Heart of Borneo

Do you know a place where orang utans, pygmy elephants, clouded leopards, hornbills and many other exotic species call their home? Where you can fall asleep under the canopy of a dense tropical forest. Where you receive morning calls from gibbons and feel the forest mist on your skin. Where indigenous people speak their own languages and follow their unique traditions.

Nope, this is not about Pandora (the lush moon in Avatar inhabited by the Na’vi). I’m talking about Borneo, right here on Earth. Borneo is the third largest island in the world. On this island, three countries, namely Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, share a massive spread of tropical rainforests. The Borneo rainforest is probably as significant to Southeast Asia as the Congo is to Africa and the Amazon to South America. And like other rainforests, it is threatened by logging, the clearing of trees to make way for plantations etc.

One man has made it his career to protect the Borneo forests even though it is not his homeland. The man is Adam J. Tomasek who comes from the US and works for WWF. He was in town last Saturday (30^th January 2010) to give a talk at the Vivocity National Geographic store to tell people about Borneo, or more specifically, about the Heart of it. The Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative is an ambitious project to conserve a transboundary, 220,000 km² area of equatorial rainforest in Borneo.

It was a privilege to have a short chat with Adam after his talk to hear about his experiences as leader for the HoB initiative.

Adam described his work as “dynamic” with lots of interactions with different people and taking place at many different levels. It can be international such as presenting at COP15 in Copenhagen or down to the grassroots, like working with indigenous people, the Dayaks. And the interactions spread geographically as well. While Adam is based in Jakarta, Indonesia, he also works with people in Malaysia and Brunei and an advisory group which has experts from other countries such as US and Japan. With such a diverse working environment, it is no wonder that Adam described his position as being in the “eye of the storm” and emphasized how having a strong team is important to get the work done. His awareness that “what makes sense” may be region specific and his openness to suggestions from his Indonesian or Malaysian colleagues on what actions are appropriate for the region probably benefits his work too.

I asked Adam what is his style of leadership, him being the leader of this initiative. From Adam’s words, I sensed that he is a leader who believes in empowering his people. He thinks it’s more important to believe that “people want to do the right thing” rather than to focus on differences. Also, he seeks to “find common ground” amidst the cultural diversity and wide geographical spread of his working environment. Adam also spoke about “expecting a lot from your people” and jokingly remarked that it also means “people expect a lot from you too”.

Working for the HoB has its ups and downs. One “down” moment was when there was a plan for a large 2 million hectare oil palm plantation just before the declaration was signed. Another “down” happened a year ago, when there was an Indonesian proposal to build a new road network that will cut through HoB. Not only would a road fragment the forest but the road will also make it easier for loggers and developers to venture deeper into the HoB. Thankfully, this proposal was eventually stopped. And even more thankfully, there was a chance to turn this challenge into an opportunity. For this incident sparked off an evaluation effort to assess the environmental impact of infrastructure development. So next time the governments will know where roads can be built with lesser environmental impact.

Perhaps the “ups” for Adam is the pride in seeing the HoB initiative translated from “just a piece of paper” declaration to actual actions and seeing a “genuine commitment”. And his amazing experiences in Borneo which he says one “can’t put a price on”, sounded like wonderful job perks too! He recalled the occasion where he encountered a clouded leopard and its cub on a road, how once they enter the forest, they are completely camouflaged. Wow! From this city girl’s perspective, that was definitely a moment worth remembering for a lifetime!

You know how they say people cannot see the forest for the trees? After speaking to Adam and learning more about the HoB, I have the reverse thought; that oftentimes we cannot see the trees for the forest. It’s never just about another area of forested land or another carbon sink. To the Dayaks, the orang utans, pygmy elephants, clouded leopards, hornbills and the more-than-360-species discovered in the last ten years, this place is home. By helping to protect the Heart of Borneo, we are ensuring that the indigenous people can sustain their unique way of life and the various species can continue to thrive.

So, cheesy as it may sound, here’s wishing that the Heart of Borneo will go on and on…