tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/borneo-7884/articlesBorneo – The Conversation2024-01-24T17:39:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216722024-01-24T17:39:06Z2024-01-24T17:39:06ZThe palm tree that lives beneath the rainforest floor<p>In the heart of western Borneo’s vibrant jungles, the edible fruits of the underground palm are well-known to the local people who snack on them. But this botanical marvel has remained unnoticed by the scientific community for so long because it flowers and bears fruit underground. </p>
<p>At first glance, <em>Pinanga subterranea</em>, a rare palm tree, it looks like a small plant or seedling. Compared to a typical palm tree, <em>Pinanga subterranea</em> looks more modest and dainty, making it well-suited for smaller spaces or dense forests. </p>
<p>Its bright red fruits stay almost completely hidden by the soil. So how does this underground superstar survive beneath the forest floor? </p>
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<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em> </p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
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<p>Plants grow by using their roots to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. They also need sunlight to make their own food through a process called photosynthesis. </p>
<p>Typically, the stems and leaves are above ground, reaching up towards the light. Palm trees usually develop their flowers and fruits above ground for pollination and seed dispersal.</p>
<p>However, <em>Pinanga subterranea</em> challenges this norm by flowering and fruiting underground, showcasing an extraordinary survival strategy that challenges what we already know about how plants usually make and distribute their seeds.</p>
<h2>Secrets of survival</h2>
<p>There are three possible reasons this palm grows flowers underground, as highlighted in 2023 by the research team <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10393">Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,</a> with partners from Indonesia and Malaysia who outlined this discovery. First, its stem demonstrates saxophone growth, bending down and then back up. </p>
<p>Second, the leaves form a funnel, and when organic litter piles up, roots sneak in. They suggest that the litter collects faster than the stem grows, so it stays underground. </p>
<p>Third, its flower clusters are short and below the leaves, usually developing completely underground. </p>
<p>Little is known about how exactly pollination happens in this underground palm. Pollination by flying insects such as bees is difficult, yet this palm still has a fruit and seed set that’s close to the soil surface, suggesting efficient pollination. Insects, especially beetles that move deep down through the undergrowth, might carry pollen for <em>Pinanga subterranea</em>. </p>
<p>Another potential pathway is the process of self-pollination of a flower by pollen from the same flower. Alternatively, wild boars living in the Borneo forest have been seen to unearth the red berries so they might play a crucial role too.</p>
<h2>A master of mutation</h2>
<p>One thing is certain though. Plants adapt by making changes in their genes, through what’s known as epigenetics. These changes help plants survive stress and adapt. While some changes are temporary, others can last longer and affect how plants grow and develop. Some might even be passed on to future plant generations, helping them to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00246/full">adapt and evolve</a>.</p>
<p>Over time, climate change has seriously affected both the environment and the plants and crops we grow. Different environmental stresses caused by climate change, like extreme temperatures, drought and heavy rain, can make it harder for plants to grow well, affecting their quality. Pressures like these can lead to epigenetic changes.</p>
<p>For example, peanut flowers produce above-ground blossoms, but the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69943-7">fruits mature underground</a>. This adaptation likely offers greater protection, as the underground environment provides a safer and more stable space for seed development, contributing to the plant’s overall survival and reproductive success. </p>
<p>A small Australian underground orchid has also adapted to develop both fruit and <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.45">flowers underground</a>. With the help of fungi, this orchid survives and reproduces in a safer and more stable underground environment. </p>
<p>Through epigenetic adaptations, some plants, including <em>Pinanga subterranea</em>, can adjust to changes without altering the core instructions or DNA. It’s like a tree’s survival manual. </p>
<p>Epimutations are changes that happen more often than regular changes in instructions (genetic mutations). <em>Pinanga subterranea</em>‘s underground flowering showcases nature’s adaptability. </p>
<p>By using its epigenetic toolbox to master survival in a changing climate, this palm has evolved smart ways to adapt to tough conditions in Borneo’s tropical landscape. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chungui Lu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recently discovered palm tree has an unusual survival strategy - it flowers and fruits beneath the groundChungui Lu, Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2191362023-12-12T14:42:58Z2023-12-12T14:42:58ZMadagascar cave art hints at ancient connections between Africa and Asia<p>Unique, prehistoric rock art drawings have been discovered in the Andriamamelo Cave in western Madagascar. </p>
<p>I was part of a team that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15564894.2020.1749735">discovered and described</a> these ancient treasures. They’re the first truly pictorial art, depicting images of nature with human-like and animal-like figures, to be seen on the island. Until recently, rock art in Madagascar had only yielded a few sites with basic symbols.</p>
<p>The dramatic discoveries contained several surprises, including hints at some remarkable cultural connections. </p>
<p>First, scenes depicted in some cases linked up fairly directly to Egyptian religious motifs from the Ptolemaic period (300-30 BCE). </p>
<p>Second, other inferences from symbols and writing on the walls showed connections to the Ethiopian and Afro-Arab worlds. </p>
<p>Finally, prevalent symbology and motifs evoked a two-millennia-old cave art style from Borneo. </p>
<p>An additional realm of surprises: at least three extinct animals of Madagascar (thought to have been extinct for many centuries) may be depicted – a giant sloth lemur, elephant birds and a giant tortoise. </p>
<p>It has long been believed – and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30846019_The_Culture_History_of_Madagascar">evidence</a> has confirmed – that the people, language, and culture of Madagascar are rooted in distant ancient connections to Borneo, an island in south-east Asia, combined with strong influences from continental eastern Africa.</p>
<p>However, who the first Malagasy were, when they arrived, and what they did after that, are all hotly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119303282?via%3Dihub">debated</a> topics.</p>
<p>Though our findings are speculative, any information that might be derived from the Andriamamelo Cave evidence is of considerable interest to the reconstruction of Malagasy early history.</p>
<h2>Connections beyond Madagascar</h2>
<p>Our research group – including Malagasy scientists from local institutions, and American, British and Australian specialists – visited the site near the village of Anahidrano on the north-west edge of the 17,100-hectare Beanka protected area in 2013. </p>
<p>Our team spent several days recording the images, surveying and mapping the entire cave, searching for associated archaeological sites, and interviewing local villagers regarding the art. It took several years, however, to search through relevant literature and museum archives to confirm the uniqueness and significance of what we’d found.</p>
<p>We made digital copies and hand-drawings of 72 cave-art objects. These were drawn in black pigment and included 16 animals, six human forms, two human-animal hybrid forms, two geometric designs, 16 examples of an M-shaped symbol, and many other patterns and indistinct forms. </p>
<p>Egyptian connections are hinted at in eight major images, including a falcon (Horus); the bird-headed god Thoth; the ostrich goddess Ma`at and two human-animal figures which were similar to Anubis – an ancient Egyptian god usually depicted as a man with a canine head. </p>
<p>The ubiquitous and mysterious M-figures demand explanation: we suggested, after searching many relevant alphabets, that it is a perfect match for only one, the letter “hawt” (ሐ) in the ancient Ethiopian Amharic alphabet, pronounced “ha”.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, though, we also found this symbol in cave art from Borneo thought to be about 2,000 years old, and in no other cave or rock art throughout the Indo-Pacific region. In some Austronesian languages (the diverse language family that extends from Malagasy on the west to distant Hawaii and Rapa Nui in the Pacific), the word “ha” is a term for the “breath of life”. </p>
<p>All these possible connections remind us that Madagascar’s people, language, and culture are in themselves syncretic, blending African and Asian influences to produce a unique Malagasy people.</p>
<p>The richly detailed and diverse art is notable also for what it doesn’t show. </p>
<p>No Christian, Muslim or Hindu symbolism is depicted, and no relatively modern motifs such as the Latin alphabet, cars, airplanes or flags. Even the ubiquitous zebu (cattle), the culturally paramount symbol of the last thousand years or more in Madagascar, are absent.</p>
<h2>When and whose</h2>
<p>It’s hard to know exactly when these drawings were made. Direct dating of cave art is notoriously difficult, and proved so in this case as the black pigment was made from dark inorganic minerals with only a small component of charcoal we could use for radiocarbon dating. </p>
<p>The presence of extinct animals, and the lack of modern motifs and the alphabet used in modern Malagasy, weigh heavily against the notion of a recent origin for the art.</p>
<p>We suspect that the art is about 2,000 years old – dating back to the time of Cleopatra or before, based on the religious motifs. If it is, that is remarkable and useful to know because it may provide evidence for who colonised Madagascar and when.</p>
<p>If, on the other hand, a set of pre-Christian religious beliefs has survived for centuries or even millennia among certain ethnic groups in very remote areas of the immense island – retaining recognisable influences from Egypt, Ethiopia and Borneo – that would be perhaps more remarkable. Village informants hinted at that possibility, by insisting that the “sorcerer” pictured was a member of a mysterious group of “Vazimba” or “Bosy”) who lived in the forest nearby.</p>
<p>So, whose art is this? We wish we knew, but clues are mostly lacking. The only possible writing, besides the M-figures, is a line of faint script in the lower right corner of this rock-art extravaganza. </p>
<p>Our best guess is that the legible middle six of eight characters, inferred to be <em>sorabe</em>, archaic Malagasy writing in Arabic script, may say “D-A-NT-IA-R-K”. </p>
<p>Does that refer to Antiochus IV Epiphanes? This king of the Seleucid Empire (western Asia) in the Ptolemaic period built a large navy, conquered much of Egypt in 170 BCE, and sent exploring and trading expeditions down the Red Sea and the east African coast. Ivory traders in that period <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/200009">spread</a> Roman goods as far south as ports in Tanzania south of Zanzibar, to trade with Azania. </p>
<p>Until more art or relevant archaeological evidence turns up for ancient African and Asian influences in Madagascar, we can only speculate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Burney received funding from the National Geographic Society for the field research leading to these discoveries.</span></em></p>Rock art from a Malagasy cave hints at some remarkable cultural connections.David Burney, Professor of Conservation Paleobiology, National Tropical Botanical Garden, and Adjunct Professor, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2175632023-12-05T08:28:47Z2023-12-05T08:28:47ZNew genetic research uncovers the lives of Bornean hunter-gatherers<p>Borneo is one of the world’s most biodiversity-rich regions, home to ancient rainforests and an immense variety of wildlife. </p>
<p>Among its inhabitants are the Punan Batu, a group of contemporary nomadic hunter-gatherers with a unique genetic makeup and lifestyle that reflect the deep ancestry of the region. The Punan Batu people live in the forest surrounding Mount Batu Benau in Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan Province.</p>
<p>Our recent study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(23)01358-X">Cell Reports</a>, sheds light on their genetic history and cultural heritage, offering a rare glimpse into a way of life that was once widespread in the forests of Borneo.</p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>We began our research with a community engagement program to get informed consent and support for our project from the Punan Batu community.</p>
<p>We then worked with phlebotomists, medical professionals trained to perform blood draws and health personnel from the local health centre to collect 30 blood samples from the community.</p>
<p>We also provided free health and blood biochemistry checks using point-of-care tests. We returned the results to the participants and the local health centre for any necessary follow-ups.</p>
<h2>Genetics trait</h2>
<p>The Punan Batu are part of a larger group of <a href="https://www.niaspress.dk/book/beyond-the-green-myth/">Punan/Penan</a>, the forest hunter-gatherer group, who was believed to have shifted mainly into a sedentary lifestyle. Living in harmony with nature, the Punan Batu still follows a nomadic lifestyle. </p>
<p>They travel in family groups, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/deep-ancestry-of-collapsing-networks-of-nomadic-huntergatherers-in-borneo/3E5BDE9823F6CD827E66DAF7C307273F">moving between network of rock shelters and forest camps</a>. They rely on the forest for their food, medicine and materials.</p>
<p>Our genetic analysis revealed that the Punan subgroups in our study are closely related, albeit in distant locations from neighbouring indigenous groups which rely on farming. So, Punan is not only a cultural identity but also a genetic identity.</p>
<p>Interestingly, unlike most people living in the archipelago of Southeast Asia comprising Indonesia and the Philippines, there is no gene flow from Austronesian-related ancestry to Punan Batu. </p>
<p>Austronesians are a linguistic and cultural group that originated in Taiwan and <a href="https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00061-5">spread across the Pacific and Indian Oceans</a>, bringing with them farming, seafaring and pottery skills. </p>
<p>The lack of Austronesian-related ancestry in Punan Batu indicates that they have remained isolated from the significant waves of migration and cultural diffusion that have shaped the region. </p>
<p>This finding challenges <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314419058_1993_The_Punan_question_and_the_reconstruction_of_Borneo'%20s_culture_history">the idea </a>that they are the descendants of farmers who reverted to a hunting and gathering way of life. Instead, it suggests that they have preserved their genetic integrity over a long period, resisting the influence of other groups and retaining their unique genetic heritage.</p>
<h2>Language and lifestyle</h2>
<p>The Punan Batu are unique not just in their genetic makeup but also in their language and lifestyle. </p>
<p>As described in our <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/deep-ancestry-of-collapsing-networks-of-nomadic-huntergatherers-in-borneo/3E5BDE9823F6CD827E66DAF7C307273F">2022 research</a>, they preserve a song language, the <em>Latala</em> language, that is unrelated to other languages of Borneo, even to any other languages in Southeast Asia. </p>
<p>The Punan Batu people use <em>Latala</em> as a particular language for artistic expression, similar to how some poets use ancient languages such as Homeric Greek, Latin or Old Javanese. <em>Latala</em> is currently only used for poetry. This shows ancient cultural inheritance, further evidence of their distinct demographic history.</p>
<p>This language, passed down through generations, is a significant part of their cultural identity. It contains rich oral traditions, such as myths, legends and songs, which <a href="https://twitter.com/ykan_id/status/1678753213808357376">reflect their worldview</a> and values.</p>
<p>They also use <a href="https://www.kompas.id/baca/english/2023/01/23/messages-of-twigs-punan-batus-communication-method">message sticks</a> to stay in contact, cooperate and share resources. Message sticks are wooden sticks with symbols on top of the stick that convey information, such as the location, direction and purpose of travel. </p>
<p>It also serves as a mechanism to avoid diseases when indicating the direction of family members who are ill as a self-quarantine measure. </p>
<p>This method of communication was once widespread among nomadic Punan in Borneo, including the <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ahci/2016/4174795/">Penan in Sarawak, Malaysia</a>, but has largely disappeared in sedentary Punan villages.</p>
<h2>Challenges and threats</h2>
<p>The provincial government, assisted by an Indonesian NGO, proposed the area of Mount Batu Benau in Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan Province, where The Punan Batu lives, as a <a href="https://www.ykan.or.id/en/publications/articles/press-release/kita-jaga-hutannya-kita-jaga-masyarakatnya/">geopark site</a>, an area that consists of several geological heritage sites with precious geological, biological and cultural values. </p>
<p>The forest’s biodiversity provides food and water for the Punan people.</p>
<p>However, the Punan Batu’s way of life is currently under threat. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/science/punan-borneo-nomadic-clan.html">Their forest home is shrinking</a> due to the expansion of logging and palm oil companies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/deep-ancestry-of-collapsing-networks-of-nomadic-huntergatherers-in-borneo/3E5BDE9823F6CD827E66DAF7C307273F">Our research</a> finds that this affects their traditional hunting and gathering activities and threatens their cultural heritage.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, the Punan Batu continue to hold on to their unique way of life. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI6q4wnVBl8">They have a strong sense of identity and pride in their culture</a>.</p>
<p>This year, the local government has recognised them as the <a href="https://www.kompas.id/baca/english/2023/06/04/en-punan-batu-pemburu-dan-peramu-terakhir-di-kalimantan-akhirnya-diakui-sebagai-masyarakat-hukum-adat">customary law community</a>, a group <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/05/11/adat-communities-want-their-own-special-law-why.html">whose members still live in a traditional community</a> and clear traditional boundaries. </p>
<p>This group has a prevailing system of laws that is followed by its members. The people still utilise forest areas to meet daily needs, to formally acknowledge their existence as an ethnic group in the region. It is an essential first step towards supporting their way of life. </p>
<p>But they need more robust protection in the future, such as Customary Forest status, a forest that is not burdened with land rights. Under this status, the management of the forest is delegated to Indigenous People to avoid further environmental and forest degradation and social conflicts.</p>
<p>The Punan Batu’s story reminds them of Borneo’s rich cultural diversity and deep ancestry. As we continue to learn more about them, preserving their cultural heritage and forest as their home is crucial. They are a living link to the past and a valuable source of knowledge and wisdom for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pradiptajati Kusuma receives research grant from the Wellcome Trust (International Training Fellowship) and Pulitzer Center (Impact Seed Funding).</span></em></p>The Punan Batu is one of the most active nomadic hunter-gatherer groups still existing in the world. They have unique characteristics that are different from other groups in Borneo.Pradiptajati Kusuma, Postdoctoral research fellow, Mochtar Riady Institute for NanotechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2112732023-08-23T20:08:21Z2023-08-23T20:08:21ZThis cave on Borneo has been used for 20,000 years – and we’ve now dated rock art showing colonial resistance 400 years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542080/original/file-20230810-21-p2xl0t.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C2%2C1347%2C852&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Jalandoni</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The islands of South-East Asia record a long and dynamic human history of <a href="https://theconversation.com/worlds-earliest-evidence-of-a-successful-surgical-amputation-found-in-31-000-year-old-grave-in-borneo-189683">technological innovation</a>, migration and conflict. </p>
