Essential Guide to Travelling in Borneo

by Jaxon S on February 21, 2011

in Borneo Tourism

Planning to travel to Borneo soon? Here’s is an essential guide to travelling in Borneo, published by Lonely Planet.

The time allocated to researching the book, according to a brief information posted on Amazon, was 110 days in-country, resulting in 50 detailed maps, 35 jungle adventures, national Parks colour section covers where to spot elephants, monkeys and the rafflesia flowers.

It also features specialists discussing local markets, the best Malaysian cuisine, ecotourism and conservation.

There is also a newer version titled Lonely Planet Borneo (Regional Guide) and is available for pre-order from Amazon.

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No More Politics in Borneo Blog

by Jaxon S on January 25, 2011

in Borneo Blog

After giving it much thought, I decided to steer this blog away from politics. There are many socio-political blogs out there which are able articulate the issue minus the kind of constraints that I face.

You know what I mean, you know how things work. Until such time when I can unshackle myself from those constraints, politics will remain the unblogged subject here.

This blog will instead focus on what Borneo is to the outside world — a place of beauty and a faraway island struggling to keep its pristine heritage in the onslaught of development. This blog will also carry news and stories about the people of Borneo as well as those of other places on the planet which share the world’s rainforest.

I will also be deleting political-related entries in this blog. You will also find entries about the so-called Sabah claim by the Sultan of Sulu deleted from this blog. I’ve had enough of the diatribe of profanities spewed out by commentators trying to put forward what barely qualifies as opinion when discussing the issue.

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Newly Discovered Sundaland Clouded Leopard Found In Sabah

by Jaxon S on January 25, 2011

in Borneo Flora and Fauna

A species of Sundaland clouded leopard, believed to have been separated from its mainland Asia’s cousin since the Ice Age, has been found in Sabah, the Malaysian state on Borneo Island.

The discovery confirmed long-held believe that the Borneo’s clouded leopard, film in Deramakot Forest Reserve in Sabah, is a species of its own, distinct in genetic constitution from its Indonesian relative found in Sumatra, reports AFP.

A report by Andreas Wilting from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and researchers from the Sabah wildlife and forestry departments now suggests that the two subspecies be managed differently.

“We suspected the leopards on Borneo and Sumatra have likely been geographically separated since the last Ice Age, and we now know the long isolation has resulted in a split into separate subspecies,” he was quoted in the report by AFP.

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Return to Borneo

by Jaxon S on January 25, 2011

in Borneo Blog

If everything goes according to plan, I should be returning to Borneo for good at the latest by April this year. I have been away for about six years now and the longer I live away from the beloved island, the stronger the urge to go home. During the three of the six years, I lived and work in cosmopolitan Singapore, almost a complete opposite of what life is in Borneo.

Gaya Street

After Singapore, I moved to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, working and living and experiencing a new culture, something different from that of Singapore, all the while feeling that Sabah, the Malaysian state on Borneo, is beckoning me home.

Floating Village

Last month, I spent a month holidaying in Borneo. It’s good that we left our house in Kota Kinabalu without renting it out. This way my family and I can always be assured of a home each time we return to Borneo.

KKCityLensbaby

The Kota Kinabalu city that I left six years ago was very much different from the city I visited as a holiday-maker. Spanking new shopping malls are sprucing up and new buildings coming up.

When I was at the Berjaya Times Square, I thought to myself, this is worthy of a place in Singapore.

Other things have also changed, notable of which is the traffic. In 2005, the year I left Sabah, places around the city can be reach in 20 minutes from my house in Menggatal. Now, I’ll be lucky to reach Kota Kinabalu in 30 minutes.

There were cars everywhere — Kancils, Protons, Toyota Hiluxes, Isuzu D’Maxes, Ford Rangers, lorries, Ninja Turtles, Nissan Muranos, Naza Rias, Porsche Cayenne, you name it — but the number of road remains the same, except for the construction of several fly-overs.

Reaching for the Moon 1

At the rate things are going, Kota Kinabalu, or KK as it is known, will be a congested city in six more years, with the traffic looking very much like the notorious Kuala Lumpur jam.

Even with all the signs of losing its tranquility of the past, KK is still an attractive place to live. Thirty kilometres from the city is alerady a laid back place.

Padi field

But it is good to be away as long as it is not for forever. Being away from home is like taking a step back to examine a large painting. It enables you to see things more clearly, to know where you stand and see things from a new perspective. Then, you can dive back in knowing exactly what you are going to do.

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Natural History Museum Scientists Hunt Marine Fossils In Borneo

by Jaxon S on September 16, 2010

in Borneo Natural History

Six scientists from the Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, are making their way to Borneo to study fossils of tropical marine creatures from 20 million years ago.

They comprise two coral researchers, a microfossils researcher, a molluscs researcher, a bryozoans researcher, and a curator-palaeobotanist.

The field study will take place in Samarinda, in West Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo.

