Location of Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia. The island is divided among three countries: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory. Borneo is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world.

Key facts

• The main settlement of Bario in the Kelabit highlands is studied.

• 800 inhabitants.• 2 main economic motors-rice production and tourism.• Farmers get £300 a year for producing rice. • There is no road to Bario. The only way in/out is by Twin

Otter planes which fly in twice a day.• Local transport consists of 6 pickup trucks• In the upper Kelabit villages, buffalo is used to transport

people.

Continued…

• Jungle is the peoples supermarket-food and culture festival

• Due to the festival the number of tourists has increases by 80%

Changing Culture• Most of the youth move to the cities meaning that there is

an elderly population in many villages in the Kelabit highlands.

• The University of Malaysia has set up a project to make villagers less isolated from the rest of the world by providing them with internet.

• Bario now has satellite connection and there own website.• The Malaysian government has given 60,000 hectares of

the Pulong Tau National Park to Samling-2nd biggest logging company in Malaysia.

Kapawi Eco-lodge

• Energy comes from solar panels.• Water is purified from the lagoon.• Guests use biodegradable toiletries, so waste

water is free of toxins.• The external boardwalks are unlit at night so

that nocturnal animals are not disturbed.

Key Facts• 320km of unbroken canopy.• 20,000 species of plant.• 600 species of bird.• The Kapawi Eco-lodge will be studied.• It lies in the remotest areas of the Ecuadorian Amazon.• 37 local staff.• The Achuar tribe are the indigenous people and run the lodge. • There is a lack of funding for the lodge due to Perez, the

millionaire who pumped money into it dieing.• The Pachamama Foundation is helping the lodge.

Threats

• Land is under threat from foreign TNC’s who want oil.

• Just across the border, the Peruvian Achuar has been turned into a dumping site for toxic wastes from oil extraction.