<p>The region’s rock art stretches back more than <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-the-oldest-known-cave-painting-of-animals-in-a-secret-indonesian-valley-153089">45,000 years</a>. It’s a unique source of information about this complex human past.</p>
<p>But rock art doesn’t just record ancient history. Researchers have identified artwork documenting the more recent past, including <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469605314548940">Indigenous resistance</a> to colonial occupation, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327733403_Curiosity_Conflict_and_Contact_Period_Rock_Art_of_the_Northern_Frontier_Mexico_and_Texas">violent frontier conflicts</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-bandit-slaves-and-the-rock-art-of-resistance-165107">enslavement</a>. </p>
<p>Our new study, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0288902">published today</a>, shines a new light on rock art of Sarawak (a state of Malaysia on the island of Borneo). The rock art we have dated records resistance to colonial forces in Malaysian Borneo during the 17th to 19th centuries.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542052/original/file-20230810-23-pgmpvy.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The two rock art drawings that were dated and interpreted by our new research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Digital tracing and design by Lucas Huntley.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/40-000-year-old-rock-art-found-in-indonesia-32674">40,000 year old rock art found in Indonesia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rock art in Borneo</h2>
<p>Black drawings of people, animals, ships and abstract geometric designs <a href="https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/004d4697-50c7-4313-b778-c5b092921f9d/content">dominate caves throughout Borneo’s north-west</a>.</p>
<p>Gua Sireh is one of the region’s best-known rock art sites, attracting hundreds of visitors each year. The cave is about 55 kilometres south-east of Sarawak’s capital, Kuching. </p>
<p>Hundreds of charcoal drawings cover the walls of Gua Sireh. People are shown wearing headdresses. Some are armed with shields, knives and spears <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/680499">in scenes</a> of hunting, butchering, fishing, fighting and dancing.</p>
<p></p><div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><p></p>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/853195976?h=12c77f3375&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="Fly-through of Gua Sireh pointcloud" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p></p></div><p></p>
<p>Excavations in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s revealed people intermittently used Gua Sireh for around <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/110867">20,000 years</a>, before abandoning the site around 1900. The Indigenous people who used the cave were the ancestors of the contemporary Bidayuh (inland tribal people), also known as “Land Dayaks” in early ethnographic accounts. </p>
<p>Malayo-Polynesian Austronesian speakers (whose language originates in Taiwan) spread across Island South-East Asia and the Pacific starting around 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Austronesian influence at Gua Sireh dates from about 4,000 years ago, indicated by the first appearance of charred rice and pottery.</p>
<p>The presence of Austronesian communities at Gua Sireh is a part of broader evidence for dynamic human migrations in the region over thousands of years.</p>
<p>Further cultural interactions at the site occurred around 2,000 years ago, with grave goods, such as glass beads, showing contact between the Bidayuh and coastal traders.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/linguistics-locates-the-beginnings-of-the-austronesian-expansion-with-indigenous-seafaring-people-in-eastern-taiwan-186547">Linguistics locates the beginnings of the Austronesian expansion – with Indigenous seafaring people in eastern Taiwan</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the 17th to 19th centuries, there was a period of increasing conflict when Malay elites controlling the region exacted heavy tolls on local Indigenous tribes. Using <a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/28279/chapter/214425985?login=true">radiocarbon</a> dating, we have been able to date two large, elaborate human figures to this period. They were drawn between 1670 and 1830.</p>
<p>We interpreted our results informed by the <a href="https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/sea149a">oral histories</a> of the Bidayuh, who have continuing custodial responsibilities over the site today. </p>
<p>Our findings sit alongside other recent archaeological work that has highlighted <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-unearthing-queenslands-native-police-camps-gives-us-a-window-onto-colonial-violence-100814">Indigenous resistance to colonial occupation</a>. </p>
<h2>Carbon dating the images</h2>
<p>In addition to radiocarbon dating and oral history, another strand of evidence we used to interpret these new dates were the images themselves. </p>
<p>One figure we looked at in our carbon dating brandishes two short-bladed <a href="https://library.khmerstudies.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=8312&shelfbrowse_itemnumber=413">Parang Ilang</a>, the principal weapon used during the warfare that marked the first decades of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rajahs">white rule in Borneo</a>. We have dated this figure as drawn between 1670 and 1710 when Malay elites dominated the Bidayuh. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1343&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542060/original/file-20230810-27-lcpgo0.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1343&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bidayuh descendant Mohammad Sherman Sauffi William (Sarawak Museum Department) and Jillian Huntley harvesting a sample from the rock art.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul S.C. Taçon</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In another image we studied, large human figures are shown holding distinctive weapons such as a Pandat – the war sword of Land Dayaks, including the Bidayuh. Pandat were used <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2842798">exclusively for fighting</a> and protection, never in agriculture or handicrafts, suggesting the drawing relates to conflict.</p>
<p>We have dated this figure to between 1790 and 1830. This was a period of increasing conflict between the Bidayuh and Iban (Indigenous peoples from the coast, also known as Sea Dayaks) and Brunei Malay rulers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542273/original/file-20230811-19-hx8z7r.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Pandat in this rock art was used exclusively for fighting and protection, suggesting the drawing relates to conflict.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Jalandoni</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During this period many Indigenous Sarawakians moved into the upland interior, including the Gua Sireh area, <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/3721121">to escape persecution</a>. </p>
<p>Brunei rulers were known to not only bully and enslave people but also allowed expeditions of Ibans to attack the Bidayuh. The Ibans were said <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/Sarawak-Morrison-Hedda-Donald-Moore-Gallery/31168985070/bd">to keep the heads</a> of the people they slaughtered and handed over the “slaves” they captured to the Brunei authority.</p>
<p>An example from Bidayuh oral histories of the cave being used as a refuge during territorial violence comes from 1855. The British diplomat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spenser_St._John">Spenser St John</a> was shown a skeleton in Gua Sireh. A local tribesman said he had shot this man years earlier, before the rule of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brooke">James Brooke</a>, which began in 1839. </p>
<p>The shooting resulted from a skirmish with a very harsh Malay chief who had demanded the Bidayuh hand over their children. They refused and retreated to Gua Sireh where they held off a force of 300 armed men. </p>
<p>Suffering some losses (two Bidayuh were shot, and seven were taken prisoner and enslaved), most of the tribe escaped through the far side of the cave complex, saving their children.</p>
<p>Oral histories combined with the figures holding weapons of warfare contextualise the ages we now have for the rock art. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542064/original/file-20230810-25-jfip6l.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plan of the Gua Sireh cave system showing passage through Gunung Nambi (limestone hill) via the connecting passage between Gua Sireh and Gua Sebayan. Blue indicates water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The direct dates we have produced demonstrate distinct periods of drawing can be identified. </p>
<p>The ubiquity of black drawings across the region and their probable links to the migrations of Austronesian and Malay peoples opens exciting possibilities for further understanding the complexities of rock art production in Island South-East Asia.</p>
<p><em>This article was coauthored with Mohammad Sherman Sauffi William from the Sarawak Museum Department.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jillian Huntley receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Scientific Foundation of America. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Jalandoni receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emilie Dotte-Sarout receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul S.C.Taçon receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Petchey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New dates for the rock art in the Gua Sireh cave in Malaysia reveal resistance to frontier violence between 1670 and 1830.Jillian Huntley, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversityAndrea Jalandoni, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Social Cultural Research, Griffith UniversityEmilie Dotte-Sarout, ARC DECRA Research Fellow in Archaeology, The University of Western AustraliaFiona Petchey, Associate Professor and Director, Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Te Aka Mātuatua - School of Science, University of WaikatoPaul S.C.Taçon, Chair in Rock Art Research and Director of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit (PERAHU), Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2081532023-06-22T12:30:35Z2023-06-22T12:30:35ZTo see how smoke affects endangered orangutans, we studied their voices during and after massive Indonesian wildfires<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533199/original/file-20230621-11493-h6xfhj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4861%2C3080&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An adult male orangutan contemplates his next move in haze produced by Indonesia's 2015 wildfires.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wendy Erb</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bornean orangutans are one of three orangutan species, all <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=orangutan&searchType=species">critically endangered</a>. They thrive in carbon-rich peat swamp forests on the Indonesian island of Borneo. These habitats are also the sites of massive wildfires.</p>
<p>Indonesian wildfires in 2015 caused some of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040495">worst fire-driven air pollution</a> ever recorded. The fires were driven by an <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/understanding-el-nino#">El Niño climatic cycle</a>, which <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/Goddard/2016/severe-2015-indonesian-fire-season-linked-to-el-nino-drought">caused especially dry weather</a> in the region.</p>
<p>Compared to other wildfires, peatland fires smolder underground and produce exceptionally high levels of hazardous gases and particulate matter – a leading cause of <a href="https://theconversation.com/wildfire-smoke-can-harm-human-health-even-when-the-fire-is-hundreds-of-miles-away-a-toxicologist-explains-why-206057">global pollution-related deaths and illnesses</a>. </p>
<p>Orangutans are well known as an “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/indicator-species">indicator species</a>” – one that can serve as a proxy for the health of an ecosystem. Changes in their environments often cause conspicuous changes in the apes’ health and behavior. Frequent and persistent exposure to toxic smoke could have severe consequences for orangutans and other wildlife.</p>
<p>Toxic air pollution also poses serious health and safety risks for researchers. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy147">remote sensing techniques</a>, such as satellite images, GPS data and acoustic monitoring, are increasingly popular ways to track wildlife populations and see how creatures respond to changes in their environments.</p>
<p>I have studied the behavior, ecology and acoustic communication of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ykHYzwEAAAAJ&hl=en">wild primates in Indonesia</a> since 2005. In a new study, my co-authors and I investigated how wild orangutans in Borneo were affected by toxic emissions from Indonesia’s 2015 peatland wildfires – by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107088">studying their voices</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cBnbLJ5TzvE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Indonesia’s degraded peatlands are tinderboxes that can easily ignite with several weeks of dry weather.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Smoke exposure poses long-term risks</h2>
<p>Around the world, <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/number-wildfires-rise-50-2100-and-governments-are-not-prepared">wildfires are on the rise</a>. They often produce a thick blanket of haze that contains diverse hazardous gases and particulate matter, or PM. Most recently, smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the U.S. East Coast and Midwest in early June 2023, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLN3kBthm9Y">turning skies orange</a> and triggering public health alerts.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2014.10.015">human health risks from wildfire smoke</a> include respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, systemic inflammation and premature death. Much less is known about how smoke affects wildlife, but in a pair of studies published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2021.08.005">in 2021</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29436-9">and 2022</a>, scientists at the <a href="https://cnprc.ucdavis.edu/">California National Primate Research Center</a> reported alarming findings.</p>
<p>After less than two weeks of exposure to high concentrations of particulate matter – in particular, ultrafine particles measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are known as PM2.5 – captive <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/rhesus-monkey">rhesus macaques</a> suffered a spike in pregnancy loss. What’s more, surviving fetuses and infants suffered long-term effects on lung capacity, immune responses, inflammation, cortisol levels, behavior and memory. </p>
<p>During Indonesia’s 2015 fires, Borneo’s air had particulate matter concentrations nearly an order of magnitude higher than the levels in these studies. This made the potential implications for people and wildlife who gasped through Indonesia’s wildfire smoke for nearly two months extremely worrying.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fire and smoke rise from charred ground near a scorched tree." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533205/original/file-20230621-17-x1066c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A wildfire blazes in a small rubber tree garden along the border of the Tuanan study area during Indonesia’s 2015 wildfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wendy Erb</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Orangutans in the haze</h2>
<p>I was studying wild orangutans in the forests of Indonesian Borneo when the 2015 fires started. My colleagues and I at the <a href="https://coreborneo.com/tuanan-research-station/">Tuanan Orangutan Research Station</a> tracked local fires and patrolled nearby hot spots to assess the risk of fire spreading to our research area. </p>
<p>Wearing N-95 masks, we continued to monitor orangutans in hopes of learning how the animals were coping with encroaching fires and thick smoke. A few weeks into the fire season, I noticed a difference in the sound of the males’ “<a href="https://wildambience.com/wildlife-sounds/orangutan/">long call</a>,” which was the focus of <a href="https://wendyerb.weebly.com/projects.html">my research</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cRJoooWf5vU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An adult male Bornean orangutan’s long call.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Long calls are booming vocalizations that can be heard over distances of more than half a mile (1 kilometer). Orangutans are semi-solitary and live in dispersed communities, so these calls serve an important social role. Adult males make them to advertise their prowess to listening females in the area and to scare off any eavesdropping rival males. A couple of weeks after the smoke had appeared, I thought these males sounded raggedy – a little like humans who smoke a lot. </p>
<p>We observed the orangutans for 44 days during the fires, until large blazes encroached on our study area. At that point, we stopped the study to help extinguish the blazes with local firefighting teams and other government and nonprofit groups. Fires burned in our study area for three weeks.</p>
<p>Using data that we collected before, during and after the fires, I led an analysis of this Bornean orangutan population’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107088">behavior and health</a>. My co-authors and I found that in the weeks after the fires, the apes reduced their activities – resting more and traveling shorter distances – and consumed more calories than normal. </p>
<p>But although they were eating more and moving less, we found by collecting and testing the apes’ urine that they were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25847-1">still burning stored fat</a> – a sign that they somehow were using up more energy. We hypothesized that the cause <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21660-inflammation#:%7E:text=The%20most%20common%20reasons%20for,from%20an%20infection%20or%20injury">might be inflammation</a> – the swelling, fever, pain and fatigue that human and animal bodies experience in response to infection or injury. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An orangutan reclines in a tree surrounded by haze." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533206/original/file-20230621-20-pixdob.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Otto, one of four adult male orangutans observed and recorded for this research, takes a midday smoky nap during Indonesia’s 2015 wildfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wendy Erb</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sentinel sounds</h2>
<p>Studies have shown that when humans are exposed to particulate matter, they can experience inflammation, both in their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001775">respiratory tracts</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1164/ajrccm.164.5.2010160">throughout their bodies</a>. We wanted to know whether inhaling wildfire smoke would cause vocal changes in orangutans, just as inhaling cigarette smoke does in humans.</p>
<p>For this study, my co-authors and I carefully analyzed more than 100 sound recordings of four male orangutans that we followed before and during the fires to measure their vocal responses to wildfire smoke. Research has shown that a suite of vocal features – including <a href="https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/voice-disorders/#collapse_2">pitch, vocal harshness or hoarseness, and shaky voice</a> – reflects the underlying health and condition of both human and nonhuman animals. We were looking for acoustic clues about how this toxic air might be affecting the orangutans. </p>
<p>During the fires and for several weeks after the smoke cleared, these males called less frequently than usual. Normally, orangutans call about six times a day. But during the fires, their call rate was cut in half. Their voices dropped in pitch, showing more vocal harshness and irregularities. </p>
<p>Collectively, these features of vocal quality have been linked to inflammation, stress and disease – including COVID-19 – in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2017.04.012">human</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83614-1">nonhuman</a> animals.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CCoXocEBgiv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Listening to vocal species</h2>