Their mission — to look at how changes in the environment have affected coral reefs and shallow tropical marine ecosystems.

“This area has been a marine diversity hotspot for the last 20 million years and we want to look at the corals, molluscs, bryozoans, algae, and microfossils to understand how these organisms have interacted, evolved and adapted over that time,” curator and palaeobotanist Dr Lil Stevens said in a blog post.

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Bridge Made From Recycled Fire Hoses From Japan Connects Orang Utan Habitat

by Jaxon S on September 5, 2010

in Borneo Flora and Fauna

The Borneo Conservation Trust Japan (BCTJ) has released the photograph of a young orangutan crossing a “suspension bridge” made of recycled fire hoses from Japan, reports The Mainichy Daily News. The BCTJ built the suspension bridge across the Kinabatangan River in collaboration with the Sabah state government two years ago to re-connect orang utan habitats segregated by plantations.

“We had received some reports of sightings that orangutans were using the bridge, and the photograph demonstrated that the bridge is actually serving to connect their divided habitats,” BCTJ director Mariko Morii said in the report.

“We hope the animals will also use the second bridge we’ve constructed over another river.”

Here is the picture of orang utan crossing the fire hoses bridge.

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Ohhs and Ahhs in the Jungle of Borneo

by Jaxon S on September 5, 2010

in Borneo Development Issues,Borneo Flora and Fauna

WWF Travel Blog caught up with WWF’s Dan Winter who joined a recent trip to Borneo and asked him questions like his favourite animal sighting during the trip, as well as the concerns about the impact of agriculture and logging over conservations.

He cited the orang utan as his favourite animal and that while at the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre one afternoon, “we saw a red giant flying squirrel glide between trees. The group oohed and aahed like it was a fireworks display!”

The footage below, taken at Rainforest Discovery Centre, located next to Sepilok, Sandakan, is unrelated to the trip.

Speaking of trip to Borneo, WWF is organising its USA-Borneo “Into the Heart of Borneo” tour on June 24 – July 10, 2011. Join the Borneo trip, here!

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Asia’s Smallest Frog Found In Borneo

by Jaxon S on August 30, 2010

in Borneo Flora and Fauna

In 2004 herpetologist Indraneil Das and his Hamburg University colleague Alexander Haas discovered a tiny frog species no larger than a pea when returning from a field trip at the Kubah National Park in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island.

A museum listed the species but misidentified them as juveniles of other frog species, Das told AP.

Asia's smallest frog... Nepenthes ampullaria

However, the frogs were later found to be adults, and were named Microhyla nepenthicola.

Das said they only found them by tracking their singing of “harsh rasping notes” at dusk and caught them by making them jump on a white cloth near the pitcher plants, hence the name nepenthicola, derived from the name of a pitcher plant species.

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Corruption Main Challenge In Overcoming Wildlife Crimes

by Jaxon S on June 24, 2010

in Borneo Wildlife

Here’s a recent report on why overcoming wildlife crimes is an uphill task:

Poaching and smuggling of exotic wildlife here continues unabated as these wildlife crimes are aided by a “third force”.

That “force”, which goes by the unsavoury name of corruption, is considered the main challenge in combating such crimes.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said, although the situation was not alarming in the state, there have been instances where, out of the blues, Borneo wildlife was recorded or photographed in other parts of the world, suggesting foul play at work.

“Suddenly, we see pictures on ‘Youtube’ or somewhere online, of some Borneo animals sitting comfortably in other parts of the world, for example wild cats.

“As far as we are concerned, it is impossible that wild cats are smuggled out (of the state) without our knowledge…it means some people have been opening doors for these people (smugglers).

“I can only say it must have cost the fellow for that door to be opened, because you don’t open doors for no reason and I can only see corruption as the main reason,” he told reporters after opening the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Wildlife Trade Regulation and Species Identification Course on Tuesday.

To address wildlife crimes, Masidi said the government had come up with three steps, namely: to ensure no poaching or illegal hunting was carried out, step up enforcement skills to detect new means of smuggling, and to keep tabs on the use of courier services to transport animals.

[Source: Bernama, June 23]

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Sand Dredging Affecting Wildlife In Borneo’s Kinabatangan

by Jaxon S on June 24, 2010

in Borneo Environment

[UPDATE: Sabah government orders sand-mining to be stopped at the ecologically sensitive Kinabatangan river, with Minister Masidi Manjun saying he had ordered the Sabah Environment Protection Department to rescind its Environment Impact Assessment certificate approving dredging activities at the river, reports FMT.]

Earlier post: Sand dredging is back along the Kinabatangan River, the longest river in Sabah, the northern state on Borneo Island, and is affecting wildlife at the Borneo wildlife sanctuary, according to a report by AFP.

Activists are now concerned over the sand-dredging effect on wildlife in the 27,000ha conservation area, which is home to endangered species such as the proboscis monkey and pygmy elephant.

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