Reflections on the river

As regular readers may have noticed by now, our travels are revolving around nature, exploring natural areas and biodiversity. Years of trying to conserve our planet have left Dale feeling like he needed a break from playing captain planet, and take some time to explore and marvel at the incredible creatures with whom we share this planet. Borneo, with it's incredible jungles and marine life had therefore landed pretty high on our bucket list. Our next stop in this tour of birds and biodiversity took us to the banks of the Kinabatangan river. One of the largest rivers in Malaysia (2nd if I recall correctly) and a prime spot for wildlife viewing, done from the comfort of your boat, rather than whilst trekking (and sweating) through the humid jungle.

In our search for an acceptably priced tour we had come across the Tungong Resort Eco-camp. The words "Eco-camp" are often misconstrued, applied in most cases to romanticise some typical resort, an act known as "greenwashing". Fortunately this could not be further from the truth for "TREC". There was no electricity supply, with gas lanterns being used at the main kitchen and dining room area, whilst head lamps sufficed for personal use. Our little jungle cabin was exactly what we would have wished for; set on a small platform with the toilet and "mandi" shower below it. The toilets used a bioremediation system to deal with waste and we learnt that "mandi" referred to a handheld bucket shower, where a large ladle is used to pour water over oneself. The tiny a-frame roof collected rainwater into a tank which fed this system, making it basically self-sufficient. A true eco-camp if we have ever experienced one. Our small porch looked straight out into the jungle and towards a small oxbow lake in front of camp, and being slightly elevated brought us that much closer to the birds in the canopy - much to Dale's satisfaction.

TREC was not done impressing us just yet. We had heard that it was a community-owned and operated initiative. Again this is a widely used term, but with perhaps few authentic and legitimate examples of community involvement. After hearing this, and given Dale's planned PhD ideas, investigating governance arrangements in conservation areas, we asked if we could have a few moments to chat with one of the site's managers. Martin was the only westerner involved with KOPPEL - the community intiative which operated the venture. He had been working on and off here for over 20 years, initiating community-based tourism when others hadn't even conceived of it as an option. True to his nature, he had played a very loose facilitation role, ensuring an organic process to allow the local community to first agree on, and then begin realising, their dream for the area. Sadly, these people had been at the whim of development for far too long. Early Chinese settlers initiated trade in rattan, bees wax and ivory. Subsequently, perhaps more than 500 years ago, timber extraction increased, as ancient hardwood trees were cut down and the logs floated down the river. As these began to dwindle, so rubber tapping emerged, eventually to be followed by agriculture. As the international markets for various products waxed and waned so too did the community's livelihood. As they developed skills for timber extraction, so the economics shifted to agriculture. It is unsurprising then, that one might choose to become the master of your own destiny, and opt to look after the place with which you associate so closely - ecologically, culturally and spiritually.

The visioning took almost three years explained Martin, as the community members visited other similar initiatives, discussed what tourism services they might like to offer, whom would lead them, and ultimately how their group should be constitued. People whom had never seen a computer before found themselves pouring over the different pieces of legislation with which they must comply. During their initial years, severe fires sprung up in other parts of the Sabah lowland jungles, and thus they found themselves learning fire fighting as they came to the aid of nearby communities. After the fires the damaged landscape needed to be repaired, with KOPPEL subsequently becoming involved in forest restoration efforts. The restoration of corridors of jungle habitat along the river has now become one of their primary causes. Well suppported by the tourists, such as ourselves, who visit the camp and spend a couple of hours helping plant a few trees. Our conscience appeased, whilst the forest hopefully benefits in the long-term.

We were not there only to learn about innovative conservation efforts however (although it does help me justify such an extensive "sabbatical") - we had also come to experience the wildlife of the area. On our first afternoon, whilst relaxing on our porch a Common Palm Civet popped down from the canopy and slinked past us and into the jungle - a very memorable sighting! We were further treated to two more species of Civet, with the Malay Civet stalking around the camp kitchen (resembling an African Genet species in looks and behaviour), and a Short-toothed Palm Civet, sighted during one of our night walks. The stand out creature from the night walks was undoubtedly the Slow Loris. These tale-less primates resemble the bushbabies from Africa and are sadly threatened by the pet trade. A note here - please NEVER buy exotic pets. This trade is leading to the untimely decimation of thousands of species. Exotic pets include African Grey Parrots and Bearded Dragon lizards - leave the animals where they belong and stick to our already domesticated dogs and cats. Back to the cute Loris, which probably takes the prize for cutest animal we've encountered so far. It also lived up to it's name, stalking slowly back up into the canopy after giving us a slightly curious, if perhaps disdainful, look back over its shoulders. The Mock viper was another cool night walk sighting.

River cruises were an enjoyable change from jungle walks, although we did fit in one walk just for good measure. The cruises gave us great sightings of the Salt-water crocodile, lying languidly on the river banks as crocodiles like to do. Maybe waiting patiently for a monkey to make a mistake and come crashing down from the trees above? Speaking of Monkeys we were able to spot the ludicrous looking Proboscis monkey, with a rather large, suggestively shaped nose, as well as literally hundreds of Long-tailed Macaques, a single Pig-tailed Macaque and the beautiful Silver-leaf monkeys. The squirrels once again kept us entertained, with views of the grumpy looking Giant Squirrel, Prevosts Squirrels with their bright red belly, Plaintain Squirrel, Low's squirrel and the Plain Pygmy Squirrel.

The birds did not dissapoint either, a morning jungle walk gave us views of the stunning Black-headed Pitta and Hooded Pitta, as well as the Scarlet-rumped Trogon. Trogons and Pittas are like royalty in the birding world, based on a combination of their beauty and how difficult they can be to find, thus finding and seeing these birds was truly epic. We added Grey-headed and Lesser Fish eagles to the list, along with Storm's Stork and the Stork-billed, Blue-eared and Oriental pygmy kingfishers, among many others.

We did take a brief break from the jungle and took a walk up to the nearby burial caves. Similar to that which we visited in Danum, but on a much larger scale. The Batu Tulug caves, a limestone formation, held over 125 wood coffins, and were used from about 3000 years ago. The different artistic carvings at the head of each indicating the individual's personality. Interestingly, these caves also host swiftlets which produce the so-called edible nests. The government had decided it was necessary to protect these valuable economic resources, an act which fortuitously also protected the ecosystem and cultural heritage.

The river has become a haven for wildlife as the lowland jungle surrounding it has been carved up for agriculture - primarily palm oil plantations. As the habitat shrinks so the animals have found themselves marrooned against the river banks - good for tourists, a tragedy for biodiversity. Fortunately some of the parcels of land were bought before being converted and have been set aside for conservation, whilst additional efforts of forest restoration seek to link these remanant patches of jungle. Against this backdrop, the actions of KOPPEL and this community to protect their ecological heritage, whilst also finding ways to feed their families and put their children through school, provide at least a beacon of hope for the future of this beleaguered landscape.