<p>Increasingly frequent and prolonged exposure to toxic smoke could have severe consequences for orangutans and other animals. Our research highlights the urgent need to understand the long-term and far-ranging effects of peatland fires in Indonesia, which is one of the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=id">most biodiverse countries in the world</a>. </p>
<p>By uncovering the linkages between acoustic, behavioral and energetic shifts in orangutans, our study highlights a way for scientists and wildlife managers to safely monitor the health of orangutans and other animals. Using <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/ccb/passive-acoustic-monitoring/">passive acoustic monitoring</a> to study vocally active indicator species, like orangutans, could unlock critical insights into wildfire smoke’s effects on wildlife populations worldwide.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy M. Erb is affiliated with the American Society of Primatologists; the Borneo Nature Foundation; and Primate Conservation, Inc. She has received research funding from the American Association of University Women; the American Institute for Indonesian Studies; the American Association of Biological Anthropologists; the American Society of Primatologists; the British Academy; the Conservation, Food, and Health Foundation; Conservation International; Cornell University; Disney Conservation Fund; the Fulbright Program; the International Society of Primatologists; and the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Orangutans are vocal animals, so analyzing their calls during events like wildfires can indicate how smoke is affecting their health.Wendy M. Erb, Postdoctoral Associate in Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1966792023-01-11T06:12:34Z2023-01-11T06:12:34ZMountain environments are key to biodiversity – but the threats to them are being ignored<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503025/original/file-20230104-19747-ka27f3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C6693%2C3764&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mountains are home to a diverse range of plant and animal species.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mountain-peaks-torres-del-paine-patagonia-1931671382">JMP_Traveler/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mountains are home to <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aax0149">more than 85%</a> of the world’s amphibian, bird and mammal species. Lowland slopes are rich in animal and plant species. And rugged, high-elevation environments, although lacking such biological diversity, play a key role in maintaining biodiversity in the wider mountain catchment area.</p>
<p>The variation in mountain ecosystems also allows humans to extract <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892918000255">multiple benefits</a> from them. These include food, building materials, water, carbon storage, agricultural pasture and nutrient cycling.</p>
<p>Yet, vulnerable to both climate change and human intervention, mountain biodiversity is increasingly under threat. <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aax0149">Roughly half</a> of the world’s <a href="https://www.conservation.org/priorities/biodiversity-hotspots">biodiversity hotspots</a> are now located in mountainous regions. These are areas of the Earth with significant levels of biodiversity but threatened to the extent that up to 70% of the original habitat has been lost. </p>
<p>And high mountain environments are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2563">warming faster</a> than the global average. This is accelerating the rate of change in these ecosystems.</p>
<p>Despite this, mountains are largely ignored by attempts to preserve global biodiversity. </p>
<h2>The importance of mountains</h2>
<p>High mountains receive a lot of rain and experience low rates of evaporation at high elevations. They therefore contain large stores of water as snow and ice which are the foundation for biodiversity in the surrounding catchment. </p>
<p>Seasonal snow melt on Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro feeds into the swamps of the nearby <a href="http://www.kws.go.ke/amboseli-national-park">Amboseli National Park</a>. The park is home to 420 species of bird and 50 large mammal species, including the African elephant.</p>
<p>Due to their steep elevation gradients, mountain environments also consist of many separate habitats. In temperate latitudes, such as Europe and North America, these habitats range from coniferous forests at low elevations to rugged terrain on higher ground. Habitats in tropical mountains instead range from savannas and lowland rainforests to highland <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.712748/full">“montane” forest</a> at an elevation of 900 metres to 3,300 metres. </p>
<p>Such habitat diversity supports a wide range of plant and animal species across relatively small spatial scales. Borneo’s lowland rainforests are home to <a href="https://www.oneearth.org/ecoregions/borneo-lowland-rainforests/#:%7E:text=Borneo%20rainforests%20are%20multi%2Dlayered,Vatica%2C%20Burseraceae%2C%20and%20Sapotaceae.">over 15,000 plant species</a> while <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/borneo_forests/about_borneo_forests/ecosystems/montane_forests/">over 150 mammal species</a>, including orangutans and gibbons, live in Borneo’s montane forests. </p>
<p>Much of this biodiversity is also exclusive to particular mountain environments. Many mountain ecosystems are islands of suitable and isolated habitat. As a result, they are often home to species characterised by small populations and a limited range.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://ebird.org/species/taithr1">Taita thrush</a>, for example, is confined to the forests of southeast Kenya’s Taita Hills. Here, the species is surrounded by arid savanna within which it could not survive.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Taita trush perched on a branch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503067/original/file-20230104-14-uocmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Taita thrush is endemic to southeast Kenya’s Taita Hills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/taita-thrush-ebird-ethiopia-addis-ababa-2222653291">Mounir akaram halabi/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Vulnerable ecosystems</h2>
<p>Snow reflects much of the incoming solar radiation back out to space. But climate change is increasing rates of snow melt, exposing large areas of dark mountain surface to the sun. This is leading to rising solar absorption rates and significant warming. </p>
<p><a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015JD024728">Research</a> reveals that the Tibetan plateau (often called the third pole) has warmed by 0.16°C–0.36°C per decade on average since the 1950s. But this decadal rate of warming has increased to 0.5°C–0.67°C since the 1980s. </p>
<p>Increased warming in mountain environments will further amplify snow melt and reduce snow accumulation. Less snow and ice will result in a reduced availability of water downstream in the future, affecting the functioning of habitats in the mountain catchment. </p>
<p>Mountain environments are also vulnerable to human intervention. Mount Kilimanjaro’s fertile volcanic soil has encouraged human habitation of the surrounding area throughout history. But in recent decades, this has accelerated. </p>
<p>For example, agricultural land use in the Upper Pangani catchment to Kilimanjaro’s south <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1642359322000489">expanded</a> from 97,000 hectares in 1987 to over 300,000 hectares by 2017. The amount of groundwater collecting in the mountain’s aquifer decreased by 6.5% over the same period.</p>
<p>Land use change in mountain environments is leading to significant biodiversity loss. The Eastern Arc mountains of Kenya and Tanzania have lost <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-88987-6">95% of their forest cover</a> since 1500, reducing the diversity of unique flora and fauna that are found in the area. The <a href="https://www.amphibians.org/amazing-amphibians/kihansi-spray-toad/">Kihansi spray toad</a>, for example, is now extinct in the wild. </p>
<h2>Ignoring mountains</h2>
<p>Yet while it’s clear mountains are important for the ecosystems they support, recognition of these environments from governments and policymakers is insufficient. There is currently no effective international policy in place to protect the biodiversity of mountain environments and there is little cooperation between governments, environmental agencies and conservationists to deliver such a strategy.</p>
<p>Establishing a cost for the services provided by mountain ecosystems would be a step towards reducing their exploitation. </p>
<p>Management of rivers with variable stream flows can be achieved by issuing controllable permits for water use. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169419311345?via%3Dihub">Water market reform</a> in southeastern Australia’s Murray-Darling river basin is a successful example. Landowners and businesses here are able to purchase tradeable water entitlements set to levels that do not compromise the environment. </p>
<p>Since its introduction 30 years ago, this system has improved water quality and has allowed more water to be retained in the river basin. The expanding wetlands are also proving a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128181522000103">successful nursery habitat</a> for the native Murray cod and silver perch fish species.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial shot of a river lined with trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503460/original/file-20230106-25-u0sftr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Murray-Darling river basin in southeastern Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-murray-darling-junction-flood-594574802">Hypervision Creative/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But schemes such as this are open to regulatory challenges and issues over who manages the resource. <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020WR028378">Unreliable and inaccurate data</a> on agricultural water and groundwater abstraction also constrains global water management. </p>
<p>Both the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop27-will-be-remembered-as-a-failure-heres-what-went-wrong-194982">UN climate change summit (COP27)</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/biodiversity-treaty-un-deal-fails-to-address-the-root-causes-of-natures-destruction-196905">UN biodiversity conference (COP15)</a> ended short of ambition over protecting mountain biodiversity. A series of agreements and targets were established with little disclosure over how they will be financed and enforced. An international treaty that accepts the value of mountain ecosystems and puts measures in place to protect their environmental, economic and biological importance is urgently required.</p>
<hr>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Marchant receives funding from a number of grant-giving organisations for this work including UKRI, the Royal Society, the European Union and SIDA.</span></em></p>Mountain environments are rich in plant and animal species, but the dual threat of human habitation and climate change means urgent action is needed to protect them.Rob Marchant, Professor of Tropical Ecology, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1958902022-12-06T03:37:34Z2022-12-06T03:37:34ZThe daunting task facing new Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim: uniting a divided country<p>It’s been some journey for Anwar Ibrahim, the new Malaysian prime minister appointed last month. It took 24 years to go from being the country’s deputy prime minister in 1998 to becoming the prime minister today, at 75 years old. Along the way, he was jailed twice, found guilty on charges of sodomy, <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysias-former-police-chief-who-beat-anwar-in-jail-raises-heckles-with-new">beaten up by the police commissioner</a>, charged with corruption and finally, received a royal pardon.</p>
<p>Many consider Anwar to be one of the only real Muslim democrats fighting to keep Malaysia multiracial and multicultural. On the surface, this was the fairytale ending for that fight.</p>
<p>No single coalition won the bare majority required to form government when the election results were announced on November 19. After five days and direct intervention by the king and the Malay Rulers, Anwar was picked to be the prime minister after proving he could cobble together a majority coalition under Pakatan Harapan (The Alliance of Hope).</p>
<p>It’s likely many Western governments breathed a sigh of relief on seeing Anwar triumph, as the other leading coalition, Perikatan Nasional (National Alliance), was running on a conservative, nationalistic Islamic platform. There wasn’t a single ethnic Chinese or Indian elected under the Perikatan Nasional, despite the fact non-Malays make up at least one-third of the population. </p>
<p>Anwar’s coalition, on the other hand, had more than 40 <a href="https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/646288">elected Chinese and Indian</a> MPs.</p>
<p>No wonder many are calling the Anwar administration the “New Malaysia”. Yet the challenges facing Anwar are colossal.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1596956453301993472"}"></div></p>
<h2>A divided Malaysia</h2>
<p>Malaysia after the polls is a totally divided country. The two biggest parties in parliament are Parti Islam Malaysia (part of the conservative Perikatan Nasional) and the Democratic Action Party (part of Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition). Parti Islam Malaysia <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/gains-malaysias-hardline-islamist-party-challenge-new-pm-anwar-2022-11-25/">won 49 seats</a>, making it the largest single party in the 222-seat parliament. The Democratic Action Party is the second largest party with 40 seats.</p>
<p>Parti Islam Malaysia, as the name suggests, wants Malaysia to be a fully-fledged <a href="https://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Malaysia/sub5_4d/entry-3669.html">Islamic state</a>, including throwing out the current constitution and Westminster style of government. It also strongly believes <a href="https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/70314">non-Muslims in Malaysia</a> shouldn’t enjoy full political rights, but instead be treated as “dhimmi”.</p>
<p>Dhimmi is an Islamic term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state. Often translated into English as “protected person”, a dhimmi doesn’t enjoy equal political rights as a Muslim and must pay a special tax to the Islamic state to retain their protected status. This status includes rights like property, life and the right to follow non-Islamic religions. </p>
<p>Among Islamic scholars there are disputes over exactly what a dhimmi person is entitled to under an Islamic state, but they all agree a dhimmi isn’t recognised as a full citizen, as understood by the West, in an <a href="https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/dennis-ignatius/malaysian-national-unity-charter-disguised-scheme-divide-non-muslims-dhimmi-kafir/d/120255">Islamic state</a>.</p>
<p>The Democratic Action Party is totally opposite to Parti Islam Malaysia. Largely supported by non-Malays (receiving about <a href="https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/06/14/report-95-chinese-but-less-than-30-malays-voted-for-ph/">90% of the ethnic Chinese vote</a>), it believes in a liberal, secular Malaysia where everyone enjoys the same political rights.</p>
<p>The majority of the Malay community is becoming more conservative and supports Parti Islam Malaysia, while <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/political-instability-reigns-supreme-in-malaysia/">most non-Muslims</a> are equally strong in supporting the liberal, secular Democratic Action Party. Since their ideologies are poles apart, we are really looking at two different Malaysias.</p>
<h2>Racial politics</h2>
<p>If that wasn’t complicated enough, people often forget there’s a third distinct political circle. There are two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo – Sabah and Sarawak. They are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338422104_The_1963_Malaysia_Agreement_MA63_Sabah_And_Sarawak_and_the_Politics_of_Historical_Grievances">totally different</a> from Peninsular Malaysia in terms of history, demography, language and culture.</p>
<p>Sabah and Sarawak are very multiracial. Interracial and intercultural marriages are common, and there’s little in the way of a religious divide. While political Islam is trying to make headway in both states, locals have made it clear they reject the extreme form of Islam promoted by Parti Islam Malaysia.</p>
<p>For the past half century, the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak have watched the obsession with racial politics and the rise of political Islam in the peninsular with bewilderment and fear. Many remember a time prior to the 1970s when Islam in the region was not used as a weapon in the political arena.</p>
<p>Political Islam in Malaysia only really took off after the 1979 Iranian revolution and the influx of Saudi money for spreading Islam in the region in the 1980s.</p>
<p>Many in Malaysia saw the rise of political Islam, but nobody expected it to arrive so soon. For years people were warning that “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XapKMnHCE0Y">identity politics</a>” had taken over the Malay community and it was more or less unstoppable.</p>
<p>Parti Islam Malaysia had been laying the <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/anwar-s-victory-not-only-malaysian-shockwave">groundwork</a> since the 1990s by building private Islamic kindergartens, Islamic high schools, and Tahfiz schools (Quran memory schools). This indoctrination was allowed to proceed because the Malaysian authorities were afraid of offending the religious establishment, and the state itself was in competition with Parti Islam Malaysia to show who was more Islamic.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1309407489213870081"}"></div></p>
<p>So we have three different Malaysias: Parti Islam Malaysia’s Islamic version, the Democratic Action Party’s secular version, and the pluralistic Borneo version.</p>
<p>Can Anwar Ibrahim, the man who wrote <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1760674.The_Asian_Renaissance">a book</a> on “his vision for a more tolerant, pluralistic Asia”, bring the three into a single modern, progressive state?</p>
<p>I don’t know, but I hope he succeeds. Malaysia has all the elements to be a successful progressive Muslim country, rather than the polarised country it is today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Chin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Can Anwar, the man who wrote a book on “his vision for a more tolerant, pluralistic Asia”, bring together a divided Malaysia?James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1925292022-10-24T14:09:35Z2022-10-24T14:09:35ZOrangutans: could ‘half-Earth’ conservation save the red ape?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491071/original/file-20221021-16-stieow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5039%2C3356&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">lukaszemanphoto / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Half-Earth is a proposal by the late naturalist and “father of biodiversity”, <a href="https://theconversation.com/e-o-wilsons-lifelong-passion-for-ants-helped-him-teach-humans-about-how-to-live-sustainably-with-nature-150045">EO Wilson</a>. In its original context, it proposes that half of the Earth’s surface should be designated a human-free nature reserve to preserve biodiversity.</p>
<p>The proposal of course raises some pretty big questions. What happens to the people that happen to live in the areas designated to become human free? Would we give up on biodiversity in the other half of Earth? And whose half should be chosen and who decides? Would richer countries continue on their current path and tell poorer nations, especially those in the tropics with relatively intact forests and marine systems, that their part of the world will from now on only be for nature? </p>
<p>Perhaps not unexpectedly, the grand idea of half-Earth has attracted a lot of criticism as being <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/halfearth-or-whole-earth-radical-ideas-for-conservation-and-their-implications/C62CCE8DA34480A048468EE39DF2BD05">unethical and infeasible</a>. It has even led to a distinct counter-proposal: whole-Earth. Sometimes known as <a href="https://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/narratives-for-the-%E2%80%9Chalf-earth%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Csharing-the-planet%E2%80%9D-scenarios">sharing the planet</a>, this proposal focuses on things like equitable land management or finance, as its advocates argue that conservation will only ever work if we change the political and economic systems that are driving today’s crises.</p>
<p>It is difficult to judge the merits of half and whole-Earth without testing what either would mean on the ground. This is what we recently set out to do by applying our interpretations of these two options to the conservation of an animal we have studied for decades – the orangutan.</p>
