you would expect. The biodiversity is awe-inspiring.

And the destruction is shocking. More than half of the island of Borneo (60%) is Oil Palm Plantation. This non-native mono-culture cannot sustain the native biodiversity. Oil Palm is impressively productive.

Unfortunately, the local people have worked to take full advantage of this crop, as people across the world often do; leaving very little natural habitats in-tact.

Fortunately, there are grass-roots armies scattered across the world, fighting to help natural environments sustain themselves.  My other blog posts on Borneo touches on some of these. I hope you enjoy them!

Borneo Bound - Danau Girang Field Centre

After Sandakan, we piled into vans before getting on boats again, headed for the remote field station, Danau Girang Field Centre.

One of the current research projects is studying Monitor Lizards. The pictures on the right show the traps and bait. The pictures on the bottom left show the landscape, much of which has been cleared. The pictures on the top right are a sampling of shots I took of an on-the-spot Palm Civet autopsy. Although the researches we were with are studying Monitor Lizards, there is another researcher who is studying Palm Civets. So, these researchers took time and used their supplies to gather data for a colleague. Teamwork!

Part of coursework included a self-guided study. My group chose to study butterfly diversity. Here is a sample of the species we saw. I will follow up with another post once I can confirm species names. One of the best parts of the study was watching Ben chase butterflies with the net.

We were offered the opportunity to climb a rather tall ladder at dawn to experience time in the treetops early in the morning. I jumped at the chance, of course. Oriental Pied-Hornbills crossed the river and flew out of sight. Squirrels ran busily around the branches. But, still it was calm.

This, of course, it just a sample of the things I saw and experienced here. I would be happy to regale you with stories in person. But, more than that, I recommend getting out there for your own adventures!

Borneo Bound - The Badass Women of HUTAN

HUTAN is an orangutan conservation group that has benefited from creating an army of locals scientists and all around devoted, inspired individuals dead set on protecting the natural environments of Borneo.

There are researchers who monitor orangutan populations, educators who teach local school children about the native wildlife and a small group of women who are amazingly replanting the rainforest, tree by tree.

It's hot. Really, really hot. And humid. So, humid. They have families; children to care for. They are covered head to toe as they are Muslim women, most wearing hijabs. But, none of that stops them. They set out, weed-whackers in hand and prepare the land before planting one tree at a time. They let us give it a try.

Their goal: Plant 3,000 trees each month; each and every month! Not only do they meet that goal, they often exceed it.

Next time you are feeling small or the fight seems too big; remember this small group of women who are replaning the rain forest in Borneo one tree at a time.

Borneo Bound - Sandakan School Days

While in Sandakan, each day of class had us meeting at a dock and setting off in boats in various directions. The daily commute was not terrible.

Not only did the Host Families support our coursework, the community introduced us to their customs and practices. We made fishing nets and weaved birds from palm fronds.

And, they taught us spin tops!

When not deliberately learning about the culture, it seeped in during our day to day activities. There are caves where multiple species of swiftlets nest. These are the nests that are harvested for Bird's Nest Soup, an expensive delicacy. The nests are harvested by climbing ladders that are held in place with a series of ropes. (The bird pictured below is a swallow, a relative of the swifts.)

There are both small and large caves. Pictured below is one of the larger caves that is home to swiftlets, bats, and all sorts of insects.

There are long term orangutan studies underway here, as well. Not surprising, it is difficult to see orangutans in the wild. They can hear us stomping along and slip away without us ever noticing. However, there is one mom and baby pair that has become accustomed to the researchers and let us observe them quietly.

Even though I was blown away by each of these sites, nothing effected me quite like the women of HUTAN. You will have to see the post on the "Badass Women of HUTAN" for more on that.

Borneo Bound - Sandakan Home Stay

This is where we met our new families! We would be spending our time here with Muslim host families; who took amazingly good care of us.  Momma Saloma made us feel right at home with tasty meals and rides to and from school each day.  She even left us notes in our lunch.

On our last night with our Sandakan family, they dressed us up for a farewell celebration. Thanks for all the love and support, Momma Saloma!

 

Borneo Bound - Settling in, Sepilok

For my third Earth Expeditions class, as part of my graduate program at Miami University of Ohio, I traveled to Borneo, Malaysia with about 20 other biology students and 2 instructors.  There is no possible way that I can do justice to the sights and experiences of this trip in a simple blog post. So, if we should cross paths, please ask me about it. I would love to share with you stories of the amazing people who hosted us, the beauty of Borneo's biodiversity and the endless possibilities of Project Dragonfly.

In mid-June, we all converged at the Sepilok Bed and Breakfast, to meet for the first time. It was not easy getting there. But, after spending half a day at the Istanbul Airport and sleeping in a capsule at the Kuala Lumpur Airport, I arrived in Sepilok five minutes before meeting time. This is me after 47 hours of travel with some of my classmates (and new friends) milling about behind me.


After introductions and orientation, we set out on foot to see the sites.

Our first stop was the Borneon Sunbear Conservation Center.  The Center floored me with its thoughtfulness and design. The elevated walkways were designed so that you could comfortably walk barefoot.

There were a number of Sun Bears sauntering around, some relaxing in trees, others scratching at the ground looking for tasty morsels.

This picture shows some Sun Bear claw marks on a tree.

 After the Sun Bear Center, we stopped at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center.  There are regular feedings at the center, which give great opportunities to see Orangutans in a semi-natural setting.

Our last stop was the Rainforest Discovery Center. This beautifully designed center is replete with elevated walkways that offer unique views into the treetops.

It was hot and humid. We all sweat. A lot. And some of us (me being one of them), had just finished a long journey to get here. We soon crashed, trying to rest up before we set for Sandakan to meet our host families.