<h2>Expert predictions</h2>
<p>We focused on Borneo, the world’s third largest island (only Greenland is significantly larger) and home of most orangutans. The Bornean orangutan is listed as “<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/17975/123809220">critically endangered</a>” as its habitat is being destroyed and many are killed for food, for profit or simply because people fear them (direct killing remains a major problem <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-surveyed-borneos-orangutans-and-found-100-000-had-disappeared-91944">on a par with deforestation</a>). </p>
<p>We gathered a group of 33 other experts, mostly scientists with a specific track record of estimating orangutan population sizes. They were then asked (confidentially) what would happen to Bornean orangutans in the next decade under half- and whole-Earth conditions (translated as half and whole-Borneo) compared to continuing business-as-usual conservation practices. Our results are now published in the conservation journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060532200093X">Oryx</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Rainforest being chopped down" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491075/original/file-20221021-3368-fanr5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deforestation in Borneo. Somewhere between 60,000 and 127,000 orangutans live on the island, which is split between Indonesia and Malaysia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rich Carey / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The experts predicted that business-as-usual would mean the total population of orangutans on Borneo would decline by around 27% between now and 2032. That is clearly not sufficient to support the protection of the species. </p>
<p>Half-Earth was predicted to strongly reduce orangutan declines. The experts, in fact, concluded that it would be comparatively easy to achieve and would reduce population decline by at least half compared to current management.</p>
<p>However, the experts thought whole-Earth would lead to greater forest loss and ape killing and a 56% population decline within the next decade. Whole-Earth approaches are valuable but may not be workable for the short-term orangutan conservation needs, because of political and economic realities on the ground.</p>
<p>The good news is that the experts predicted that, if orangutan killing and habitat loss were stopped, populations could rebound and reach 148% of their current size by 2122.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sad looking orangutan" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491319/original/file-20221024-8249-ig161m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Bornean orangutan is officially listed as ‘critically endangered’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marketa Myskova / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite more than <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-surveyed-borneos-orangutans-and-found-100-000-had-disappeared-91944">100,000 orangutans lost</a> over the past two decades, the experts now see glimmers of hope. Indonesian and Malaysian <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266178">deforestation rates are down</a>, as are expansion rates of oil palm and other crops. How should orangutan conservation proceed from here? What are the best strategies?</p>
<h2>Protections – on paper</h2>
<p>Interestingly, both the Indonesian and Malaysian governments had more or less reached the objective of legally designating half of the land mass as protected in their respective states of Kalimantan and Sabah.</p>
<p>With 67.1% of Indonesian Borneo designated as state forest, Indonesia already exceeds the half-Earth goal of locking in 50%. Malaysian Sabah has also exceeded the half-Earth goal, with 65% of the state remaining forested.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two shaded maps of an island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491068/original/file-20221021-18-y8nkuv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Borneo rainforest cover in 1973 and 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CIFOR</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is all on paper though, and a lot of effective conservation investment and management would be needed to ensure that these orangutan habitats would indeed remain permanently forested, and that the other key threat – killing – is effectively addressed.</p>
<p>This is where elements of the whole-Earth approach are helpful, as it might prompt a more sensitive and equitable engagement with rural communities. Communities need to be given responsibility for coexisting with orangutans and there must be incentives to protect orangutans and their habitats. And companies – logging, mining, or plantations – need to be made legally responsible for ensuring that the protected orangutan can survive and thrive on the lands that they manage. Ultimately, we need to protect both orangutans and humans’ rights and access to their customary lands.</p>
<p>In the case of orangutans, half-Earth seems to be a good idea in the short term, especially with regard to habitat loss. Whole Earth-type approaches might be needed in the longer term to ultimately ensure a reduction in the number of orangutans who are killed or have to be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1617138120300534">captured and relocated</a>.</p>
<p>Neither approach is likely to provide a silver bullet. Every conservation context is going to be different and will require its own specific solution. It is therefore also important to just get on with conservation and not spend too much time thinking about ideal solutions.</p>
<p>It is not an easy path ahead, but solutions exist that can ensure the long-term survival and even recovery of the Asian red ape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192529/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erik Meijaard receives funding from UWFSW. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Serge Wich receives funding from UKRI, USFWS, and others.</span></em></p>Setting aside half of Borneo would significantly reduce their decline, say experts.Erik Meijaard, Adjunct Professor of Conservation, University of KentSerge Wich, Professor of Primate Biology, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1896832022-09-07T23:12:32Z2022-09-07T23:12:32ZWorld’s earliest evidence of a successful surgical amputation found in 31,000-year-old grave in Borneo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483199/original/file-20220907-938-1d1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C79%2C1200%2C637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Maloney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Modern medicine seems to advance with time thanks to research breakthroughs. Hence it’s often thought that further into the past, only simpler medical practices existed.</p>
<p>The medical expertise of foraging communities such as hunter-gatherers has been thought to be rudimentary and unchanging. It’s been argued that shifts towards settled agricultural life within the past 10,000 years were what created new health problems and advances in medical culture; this includes surgery.</p>
<p>Published <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05160-8">today in the journal Nature</a>, we report a discovery shattering this longstanding trope of popular imagination – the skeleton of a young adult from Borneo whose lower left leg was amputated in childhood by a prehistoric surgeon 31,000 years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The outline of a skeleton visible on a cave floor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483168/original/file-20220907-26-3kwx9h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oldest burial of a modern human currently known from Island Southeast Asia, dating to 31,000 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Maloney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This finding pre-dates the previous <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/npre.2007.1278.1">oldest known evidence</a> for amputation surgery by a staggering 24,000 years. It suggests that human medical knowledge and surgical procedures were far more advanced in the distant past of our species than previously thought.</p>
<h2>The Borneo discovery</h2>
<p>In 2018, some of the earliest known rock art was found in caves of East Kalimantan, Borneo, dating to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0679-9">40,000 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>The following year, archaeologists from Griffith University, University of Western Australia, and Indonesian institutions of archaeology and conservation (Arkeologi, Bahasa dan Sastra, Pusat Riset Arkeometri BRIN / Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya Kalimantan Timur) searched remote caves in dense rainforest for archaeological finds that could shed light on the lifeways of these early artists. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A green and blue map with the outlines of several countries" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483361/original/file-20220907-15616-pplied.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map showing the location of the area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maria Kottermair</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Led by local Dayak colleagues, the team travelled to a remote camp via a multi-day canoe and hiking journey. It was accessible only by boat at certain times of the year.</p>
<p>During these field trips, in early 2020 the team conducted archaeological excavation within Liang Tebo cave. There, they uncovered a complete human burial, with grave goods of brightly coloured red ochre pigments and stone burial markers.</p>
<p>Upon closer analysis of the leg bones of the remains, an unexpected discovery emerged.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close-up of an orange clay-like substance next to a bone covered in sand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482653/original/file-20220905-24-5b3m99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ochre nodule next to the jaw bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Maloney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Evidence for amputation at 31,000 years</h2>
<p>Multiple dating techniques (radiocarbon, uranium-series, and electron-spin-resonance) confirmed the burial had taken place 31,000 years ago, making it Southeast Asia’s oldest known grave. Skeletal analyses confirmed the lower left limb had been surgically amputated; the way the bone tissue had changed over time (known as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_remodeling">bone remodelling</a>”) matched clinical cases of successful amputation that hadn’t become infected.</p>
<p>The healed bone confirms an injury that wasn’t fatal to the patient, implying the surgeon or surgeons likely understood the need to manage and treat it. They were able to prevent infection after the invasive surgery, allowing the person to survive into adulthood.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Yellowed bone remains on a black background, one shown in close-up detail" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483166/original/file-20220907-22-qysseh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left: Left and right legs with pelvic girdle demonstrating complete absence of left lower leg. Right: Close up of tibia and fibula showing remodelled bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Maloney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Medical developments in tropical rainforests</h2>
<p>In the tropical rainforests of Borneo, hot and humid conditions create the perfect breeding ground for various microbes, and therefore increase the chances of getting a wound infected. But the rainforests also have astonishingly rich plant species diversity. This vast “natural pharmacy” may have prompted early flourishing in the use of botanical resources.</p>
<p>The surgeons treating the amputation patient could have drawn upon locally available botanical resources before, during, and after the procedure. Such medicinal plants could have provided anaesthetics and antimicrobial remedies preventing infection.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="View of a green landscape from the inside of a stone cave" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483163/original/file-20220907-21-28059s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tropical rainforest at Liang Tebo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Maloney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surviving a childhood amputation and living into adulthood among rainforest caves of Borneo also suggests a high degree of community care. A community that painted complex figurative art had also seemingly mastered the complexities of surgical amputation 31,000 years ago.</p>
<p>Sea levels being much lower at this time, Borneo was still connected to Asia. This means the survivor of this surgery also lived close to the potential departing shorelines of ice-age Asia, from where the world’s first mariners departed earlier still, eventually reaching what is now Australia.</p>
<p>This new finding adds to a growing body of evidence that the first modern human groups to reach our part of the world tens of thousands of years ago had medical knowledge and skills beyond what was previously thought.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/65-000-year-old-stone-swiss-army-knives-show-early-humans-had-long-distance-social-networks-184648">65,000-year-old 'stone Swiss Army knives' show early humans had long-distance social networks</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Ryan Maloney receives funding from the Australian Research Council FT170100025, as well as DP220100462. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Brumm receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adhi Oktaviana is PhD Candidate at Griffith University, Australia and Researcher at Research Center of Archaeometry, BRIN, Indonesia </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr India Ella Dilkes-Hall receives funding from Forrest Research Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxime Aubert receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The National Geographic Society, and Google.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melandri Vlok is a member of the research team.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>An astonishing discovery from the oldest known grave in Southeast Asia has revised medical history – the previous known amputation surgery was just 7,000 years ago.Tim Ryan Maloney, Research fellow, Griffith UniversityAdam Brumm, Professor, Griffith UniversityAdhi Oktaviana, PhD Candidate, Griffith UniversityIndia Ella Dilkes-Hall, Forrest Foundation Prospect Fellow, The University of Western AustraliaMaxime Aubert, Professor, Griffith UniversityMelandri Vlok, Postdoctoral research associate, University of SydneyRenaud Joannes-Boyau, Associate Professor, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1811342022-04-14T09:57:28Z2022-04-14T09:57:28ZA tale of two cities: why Indonesia is planning a new capital on Borneo – and abandoning Jakarta. Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457879/original/file-20220413-28-tk7tav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C799%2C489&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artistic impression of Indonesia's new presidential palace, designed by the artist Nyoman Nuarta. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYSve2zpoHk/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=">nyoman_nuarta via Instagram</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indonesia plans to move its capital city from Jakarta on the island of Java to a new forest city on the island of Borneo called Nusantara. In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a>, we talk to three experts in urban planning and ecology to find out why – and what the environmental impacts of the project could be. </p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/6257d218bd9ef5001212c4aa" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Jakarta is a city struggling to keep its head above water. “It’s been attacked from both sides – from the river and from the land,” says Eka Permanasari, associate professor in urban design at Monash University, Australia.</p>
<p>The city experiences <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/02/26/climate-change-behind-2020-floods-that-displaced-thousands-in-jakarta-agency-says.html">extreme amounts of rainfall, worsened by climate change</a>, which regularly causes severe flooding. Coupled with this, massive extraction of ground water from aquifers underneath the city is causing the Jakarta to sink. “If you go to the northern part of Jakarta, you may see the road is higher than the houses next to it. In some other areas, it’s actually sinking more than 15cm per year,” says Permanasari.</p>
<p>Due to the problems facing Jakarta, plans to relocate Indonesia’s capital have a long history. During the colonial era, the Dutch considered abandoning the city, then called Batavia, due to flooding, high temperatures and disease linked to stagnant water. Since Indonesian independence in 1945, successive administrations have also floated plans to relocate the capital, but these never came to fruition. </p>
<p>Now, the government of President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, is forging ahead with a new project, estimated to cost around US$35 billion. In January, Indonesia’s parliament <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesia-passes-law-relocate-capital-remote-borneo-2022-01-18/">passed a bill</a> to relocate the country’s capital city from Jakarta on the island of Java to the East Kalimantan province of Borneo. The government then announced the city’s name: <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3163853/indonesia-names-its-new-us34-billion-capital-nusantara">Nusantara</a>, which loosely translates as archipelago in sanskrit. </p>
<p>Hendricus Andy Simamarta is a lecturer in urban planning at the University of Indonesia and president of the Indonesian Association of Urban and Regional Planners. He says a big reason for relocating the capital is to shift Indonesia’s centre of gravity away from Java. “We are very dependent on Java economically, more than 50% of our economy is located in Java,” he says. Simamarta is sceptical that moving the capital to East Kalimantan will re-balance the economy, but he says at least it can start to “re-orientate our mindset of development”. </p>
<p>The dream for Nusantara is for a new high-tech, smart city, surrounded by forest. Borneo is an island with rainforests home to an abundance of different species, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-surveyed-borneos-orangutans-and-found-100-000-had-disappeared-91944">orangutan</a> and Asian elephants. However, Alex Lechner, an associate professor in landscape ecology at Monash University, Indonesia, who is based in Jakarta, says the area planned for Nusantara’s construction is currently covered by eucalyptus plantations – monocultures with less biodiversity than intact rainforest. </p>
<p>Lechner is impressed with eight principles set out for Nusantara’s development, including on carbon neutrality and circular economy approaches. “If it all looks like it’s looking like on paper, there’s potential for this city to be this shining example for southeast Asia of what green and sustainable development should look like,” he says. </p>
<p>But he’s also concerned about what might happen on Borneo outside Nusantara’s footprint. “What happens to all the development which this city encourages outside of the city boundaries? Is this going to be developed sustainably?” Lechner says if more roads are built to connect Nusantara to other parts of Borneo, this could produce a “fish-bone effect” with small roads leading off into the forest, which could have a “whole raft of cascading spillover effects on the environment and especially on diversity”.</p>
<p>Listen to the full episode to hear more about the challenges facing Jakarta and the plans – and politics – behind Nusantara. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-not-to-build-a-capital-what-indonesia-can-learn-from-other-master-planned-cities-mistakes-175318">How not to build a capital: what Indonesia can learn from other master-planned cities' mistakes</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/?hl=en">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter?utm_campaign=PodcastTCWeekly&utm_content=newsletter&utm_source=podcast">free daily email here</a>.</p>
<p>Newsclips in this episode are from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0W6DiFps9U">CNA</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHQnz1UuYOM">News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aHJJUA3P-s">Aljazeera</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP6JlmI4eik">English</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aHJJUA3P-s">France24 </a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sJUIWCfwYo">The Jakarta Post</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHA35syvg7I">Media dan Informasi Sekretariat Presiden</a>.
You can watch a video showing a digital rendering of the presidential palace, designed by the artist Nyoman Nuarta, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CYX1HzYFgCE/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=">here</a>. </p>
<p>You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a>, or find out how else to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">listen here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eka Permanasari has received funding from the Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs Research Grant, Drake University, the Humboldt Research Linkage Program and the Indonesian Ministry of Research and Technology.
Hendricus Andy Simarmata is president of the Indonesian Association of Urban and Regional Planners. He is a co-founder of NUA Advisory, a small planning firm. He is a member of the scientific committee of ISOCARP, a non-profit professional organization; and an urban reader at Thamrin School of Climate Change and Sustainability. He also volunteers on the steering committee of the Urban Land Institute Indonesia, a membership-based non-profit research and education organization. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Lechner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why is Indonesia planning to build a new capital called Nusantara? Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationDaniel Merino, Assistant Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1768902022-03-14T18:57:08Z2022-03-14T18:57:08ZOmar Musa blends words and the wood carving of Borneo to explore beauty, rage and history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450271/original/file-20220307-51485-1aw36kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=70%2C105%2C2009%2C2022&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Musa, from Killernova</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Omar Musa has, it seems, put aside the voice of protest, anger and challenge so present in his powerful 2017 poetry collection, <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthems-ranthems-and-otherwise-loves-nationalism-in-australian-poetry-90450%22%22">Millefiori</a>, in favour of a journey to his roots in the culture and history of Borneo. </p>
<p>An island that carries three national flags, its lands have been exchanged many times by colonial powers as wars swept through this part of the globe, obscuring the 50,000 year heritage of its indigenous islanders – tribal groups that include the Suluk, the Dayak and Kedayan peoples. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Killernova - Omar Musa (text and artwork) (Penguin)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>This book arises from Musa’s desire to “chase that connection” via poetry and the craft of wood carving. He has adopted and adapted images and myths from Borneo’s islands, its creatures, its people and its sea.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446165/original/file-20220214-25032-nu617a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Omar Musa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cole Bennetts</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This sea surrounding it is the sea-road taken by his ancestors to Arnhem Land in the 1700s in search of the sea cucumber, a trade that linked Aboriginal Yolngu Country to Asia. With uncanny timing Omar Musa brings his Australian identity back to Borneo, re-inventing, reversing and re-creating old connections.</p>
<p>“I carve my stories in wood. My ancestors sailed in wood. They will carry me out in wood,” Musa writes.</p>
<p>His dive into wood carving with the woodcut collective, Pangrok Sulap, at the Tamparuli Living Arts Centre in Malaysian Borneo, turns out to be both a return to his ethnic history and a return to the playfulness of his childhood. The resultant book is a graphic marvel.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446167/original/file-20220214-23-108uu80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Woodcuts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cole Bennetts</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each page carries images of strong directness, expressive line, joy, sometimes death, and always with a feel for visual balance. You want to tear out each page and paste them to your wall or fridge so that you can stand in front of them and gaze into the images with the attention they demand.</p>
<p>Images of the Clouded Leopard, a vulnerable species in Borneo’s shrinking forests, recur through the book, as does the iconic Mount Kinabulu – and of course the sea in its many manifestations. With a poet so sensitive to ironies, so attuned to the margin, his celebrations of history, nature and heritage here are tinged with despair at contemporary degradations upon nature bringing catastrophic loss upon loss.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446172/original/file-20220214-17-1s906e7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Musa, from Killernova</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>This state of affairs is, as the ghost in Hamlet says, and Dylan sings, murder most foul. In this time of shrinking wilderness, encroachment upon wild places, and destruction of deep history, the poet can choose to stand outside the crime and call out the guilty, or bring wider and larger perspectives that declare we, as a species, as a global phenomenon, must share in the guilt as we participate in a violent planetary upheaval.</p>
<p>That Musa has taken this latter path enables his clouded leopard to comment, “I fell asleep dying of thirst but when I woke up I swear I heard a waterfall.” Such poetry is leavened not with hope but with soul.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446169/original/file-20220214-29677-1bw17za.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Killernova.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cole Bennetts</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anthems-ranthems-and-otherwise-loves-nationalism-in-australian-poetry-90450">Anthems, 'ranthems', and otherwise loves: nationalism in Australian poetry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Sparkles</h2>
<p>The poems, some of them inscribed into the mostly black and white wood-carved imagery, are interspersed with mini-essays (one remarkable essay sets the changing national flags that have dominated the island against the recently arrived stateless and displaced people), flash fiction, reveries and prose poems. </p>
<p>Caught in his people’s history, newly aware of the mythic sea, it can seem that matters of immediate politics and protest are no more than the sparkles on the watery surface of a sun-drenched ever-changing planet:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why? Is a weight that drops into fathomless dark and all that remains is a shudder on the surface of the deep. The border disperses before the hand that signed it into law can finish writing the first letter of its name. The border will be scooped up, laved, shat into, drunk, spat out in Peru, used to distil whiskey in Ireland, and may, one day, come back into my hands in Makassar, where I pour it over my face. When that day comes, and border returns to the latitude where someone tried to name it, its name is now changed, dancing on a braid of kelp, spoken in sand. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>(From Makassar)</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450272/original/file-20220307-83366-9z0cgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Musa, from Killernova</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This writing, like jazz, brings us to the brink of conclusion, only to roll on and up and out into itself and over us gorgeously, but worryingly too, for there are fake islands in the South China Sea:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…. the crescent of sand<br>
so alluring for beach-seeking bottle—<br>
is never what it seems.<br>
words can be fake islands too.<br>
I should have been a dancer<br></p>
</blockquote>
<p>(from Fake Islands)</p>
<p>The imagery in the poems is often exact and masterful, but it’s not lyrical, not bitter, not troubled by having to be an example. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446170/original/file-20220214-55472-i0rdl1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Musa, from Killernova</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s there, it seems to me, because it touched the poet’s hold on his human heart, making the invisible visible so briefly you are not quite sure what has been spoken: the orangutan that watches a man read the Quran each morning – its forest taken from it; getting off shabu (a local term for methamphetamines), the teenager who found kickboxing and God; fever bringing dreams of a snowman to a girl who has never seen snow; a Jeneponto tamarind tree full of fireflies at night becoming a guide to fishermen on their way home from the sea. The soul of this poetry is tender in the sense of being rawly alive to the world.</p>
<p>There is much to linger over and marvel at in these images, and much thanks go to the poet for pausing over them long enough in each poem for us to encounter them.</p>
<p>And this rawness implies an ethics too, and a politics. We are touched by what matters, surely. In this book there are some resurgences of protest as clever and barbed as those in his previous book. </p>
<p>Take the poem that begins, “Lemme tell you what’s unAustralian, mate. Australia” – and ends with</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you’re Black/brown/Muslim/woman/queer/smart/loud<br>
and you dare question a cross-eyed sacred cow,<br>
they’ll twine newspaper headlines<br>
to a noose & lynch you<br>
from a Daily Telegraph poll<br>
in UnAustralia.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The tabloid and online persecution of community worker, mechanical engineer and 2015 Young Queenslander of the year, Yassmin Abdel-Mageid, was one recent public incident that followed the pattern of this unacknowledged UnAustralia, a warning to anyone on the margins who speaks <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/01/bullies-rely-on-power-to-protect-them-not-online-anonymity">loudly enough to be heard</a>.</p>
<p>Though two clouds can be white and heavy “as four hundred drug busts”, and people “take their coffee and walk their retrievers on sacred sites”, the hills, the hills, “the hills are still here” (from Capital). Does such imagery speak excitement or dread? This is the very question he asks of a portrait of a seated couple, which might in fact be a self-portrait.</p>
<p>The poetry of Killernova arises from a community, from friendships, from family. Poems celebrate shared experiences on beaches, in the sea, or on summer rambles. The poetry of big issues is delivered with immediacy and frankness, and with passing life thrown vividly in at every opportunity – drugs, shit, piss, podcasts, rusty showerheads, music, maps, crowns of thorn, and the unchanging circle of death that brings life (that brings death that brings … ), and love that brings distrust …</p>
<h2>A cosmic rhythm</h2>
<p>Hard to know where to go once all this has been spelled out. (The book is book-ended by quotes from the restless <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/elizabeth-bishop">Elizabeth Bishop</a> on the one hand, and the serene <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/tomas-transtromer">Tomas Tranströmer</a> on the other.) Do we go to the ironies of “bad poetry”? To choosing between drinking whole lakes or eating tom yum? Once we know that whatever we do or feel or say is part of a cosmic rhythm woven over unimaginable time with a pattern we will never comprehend, our own individual dance of death and love can seem either sublime or inhumanly monstrous.</p>
<p>Towards the conclusion of the book, after poems which seem to be a response to the end of a love affair, nature re-emerges in its tender details: a spider weaving silk, pigeons in flight, the weighty meaning of an orchid, the quiet hymns of turtles.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446173/original/file-20220214-25-10tb45z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fatbergs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Musa, from Killernova</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Along with this comes a concluding note on the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics by filling the cracks with precious metal: Kintsugi. (The title of the book plays on the 2010 astronomical term kilonova, referring to an enormous release of energy and precious metals when two neutron stars collide.) </p>
<p>If the broken elements can be part of the ultimate history of an object or an experience, pointing to its worth and meaning, then I take it that this poetry of flaws, from a flawed poet who “drank so hard that I shat blood and became a me I hated”, is looking beyond our catastrophically inadequate response to climate change, beyond our UnAustralia, beyond the mistrust we bring to love, towards what? </p>
<p>Not healing, not resolution, not revolution, but perhaps towards that long perspective that makes the present moment everything we have.</p>
<p>For as Tomas Tranströmer wrote, “Everything else is now, now, now.” And given this, it is fitting that this book ends with snapshots of friends and fellow artists at work and sharing meals.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: an earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to ‘the Perahu people’. ‘Perahu’ means boat in Malay.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin John Brophy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In Killernova, celebrations of history, nature and heritage are tinged with despair at contemporary degradation of nature, bringing catastrophic loss.Kevin John Brophy, Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668952021-09-14T02:39:43Z2021-09-14T02:39:43Z‘The pigs can smell man’: how decimation of Borneo’s ancient rainforests threatens hunters and the hunted<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420236/original/file-20210909-17-12fslap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C521%2C2819%2C1745&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monika Gregussova/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For more than 40,000 years, Indigenous communities in Borneo have hunted and eaten bearded pigs – huge, nomadic animals that roam the island in Southeast Asia. These 100kg creatures are central to the livelihood and culture of some Bornean peoples – in fact, some hunters rarely talk of anything else.</p>
<p>But this ancient relationship is now at serious risk. Oil palm expansion and urbanisation are forcing changes to hunting practices in Sabah, a Malaysian state in Borneo. <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10250">Our research</a> examined these changes by focusing on Indigenous Kadazandusun-Murut hunters, for whom bearded pigs are a favourite game animal. </p>
<p>The oil palm industry has cleared much of Borneo’s lowland tropical rainforests to make way for plantations. And a shift to a more agrarian and urbanised life means many people hunt less than they used to.</p>
<p>Hunting is one of the most fundamental and enduring of human–wildlife relationships. But the changing dynamic between Borneo’s pigs and Indigenous peoples is a powerful reminder of the fragility of these connections. There is much at stake right now, for both the hunted and the hunter. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420233/original/file-20210909-25-pkdbdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from an artistic representation of a traditional form of Indigenous bearded pig hunting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Koehler/author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Changing times</h2>
<p>As its name suggests, the bearded pig has a prominent beard. It’s a large species thought to move up to 650km in search of food, in large herds of up to 300 individuals. </p>
<p>Wild meat can contribute to as much as 36% of meals in Indigenous Bornean societies, and bearded pig meat accounts for 54–97% of this by weight. Bearded pig hunting is also central to recreation, gift-giving and social practices in many of Borneo’s Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>But widespread deforestation and agricultural expansion (primarily oil palm and rubber plantations) has drastically reduced bearded pig habitat in recent decades. The bearded pig is now listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. </p>
<p>Sabah has been on the front lines of the oil palm boom since the late 20th century. As of 2015, roughly 24% of Sabah’s land area was covered by oil palm or pulpwood plantations. </p>
<p>Sabahans sometimes take work with oil palm companies, own their own oil palm smallholdings or move to urban areas for relatively well-paying jobs in manufacturing and retail. </p>
<p>Those who remain in rural parts of the state have reduced access to croplands and forests in some areas which, among other negative impacts, restricts their ability to hunt game.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/human-progress-is-no-excuse-to-destroy-nature-a-push-to-make-ecocide-a-global-crime-must-recognise-this-fundamental-truth-164594">Human progress is no excuse to destroy nature. A push to make ‘ecocide’ a global crime must recognise this fundamental truth</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="oil palm plantation meets rainforest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420246/original/file-20210909-19-1ihhpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oil palm plantations have fundamentally changed Borneo’s landscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘This is our life’</h2>
<p>We investigated how the above land-use changes have affected pig hunting practices of the Kadazandusun-Murut ethnic group, including 38 interviews with bearded pig hunters.</p>
<p>Hunters are adapting new methods to pursue pigs inside plantations. Respondents reported that hunting in oil palm plantations was easier overall than hunting in forests – because the walking was generally less tiring (and they could sometimes hunt from a car), it was easier to see pigs and foraging locations were more predictable. </p>
<p>Five respondents noted a difference between the taste of meat from pigs in oil palm plantations as compared to forest. One said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The pig from the forest is much tastier, it’s more fit. If the pig eats oil palm its fat isn’t as sweet. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many hunters said bearded pigs were “wilder”, “smarter” and more skittish than they had been in the past. Comments included:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The pigs can smell man; they are getting more wild because they are always getting shot by men.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the past pigs only looked, but now they run away. Now the pig has got a high school certificate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Among hunters who had started hunting before 1985, 71% noted this increased flight response, whereas only 26% of those who began hunting after 1985 mentioned this behavioural change.</p>
<p>Respondents consumed wild bearded pig meat more frequently in rural villages than in urban contexts, indicating an important shift in dietary patterns. Some respondents also hunted less frequently when living in urban environments, due to having less time, increased distance to the forest, lower energy because of having to work or other factors. </p>
<p>But despite these substantial changes in hunting practices, much has remained the same over the last few decades.
Hunting with guns has remained the primary technique over the past two generations, and meat provision is the primary motivation to hunt. </p>
<p>One respondent said his father taught him:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is our life. We live in the forest; this is our food.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cultural practices, such as gifting the meat for community events, provided additional motivations to hunt. Some considered weddings, festivals and church events to be incomplete without bearded pig meat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="meat on grill" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420658/original/file-20210913-21-jgbd9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wild pig meat is an important source of food in Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Preserving a fragile relationship</h2>
<p>Our results show both the persistence and malleability of hunting practices among Kadazandusun-Murut people in Sabah. The challenge now is how best to manage bearded pig hunting in the face of ongoing oil palm expansion, urbanisation and broader political–economic changes. </p>
<p>The onslaught of African Swine Flu is complicating matters. For the pigs, the deadly virus is an extra burden for a species already in decline. For some Indigenous hunters, it threatens their food security and livelihoods. </p>
<p>The loss of bearded pigs also erodes traditional celebrations and family gatherings, and the passing down of ancient customary hunting practices to children. </p>
<p>Environmental governance initiatives should support the cultural traditions of Borneo’s Indigenous communities, and any new regulation should be devised in collaboration with local people and tailored to their needs. At the same time, these initiatives must ensure the long-term conservation of bearded pig populations and their habitat.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/orangutans-gibbons-and-mr-sooty-what-the-origins-of-words-in-southeast-asia-tell-us-about-our-long-relationships-with-animals-165175">Orangutans, gibbons and Mr Sooty: what the origins of words in Southeast Asia tell us about our long relationships with animals</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166895/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The changing dynamic between Borneo’s pigs and Indigenous people is a powerful reminder of the fragility of the human-nature connection.Matthew Scott Luskin, Lecturer in Conservation Science, The University of QueenslandDavid Kurz, Postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Science, Trinity CollegeFiffy Hanisdah Saikim, Senior lecturer, Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Indigenous KnowledgeMatthew D. Potts, Professor, S.J. Hall Chair in Forest Economics, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1569102021-05-19T16:02:07Z2021-05-19T16:02:07ZGreening the planet: we can’t just plant trees, we have to restore forests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401614/original/file-20210519-19-19t24iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C8%2C5439%2C3039&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tropical-rainforest-stunning-view-borneo-sunrise-1474114256">Borneo Rimbawan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57137057">Queen’s Green Canopy</a>, a campaign to celebrate Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee next year, involves asking people in the UK to plant trees: a “treebilee” as her son, Prince Charles puts it. This is one of a number of public and private campaigns underway, including initiatives by big corporations from <a href="https://www.nestle.com/stories/reforestation-project-one-tree-planted-biodiversity-climate-change">Nestle</a> to <a href="https://www.audi-umweltstiftung.de/umweltstiftung/en/projects/responsibility/planting-trees-against-climate-change.html">Audi</a> which are also planting millions of trees in an attempt to mitigate a portion of their environmental impact.</p>
<p>But, at a much smaller scale, there are thousands of community reforestation projects around the word whose goals differ depending on the environment and desires of local people. For example, planting native trees along the Kinabatangan river in Borneo can support local ecotourism businesses, while forest projects on the east coast of New Zealand are designed to protect agricultural soils from erosion. </p>
<p>Local context makes each community project unique and of more value, as people are more likely to plant the right trees in the right places for the right purpose. But these projects cost money and securing financing can be challenging when funders are so often focused on measurable goals and on removing carbon from the atmosphere to offset emissions-generating activities. Inevitably, small local projects bear the brunt, incurring the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-real-cost-of-planting-trees/">steep cost</a> of monitoring and certification.</p>
<p>In 2019, we developed <a href="http://www.regrowborneo.org">Regrow Borneo</a>, a community-based reforestation project in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, that thrust us into this complicated world. Our work prompted us to examine these trade-offs from the perspective of the cost of trees, the importance of traditional knowledge and the price of reforestation. </p>
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<h2>Cost of trees v value of forests</h2>
<p>The number of trees planted is often seen as an indicator of the success of reforestation projects. We’ve all seen adverts suggesting that if we buy a product a company will plant a tree to offset the cost of producing the item. Trees are relatively easy to count and, if planted in the right place, may reflect successful restoration. But reforestation occurs over hundreds of years and poorly managed projects that plant millions of trees can sometimes end with the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/most-of-11m-trees-planted-in-turkish-project-may-be-dead">majority dying</a>. </p>
<p>That is why successful forest restoration projects take a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/rec.13035">long-term approach</a>, through comparing progress to existing forests, taking “before and after” snapshots, and measuring the social cost and benefits. But none of this can be captured by counting trees. A tree census will not tell you about the health of the ecosystem, soil, insect, bird or mammal populations. Neither will it tell you about a loss or gain of economic opportunities for local communities, their health, or spiritual wellbeing. We need new measures for evaluating projects, but none of these approaches is as simple, or easily explained to funders as a tree census.</p>
<p>Regrow Borneo plans to measure success in terms of restored forest area – a simple metric for reporting to donors that can be independently verified by drone footage or through advanced satellite and airborne technologies that can measure how the restored <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534714002249">ecosystem functions</a>. </p>
<h2>Synergy between science and local knowledge</h2>
<p>Effective forest restoration relies on a combination of scientific understanding, knowledge and experience. In the case of Regrow Borneo, the rich local knowledge allows us to predict how fast particular species grow, which species provide food for animals (such as orang-utans) and which are flood tolerant.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2980/19-3-3530?needAccess=true">most effective local projects</a> rely on this knowledge throughout their lifespan. But incorporating knowledge into measures of success for projects is difficult because often it simply can’t be measured. Demanding scientific rigour in local projects can lead communities to abandon this knowledge, which can <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abd7ac/pdf">reduce the effectiveness</a> of the projects. The problem is that science needs to catch up and design better ways of incorporating this knowledge into its experiments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A baby orangutan peeping out from behind a tree in a rainforest in Borneo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401615/original/file-20210519-17-47qhsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Reforestation helps protect endangered species such as the orangutan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/orangutans-babies-freedom-tanjung-puting-national-1395399326">Ignacio Salaverria/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Who pays?</h2>
<p>The goals of community reforestation projects and those of funders don’t always align, which can place a huge burden on the community involved. Funders are sometimes focused on paying a fixed price that might cover planting a tree – but it cannot cover ensuring that a healthy tree flourishes. Other funders concerned about their reputation seek guarantees from projects through checks, certification and monitoring, which – though commendable – may not capture the whole picture of “success”. </p>
<p>For example, companies which burn carbon are allowed to offset this by paying forest projects for the amount of carbon they store. In return, companies want guarantees, so will seek projects that are independently certified. The rules of certification are designed to protect forests, but can also limit local access to forest resources and benefits. And the cost of certification and staff training falls on the projects themselves. </p>
<p>Models in which funders coordinate and pay for monitoring may help overcome some of the financial barriers for small projects. Within Regrow Borneo it has so far been difficult to develop a viable price for reforesting a healthy hectare as our commitment to fair wages, monitoring growth and replacing trees lost to flooding or eaten by monkeys can seriously raise costs. </p>
<p>Riskier reforestation sites such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/24/what-is-carbon-capture-usage-and-storage-and-can-it-trap-emissions">carbon-rich peat swamps</a> and nature reserves involve frequent monitoring for biodiversity, adding further costs and pushing prices well above the rate that carbon is traded. Every community has different wage expectations, every forest requires different resources to restore, so a single price per tree or per tonne of carbon is an unreasonable expectation.</p>
<p>As a restoration community, we believe in a change of thinking. We need to bridge the gap between funders and projects by reducing the barriers to financing small projects. Flexible funding models and less rigid certification processes support the development of community-based forestry initiatives in a more pragmatic way. Projects such as <a href="https://trilliontrees.org">Trillion Trees</a> or <a href="https://restor.eco">Restor</a> that seek to network and fund community-based projects across the globe are excellent examples of good working models. Instead of funding a million trees, we should think of funding a million forests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tristram Hales is a trustee and founding member of Regrow Borneo. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benoit Goossensi s a trustee and founding member of Regrow Borneo. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Bruford is a trustee and founding member of Regrow Borneo. </span></em></p>Planting trees can sometimes be a carbon-offset box-ticking exercise, but reforestation is a long-term commitment that supports communities, promotes biodiversity and tackles the climate emergency.Tristram Hales, Director, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff UniversityBenoit Goossens, Professor of Biology, Cardiff UniversityMike Bruford, Professor of Organisms and Environment, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1484742020-11-06T13:53:56Z2020-11-06T13:53:56ZWhy COVID-era campaigns against wildmeat consumption aren’t working<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365778/original/file-20201027-22-18lx3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A newly-hunted wild boar is taken back to a village in Borneo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Hasan Thung</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 probably originated as a virus that jumped <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-scientists-know-the-coronavirus-came-from-bats-and-wasnt-made-in-a-lab-141850">from wild animals to humans</a>. So some conservation organisations have used the pandemic to campaign against the hunting and consumption of wildlife – and so to prevent future zoonotic disease transmission.</p>
<p>But our research with indigenous villagers in Indonesia has found that some of these recent anti-wildlife consumption campaigns miss a key point. Many villagers view COVID-19 as novel and modern, a problem associated with new ways of life, not their traditional hunting. For this reason, COVID-inspired anti-wildmeat messages have not convinced them, and are unlikely to succeed.</p>
<p>One of us (Paul Thung) has been doing fieldwork among indigenous Dayak people in the Indonesian side of the island of Borneo since late-2019. There, conservation organisations are attempting to dissuade rural communities from hunting and consuming wildlife like wild boar, deer, civets, porcupines or even orangutans. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Indonesian poster with cartoon caveman eating meat, described below." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364535/original/file-20201020-13-1gc2i8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Poster warning of the dangers of eating wildmeat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Hasan Thung</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The pictured poster is a good example. It starts with a warning about the coronavirus (“WATCH OUT for the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19)”), connects this to the general danger of zoonotic diseases (“Did you know there are many diseases that spread to humans through the consumption of wild animals? One of them is the CORONAVIRUS”), then concludes with a suggestion to stop consuming wildlife (“With all these risks, do you still want to eat wild animal meat?”).</p>
<p>Similar <a href="https://www.wildlifealliance.org/stopeatingwildlife/">examples</a> can be found elsewhere in Borneo and the world. </p>
<p>At present, there isn’t much information about the effects of COVID-related conservation campaigns on the ground. However – in parts of rural Borneo, at least – such messages are not working. On the contrary, both villagers and forest rangers in Paul’s fieldsites report that hunting has increased in recent months. To understand why, we need to examine local perceptions of COVID-19.</p>
<h2>COVID conversations</h2>
<p>During fieldwork, Paul participated in and recorded many conversations about the origins of the coronavirus. Strikingly, he found that the zoonosis argument – that COVID-19 originates from wildlife – was usually met with scepticism. Instead, his Dayak interlocutors often suggested that the novel coronavirus was more likely to have been created by humans – for example, by scientists developing a weapon for biological warfare.</p>
<p>It may be tempting to dismiss such claims as <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-are-dangerous-heres-how-to-stop-them-spreading-136564">conspiracy theories</a>. As anthropologists, however, we seek to understand the local logic on which they’re based. Doing so reveals some striking mismatches between conservationists’ zoonosis argument and rural Dayaks’ experiences and perceptions of COVID-19.</p>
<p>First, the zoonosis argument takes traditional Dayak <a href="https://www.kitlv.nl/nl/product/deadly-dances-in-the-bornean-rainforest-hunting-knowledge-of-the-penan-benalui/">practices</a> and turns them into a problem. It posits that wild animals, which Dayaks have hunted for centuries, contain many diseases that can harm people who eat them. </p>
<p>However, the conclusion that Dayaks should therefore stop hunting and consuming wildlife does not align with their long and seemingly unproblematic experience of eating wild animals. It is also at odds with their livelihoods, as wild meat is an important source of <a href="https://forestsnews.cifor.org/64855/covid-19-led-ban-on-wild-meat-could-take-protein-off-the-table-for-millions-of-forest-dwellers?fnl=en">protein and income</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man chops some meat beside a river as a dog and chicken eye up the meat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365782/original/file-20201027-23-e5gn0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portioning out the catch after a hunting trip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Hasan Thung</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, most villagers in this area view COVID-19 as a decidedly modern phenomenon, centred in urban and wealthier regions. Here, as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00141844.2020.1743337">elsewhere in Borneo</a>, people are highly aware of both the benefits and pitfalls of “progress” (<em>kemajuan</em>) and modernity. </p>
<p>Although everyone aspires to progress – to earn money, enjoy “modern” amenities and infrastructure – such changes are also seen to bring problems and risks. Transport infrastructure, for example, improves mobility for traders and travellers, but also invites excessive resource extraction, thieves and viruses. As someone said to Paul: “Corona travels by plane too.”</p>
<p>When the pandemic began, many rural Dayaks’ response was thus to turn towards tradition, not away from it. Many who had been working or studying in cities returned to their villages. </p>
<p>Physical work in the fields and forest, and eating natural foods (<em>makanan alami</em>) – including certain wild animals – were described as ways to boost one’s health. Among people Paul spoke to, it was widely argued that the virus, which seemed to thrive in cooler places and air-conditioned cities, would die outdoors under the sun. </p>
<h2>Changing conversations</h2>
<p>This failure of translation holds important lessons for conservationists. Crucially, it reminds us that conservation must be guided by local, on-the-ground knowledge and experiences. </p>
<p>Rather than only trying to educate others, conservationists must first educate themselves about specific local conditions and concerns. This means finding out what local people see as problems (COVID-19 as a modern, urban disease, for example) before working with them to find contextually-appropriate solutions.</p>
<p>In this case, conservationists might have been better off shifting their attention from the origin of COVID-19 to rural communities’ apprehensions about the (modern) conditions that enabled its spread. They could also have pinpointed ways of mitigating its knock-on effects such as economic hardship. </p>
<p>Such efforts would not have achieved the immediate goal of reducing wildlife hunting and consumption. But they could well have had a more productive long-term impact. </p>
<p>In rural Borneo, conservationists are sometimes said to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/454159b">care more about animals than humans</a>. People can spot opportunistic conservation campaigns from a mile away. </p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic, however, is an opportunity for conservationists to prove their commitment to local people’s wellbeing. Building long-term relations of trust and respect gives conservation a far greater chance of succeeding in the long run.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was adapted from a longer piece on <a href="https://pokokborneo.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/why-education-about-zoonotic-diseases-is-not-reducing-hunting-a-view-from-rural-borneo/">Pokok</a> – a blog about human-orangutan conflict in Borneo.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Hasan Thung receives funding from The Arcus Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liana Chua receives funding from the Arcus Foundation and the European Research Council (Starting Grant no. 758494).</span></em></p>Indigenous people in rural Borneo associate the coronavirus with modern life, not their traditional hunting.Paul Hasan Thung, PhD Student in Social Anthropology, Brunel University LondonLiana Chua, Reader in Anthropology, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1310662020-02-07T13:43:46Z2020-02-07T13:43:46ZAmazon trees write autobiographies – preserving human history in their wood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313965/original/file-20200206-43128-15piih1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=403%2C0%2C4656%2C3174&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Brazil nut tree in Jaú National Park, Amazonas, Brazil.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(19)30335-8">Victor Caetano-Andrade</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tropical forests are one of the world’s largest carbon stores and they help regulate the global climate. But they’re being erased at a terrifying rate. Deforestation claimed an <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/04/world-lost-belgium-sized-area-primary-rainforests-last-year">area the size of Belgium in 2018</a>. These habitats are often cleared to make way for <a href="https://theconversation.com/palm-oil-research-shows-that-new-plantations-produce-double-the-emissions-of-mature-ones-130330">palm oil plantations</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-meat-on-your-plate-is-killing-the-planet-76128">grazing pasture for livestock</a>. For most forests, destruction on this scale is a fairly modern phenomenon.</p>
<p>Tropical forest ecosystems tend to have very high biodiversity, but often in the places you’d least expect. Research has found that there is often more wildlife in areas where there is an <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-017-1356-2">ancient history of human activity</a>. </p>
<p>So how have indigenous people in tropical forests nurtured biodiversity in tropical forests while still <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-amazons-ancient-human-history-is-written-in-its-trees-73878">domesticating tree species</a>, building cities and growing crops? <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(19)30335-8">New research</a> published in Trends in Plant Science suggests that the answer may be written in the trees themselves.</p>
<h2>Ancient time capsules</h2>
<p>Over 50,000 years ago, people in Borneo <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379112000261">managed tropical forest vegetation using fire</a>. They burned the edge of advancing forests, and this targeted disturbance was enough to prevent a large number of tall tree species dominating. It allowed habitats to regenerate that were rich in wild food plants and attractive to the animals that people hunted. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amazon-fires-indigenous-people-show-fire-can-be-used-sustainably-122493">Amazon fires: Indigenous people show fire can be used sustainably</a>
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<p>Other traditional methods of forest management included opening the forest canopy by carefully selecting trees to cut down. The light that flooded to the forest floor could then encourage edible species such as wild yams to grow amid the regenerating vegetation. These practices are similar to the modern ideas of <a href="https://theconversation.com/edible-forests-can-fight-land-clearing-and-world-hunger-at-the-same-time-122540">edible forests</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/agroforestry-can-help-the-uk-meet-climate-change-commitments-without-cutting-livestock-numbers-108395">agroforestry</a>, which maintain relatively <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0162529">high biodiversity</a> and retain soil carbon and nutrient stores. Much of this is lost upon conversion to industrial plantations or ranches. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313963/original/file-20200206-43119-1o2dme4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Traditional forest management encouraged biodiversity, whereas modern methods erode it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(19)30335-8">Caeteno-Adrade et al. / Trends in Plant Science</a></span>
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<p>In the past, vast areas of the world’s tropical forests were <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618216302774">managed by indigenous peoples in this way</a>. Trees keep their own accounts of this history in their wood. It has always been thought that tropical trees have short lifespans, usually less than 400 years. But recent research shows that many tropical trees live for a very long time, and can <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/102/51/18502">preserve over 1,000 years of history in their timber</a>.</p>
<p>You’re probably familiar with the idea that you can measure how old a tree is by counting the rings beneath its bark. One ring usually equates to one year, so dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) offers a fairly easy way to understand the life of a tree. Thicker rings tend to denote a year when conditions were good for growth – ample sunshine and water – whereas thinner rings suggest a lean year of drought and competition with other trees. </p>
<p>Many tropical trees don’t lay down annual rings, but in the new study dendrochronologists identified over 200 species that do. Typically wider rings reflect higher rainfall, but many trees put on a growth spurt if light intensity rises. These are called release events and can happen if trees around them are cut down, allowing more light to break through the canopy. Finding these markers helps researchers to recognise and <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Using-radiocarbon-calibrated-dendrochronology-to-in-Miranda-Higuchi/d01f1b373ec325dfde9d891678e787e0d1eec21f">date past episodes of forest clearance</a>. In the Amazon, these records help scientists understand the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214128">enormous extent of pre-Columbian agriculture and forest management</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313969/original/file-20200206-43123-pozsr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Researchers extract a core of wood to measure the tree’s rings and find out its age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(19)30335-8">Victor Caetano-Andrade</a></span>
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<p>The rings also preserve evidence of changes in the climate through the different isotopes (types) of oxygen and carbon laid down in the wood. Carbon isotopes tend to reflect light availability and other factors that control photosynthesis, whereas oxygen isotopes help scientists track changes in a nearby water source and annual rainfall. Isotopic studies showed that the abandonment of Angkor Wat in the 14th century <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/107/15/6748">coincided with severe drought</a>.</p>
<p>Forest histories can also emerge from new DNA studies. Heavily logged species go through what we call “<a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/29953">genetic bottlenecks</a>”, where part of the genetic material of a species is lost as many individuals die or are unable to reproduce and pass on their genes. This leads to restricted gene pools.</p>
<p>Researchers would expect to see the same patterns in species which were strongly affected by logging or fires started by people in the past. Genetics can also identify species that were spread by ancient people, like the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12231-011-9151-6">Brazil nut</a>.</p>
<p>Living tropical trees record within themselves a history of human activity and the forest’s response to it. The regeneration of forests after disruption by people in the past offers some hope for the future, but only if current rates of deforestation can be halted, allowing the lungs of our planet to regenerate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Hunt has received funding from the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Evans Fund (Cambridge) for his work in tropical forests. </span></em></p>Trees in tropical forests are more than carbon sponges – they’re cultural artefacts.Chris Hunt, Professor of Cultural Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1273122019-11-21T06:35:57Z2019-11-21T06:35:57ZGrowing palm oil on former farmland cuts deforestation, CO₂ and biodiversity loss<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302627/original/file-20191120-554-1tnti0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A knobbed hornbill in tropical forest, Sulawesi, Indonesia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/knobbed-hornbill-rhyticeros-cassidix-sulawesi-indonesia-709941331?src=44c420db-5991-4038-8ac3-7f79723329a8-1-2">Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Few natural products are as maligned as <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/palm-oil-354">palm oil</a>, the vegetable oil that’s in everything from chocolate spread to washing up liquid. On the island of Borneo, oil palm plantations have replaced <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-palmoil-deforestation-study-idUKKBN1W41HD">nearly 40%</a> of the native forest cover since 2000. Deforestation releases CO₂ into the atmosphere and deprives rare and endangered species with the complex habitats they need to thrive.</p>
<p><a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/11/eaaw4418">A new study</a> has tried to find out if this valuable crop can be grown without destroying more forests, by converting existing pastureland into new oil palm plantations instead. Could growing more oil palm on land with already scarce wildlife be a solution to the deforestation crisis?</p>
<p>The oil palm tree produces two types of vegetable oil. Palm oil from the fruit is used in cooking and baking and helps feed over three billion people, mostly in Asia. The other oil comes from the palm kernel, or seed, which is used around the world to make most of our detergents, soaps and other cleaning products.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302512/original/file-20191119-111697-3v0z5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Palm oil comes from the tree’s bright red fruit and is one of the most valuable vegetable oils in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/pC4vFN3P8VQ">Eva Blue/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The relentless increase in global demand for vegetable oil has driven the logging and draining of forests and peatland to grow soybeans in South America and oil palm in Asia. About <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/12/palm-oil-products-borneo-africa-environment-impact/">85% of oil palm</a> is grown in just two countries: Indonesia and Malaysia. But other tropical countries, particularly in South America and West Africa, are establishing their own oil palm plantations. These are vast monocultures that very few species can inhabit, especially compared with the tropical forest they replace.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302503/original/file-20191119-111697-1kcx9wi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A drainage ditch in a recently created oil palm plantation, Sarawak, Borneo. As the peat dries, it can release large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Denis Murphy</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Use farms not forests</h2>
<p>In the recent study, researchers measured how much carbon – previously locked up in trees and other vegetation – was lost to the atmosphere when either pastureland or rainforest was converted to oil palm plantation. </p>
<p>The good news is that turning pastureland into oil palm plantations reduced how much carbon was released by 99.7%, compared to when rainforest was converted. Another bonus of using pastureland might be that its starting biodiversity is relatively low anyway, so the plantation may actually have a greater diversity of wildlife than the previous ecosystem. </p>
<p>Converting grassland ecosystems like the Llanos in South America to oil palm plantations also released less carbon than converting forests. But in this case, the researchers found there were significant losses for biodiversity. If we have to produce more palm oil, the best outcome for wildlife and the climate would be to make former pastureland the first choice for future plantations.</p>
<p>But would it not be better to ban palm oil altogether? Campaigns have urged consumers to switch to products that <a href="https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/palm-oil/palm-oil-free-list">don’t contain palm oil</a>, while some retailers have announced plans to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43696948">exclude such items from their own-brand products</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/replanting-oil-palm-may-be-driving-a-second-wave-of-biodiversity-loss-116840">Replanting oil palm may be driving a second wave of biodiversity loss</a>
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<p>Oil palm plantations produce 73.5 million tonnes of vegetable oil from a <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/613471/palm-oil-production-volume-worldwide/">total land area of 27 million hectares</a> worldwide. This might seem like a large area, but the second most important vegetable oil crop, soybean, produces 56 million tonnes from 97 million hectares – more than 3.6 times the oil palm area. This means that oil palm actually uses much less land than other crops, which is one reason why it’s so popular with growers. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302505/original/file-20191119-111650-phtkl8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Scientists measure greenhouse gas emissions and sample groundwater in an oil palm plantation in Sarawak, Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Denis Murphy</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>So boycotting palm oil <a href="https://theconversation.com/palm-oil-boycott-could-actually-increase-deforestation-sustainable-products-are-the-solution-106733">could actually increase deforestation</a>, since alternative tropical oil crops <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/giving-up-palm-oil-might-actually-be-bad-environment-180958092/">tend to use much more land</a>. A better approach is to ensure that all the palm oil used in food and other products has been obtained from a “<a href="https://rspo.org/about">sustainable</a>” source, and not from recently logged forests. </p>
<p>That’s why it’s important to base our decisions on sound scientific evidence. Oil palm will continue to be a vital crop for many developing countries in the future. Using former pastureland to grow the crop could ensure the product’s development isn’t at the expense of vulnerable ecosystems. Given how bad <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180531143008.htm">red meat production</a> is for the planet, a switch from cattle pasture to oil palm plantation in the tropics could well be a marked improvement.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1127312">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis J Murphy receives funding from the European Union and Welsh Government for research on traceability and sustainability in oil palm supply chains. He also advises the main Malaysian government research institution, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, on breeding and sustainability issues.</span></em></p>Instead of boycotting palm oil, source it from pastureland and not recently logged forests.Denis J Murphy, Professor of Biotechnology, Head of Genomics & Computational Biology Research, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181032019-05-31T15:58:32Z2019-05-31T15:58:32ZScientists race to save the Sumatran rhino as last male in Malaysia dies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277411/original/file-20190531-69059-1mjldmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C933%2C672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rosa in the Sumatran Rhino (_Dicerorhinus sumatrensis_) Sanctuary, Way Kambas, Sumatra, Indonesia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatran_rhinoceros#/media/File:Sumatran_Rhinoceros_Way_Kambas_2008.jpg">Willem v Strien/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rhino die every day, so why is the world mourning the loss of Tam? Tam was the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/last-sumatran-rhino-malaysia-dies/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=twitter::cmp=editorial::add=tw20190527animals-lastmalesumatranrhino::rid=&sf213370109=1">last male Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia</a> and was thought to have died of old age in his thirties – elderly for a Sumatran rhino. He was taken from the wild in 2008 to a sanctuary in Malaysian Borneo. His health had been deteriorating since April 2019 and he finally succumbed in May. He is survived by a single female, Iman, who cannot reproduce due to a ruptured tumour in her uterus.</p>
<p>The news isn’t good, but an estimated 80 individuals survive in the wilds of Indonesia – not a great number, but <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/javan-rhino">marginally better than the Javan rhino</a> which <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/javan-rhino">may be as few as 58</a>. By comparison, the African white rhino, which draws a great deal of concern, is <a href="https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/population-figures/">thought to number 20,000</a>. But populations of the Sumatran rhino – the world’s smallest and hairiest rhino – have declined 70% in the past two decades, mainly due to poaching and habitat loss, and are now <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/6553/12787457">classed as critically endangered</a> – the highest possible risk of extinction.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-rhinos-hog-the-limelight-while-their-asian-cousins-head-for-extinction-47336">Africa's rhinos hog the limelight while their Asian cousins head for extinction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The majority of the remaining Sumatran rhino are reckoned to be on Sumatra – the largest island of Indonesia – with a handful likely in the wild in Indonesian Borneo. For such a rare species with a scattered distribution that lives in dense mountain forests, evaluating the population size isn’t easy. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/will-current-conservation-responses-save-the-critically-endangered-sumatran-rhinoceros-dicerorhinus-sumatrensis/E36BC68A94599C82D48D9EB810DFD321">Camera trapping</a> is the main tool for counting this relatively diminutive and shy rhino, but even confidence in the estimate of 80 individuals isn’t high. There may be more but there are likely to be less – possibly <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/worst-case-scenario-there-could-be-only-30-wild-sumatran-rhinos-left/">as few as 30</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277352/original/file-20190531-69055-1hq9bi5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sumatran rhino once roamed across Asia, from south-east India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. It’s believed the wild Malaysian populations are now extinct. There may be a small population in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatran_rhinoceros#cite_note-5">Eric Dinerstein/Wikipedia</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>On Sumatra, populations are thought to be isolated as their habitats have <a href="https://theconversation.com/habitat-loss-doesnt-just-affect-species-it-impacts-networks-of-ecological-relationships-117687">fragmented into smaller pockets due to deforestation</a>. The result is inbreeding and means that genetically these sub-populations have a bleak future. They have been extinct in the wild in Malaysia since 2015. Captive Tam and Iman were already a lost cause at that point. With no possibility of reproduction, the Malaysian population of Sumatran rhino have been functionally extinct for many years.</p>
<p>Low population sizes, few rhinos living close together and the isolation of viable habitats have combined with fatal consequences for the Sumatran rhino. If females don’t regularly mate, they have a tendency to develop uterine cysts and growths. It was this that left Iman infertile. This is what <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/allee-effects-19699394">conservation biologists refer to as an “Allee effect”</a>: the lower a population becomes, the less successful individuals become at reproducing. Ultimately, this <a href="https://conservationbytes.com/2008/08/25/the-extinction-vortex/">leads to an extinction vortex</a>.</p>
<h2>Captive breeding</h2>
<p>Tam’s death may yet encourage an ambitious plan to save the Sumatran rhino – with <a href="https://savesumatranrhinos.org/">a concerted effort</a> to capture as many of the remaining wild rhino as possible, and breed them in captivity.</p>
<p>A young female called Pahu – whose forest habitat was <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/critically-endangered-sumatran-rhino-moved-to-new-home">literally being removed from under her feet</a> by mining companies – was captured in 2018 and is apparently doing well in captivity. Sadly, there is a risk to this strategy. By removing rhino from their habitat, we further reduce the probability of them breeding successfully in the wild.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277393/original/file-20190531-69063-63bai7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mother, Ratu, with four-month-old Andatu at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatran_rhinoceros#/media/File:Sumatran_rhinoceros_four_days_old.jpg">International Rhino Foundation/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As an ecologist, captive breeding is something that I find hard to celebrate. But it may be the only hope to save a species that, otherwise, appears doomed to slowly dwindle into extinction.</p>
<p>That said, the breeding success of Sumatran rhino in captivity still isn’t assured. There has been some success in US zoos, but from 45 rhino captured since 1984, only <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/will-current-conservation-responses-save-the-critically-endangered-sumatran-rhinoceros-dicerorhinus-sumatrensis/E36BC68A94599C82D48D9EB810DFD321">four calves have been born</a>. Even geopolitics deals this species a bad hand. Malaysia holds Iman and her eggs – the single surviving captive Sumatran rhino on the island of Borneo – and the sperm of recently deceased Tam. But the country must now collaborate with Indonesia, which holds seven rhino in captivity which have <a href="https://www.savetherhino.org/programmes/the-sumatran-rhino-sanctuary/">so far produced two offspring</a>.</p>
<h2>Back from the dead?</h2>
<p>The last throw of the dice may have to involve something akin to resurrection – using <a href="https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/death-malaysia-last-male-sumatran-225539255.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAD_kQRJsSBKlJUSaSDDk68L2KSzq0l1A0Dbppp4c9H8kW_qbQ7CDaTExYtSmeVg5Zc3Z2uWm5YpcSesKj9l-EYvSyA6s96xmis7SowVMaFqL-uNv2WDM_3hdI77V9xD6-RfTEVOatbW4TzCqUn7AbM4Ybk82EOKDOQH6CEzRQYat">stored eggs and sperm from rhino</a>, including Iman and Tam, for artifical insemination or IVF in captive surrogates of the same species. Sumatran rhinos are truly unique – <a href="http://www.pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachy/article/view/464/363">they are the only member of their genus</a>. With no related rhino species, the only surrogate candidate must be another Sumatran rhino. If successful, offspring could potentially come from otherwise lost genes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hybrid-embryos-raise-hope-of-resurrecting-northern-white-rhino-but-whats-the-point-99249">as has been suggested for the African white rhino</a>. </p>
<p>While the science is developing, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/de-extinction-22997">de-extinction</a>” is still an expensive and unlikely long shot that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-northern-white-rhino-should-not-be-brought-back-to-life-94153">raises its own practical and ethical dilemmas</a>. If successful, we could end up farming an ecologically dead species. I want wild animals to be in the wild contributing to the ecosystems within which they evolved – not living in zoos forever.</p>
<p>Both modes of rescue – captive breeding and genetic resurrection – are too little, too late, like firefighters taking action when the damage is already too far gone. The longer that society waits to help a declining species, the greater the delay in addressing the driving forces of endangerment, be they poaching, habitat loss, non-native species, or climate change. And the lower the probability of success, and the greater the cost of the attempt.</p>
<p>So, Tam was just one rhino. He was not the last of his species, or even the last male of his species, but he is one more loss from an already limited population. The lower the population size, the greater the impact of losing another individual. Tam is another alarm bell alerting us to our inability to act quickly enough to remove the threats to species, and ultimately to save life on Earth. Every dead Sumatran rhino is now met with publicity and concern. Rightly so, but we need to start getting the conservation action right early enough for it to work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118103/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Gilchrist does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The world mourns the loss of Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhino. Can anything stop the slide of the species towards extinction?Jason Gilchrist, Ecologist, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1068682018-11-14T16:09:45Z2018-11-14T16:09:45ZIceland advert: conservation is intensely political, let’s not pretend otherwise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245320/original/file-20181113-194513-h7fxao.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C7%2C1451%2C891&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdpspllWI2o">Iceland / youtube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The supermarket chain Iceland has been denied clearance to screen its <a href="https://youtu.be/JdpspllWI2o">Christmas advert</a> on British television. Consisting mainly of Greenpeace’s short “<a href="https://youtu.be/TQQXstNh45g">Rang-tan</a>” animation, the ad highlights Iceland’s commitment to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/10/iceland-to-be-first-uk-supermarket-to-cut-palm-oil-from-own-brand-products">eliminate palm oil</a> from its own-brand products. According to the advertising clearing body, <a href="https://www.clearcast.co.uk/blog/clearcasts-md-responds-to-coverage-of-their-decision-not-to-clear-the-iceland-ad/">Clearcast</a>, it was disallowed not because of its content, but because of its connection with Greenpeace, a “body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature”.</p>
<p>Iceland <a href="https://twitter.com/IcelandFoods/status/1060774234266484737">reacted swiftly</a>, tweeting that its ad had been “banned” from television because it was “<a href="https://twitter.com/IcelandFoods/status/1061204817257918464">seen to be in support of a political issue</a>”. The tweet was picked up by mainstream media such as the Guardian, which ran <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/09/iceland-christmas-tv-ad-banned-political-greenpeace-orangutan">the headline</a>: “Iceland’s Christmas advert banned for being too political.” Furious responses followed, with nearly 100,000 people sharing Iceland’s original tweet and over 650,000 <a href="https://www.change.org/p/release-iceland-s-banned-christmas-advert-on-tv-nopalmoilchristmas">petitioning</a> Clearcast to reverse its decision.</p>
<p>Most of these responses revolve around the (inaccurate but powerful) claim that Iceland’s ad was “banned” for being “political”. How, ask critics, could highlighting the destruction of the rainforest be political? How could saving orangutans be anything but worthwhile? As <a href="https://twitter.com/MaggieMski/status/1061406777131126784">one tweet</a> put it, “since when is outrage about losing such beautiful animals political?”</p>
<p>Such responses portray environmental and conservation causes as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2009.01621.x">above politics</a>: as built on unquestionable, universal truths. As such, they are too important to be used for petty point-scoring. In this view, Iceland’s ad reveals a devastating apolitical reality that the world needs to see and respond to. </p>
<h2>People live in those forests too</h2>
<p>But show the same footage to rural communities on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, where most palm oil is produced, and we may well get a different response. Many would see the ad’s message as entirely political, for several reasons.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245531/original/file-20181114-194519-6pubic.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A village in Malaysian Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Liana Chua</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The forests that the ad exhorts viewers to save are also these people’s homes: places filled with specific histories, social relations, assets and other living beings. But the <a href="http://press.anu.edu.au/?p=123701">relationships</a> that forest dwellers have to these places are not always understood or recognised by the state or conservation bodies. Wildlife protection laws and the expansion of protected areas – often driven by conservation initiatives – <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/Beyond-the-Sacred-Forest/">have complicated</a> the situation. These have turned access to forests and their resources into highly political issues.</p>
<p>Many rural villagers across Indonesia and Malaysia also rely on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2017.1311867?journalCode=fjps20">small-scale cultivation of oil palm</a> (the tree which produces palm oil) for their livelihoods. Some smallholders work for or in partnership with oil palm companies, and others operate independently. While participation in the industry has <a href="https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/infobrief/6842-infobrief.pdf">generated its own problems</a>, it has also generated income and infrastructure in rural areas. Such smallholders will be rightly concerned about the damaging effects of attacks on palm oil on their futures, and their access to necessities like food and medicine.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245533/original/file-20181114-194497-146zvt6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Not so popular with local humans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">jeep2499/Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The Iceland ad is also a classic example of how life is unequally valued across the global political terrain. In certain parts of Borneo and Sumatra, where my team and I are currently conducting <a href="https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Projects/The-global-lives-of-the-orangutan-GLO">research</a>, many forest residents see orangutans as dangerous and not particularly special creatures that can damage their crops and livelihoods. Yet they are acutely aware that many well-meaning foreigners would privilege the well-being of orangutans over their own. Why, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/454159b">they ask</a>, do governments, NGOs and tourists put so much time and money into saving this one animal when people like us are struggling to get by?</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/palm-oil-boycott-could-actually-increase-deforestation-sustainable-products-are-the-solution-106733">Palm oil boycott could actually increase deforestation – sustainable products are the solution</a>
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<h2>‘Humans’ and ‘nature’ cannot be easily separated</h2>
<p>Such concerns reveal a mismatch between Iceland’s conservation message and the experiences of rural people in Borneo and Sumatra. In Greenpeace’s film, humans are either intruders (represented by bulldozers) in the pristine rainforest home of the orangutan, or the “good guys” (represented by the girl) who are going to save them. This vision is built on a historically <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Beyond_Nature_and_Culture.html?id=lGulMQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Western understanding</a> of the world that treats “humans” and “nature” as fundamentally separate. But what it blots out are the people who live in and around the same forests, for whom such a separation is much harder – and by no means apolitical.</p>
<p>The idea that environmental and conservation causes are above politics thus makes sense only from a particular Western perspective – one built around an image of the <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/the-wilderness-fetish-is-bad-for-people-and-for-the-planet">forest-as-wilderness</a> that is not universally shared. The depiction of such causes as apolitical has facilitated their spread across the world, while shielding them from scrutiny and critique. Yet scrutiny and critique can reveal significant problems and oversimplifications in Iceland’s ad.</p>
<p>The “palm oil kills orangutans” narrative, for example, sidesteps the fact that deforestation is only one of several factors driving orangutan extinction. Other <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0027491">key drivers</a> include hunting and poaching, though these won’t be solved by oil palm activism. And as various <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/iceland-advert-banned-christmas">analysts</a> have pointed out, simply boycotting palm oil could <a href="https://theconversation.com/palm-oil-boycott-could-actually-increase-deforestation-sustainable-products-are-the-solution-106733">ultimately backfire</a>. A collapse in global demand would disproportionately affect smallholders, generating further poverty and resentment. It could also encourage the cultivation of other ecologically-damaging crops such as soy or rapeseed, which would <a href="https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2018.11.en">displace rather than reduce</a> forest conversion and biodiversity loss – an unfortunate geopolitical outcome.</p>
<p>None of this mitigates the need to address the problems of environmental destruction and extinction. And it’s no bad thing that Iceland’s ad has helped raise awareness of these issues. But conservation isn’t a black-and-white morality tale, and depicting the advert’s message as apolitical is both misleading and counterproductive. For the sake of both orangutans and the people who share their forests, we need fewer emotive simplifications and more acknowledgement of the complex political realities at stake.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106868/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liana Chua receives funding from the Arcus Foundation and the European Research Council (Starting Grant no. 758494).</span></em></p>Calls to ban palm oil could get a very different response among people who live in the same forests as orangutans.Liana Chua, Reader in Anthropology, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/998282018-08-15T10:21:34Z2018-08-15T10:21:34ZFollowing Alfred Russel Wallace’s footsteps to Borneo, where he penned his pioneering evolution paper<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231955/original/file-20180814-2900-3zpptd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=279%2C171%2C2256%2C1449&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some of the 'remarkable beetles' Wallace collected in Borneo.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Malay_Archipelago_(Fig._4)_(7402224912).jpg">A.R. Wallace</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The chirping of cicadas is deafening, my clothes are sticky and heavy with heat and sweat, my right hand is swollen from ant bites, I am panting, almost passing out from exhaustion – and I have a big grin on my face. At last I’ve reached my goal, Rajah Brooke’s cottage, at the top of Bukit Peninjau, a hill in the middle of Borneo’s jungle.</p>
<p>This is where, in February 1855, naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace wrote his hugely influential <a href="http://www.esp.org/books/wallace/law.pdf">“Sarawak Law” paper</a>. It’s as crucial to Wallace’s own thinking in disentangling the mechanisms of evolution as the Galàpagos Islands famously were to his contemporary, Charles Darwin.</p>
<p>Three years later, in 1858, two papers that would change people’s understanding of humanity’s place in the natural world were read before the Linnean Society of London. Their authors: Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. In another year, Charles Darwin would publish “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/287708/the-origin-of-species-by-charles-darwin/9780451529060/">The Origin of Species</a>,” squarely positioning him as the father of evolution. Whether Darwin or Wallace should justly be credited for the discovery of the mechanisms of evolution has <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lblCP9Ux8_kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=https://books.google.com/books/about/Just_Before_the_Origin.html&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUz9yN0ercAhXrRt8KHVsGADQQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">stirred controversy pretty much ever since</a>.</p>
<p>Comparatively little has been written about Wallace’s seminal work, published four years earlier. In what’s commonly known as his “Sarawak Law” paper, Wallace pondered the unique distribution of related species, which he could explain only by means of gradual changes. This insight would ultimately mature into a fully formed theory of evolution by natural selection – the same theory Charles Darwin had arrived at independently years before, but had not yet published. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-aQaHIoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I am an evolutionary biologist</a> who has always been fascinated by the mechanisms of evolution as well as the history of my own field, and it’s like visiting hallowed ground for me to trace Wallace’s footsteps through the jungle where he puzzled through the mechanics of how evolution works.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="map of southern part of Malay Archipelago" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231904/original/file-20180814-2915-1nz33f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1874 map of the Malay Archipelago, tracing Wallace’s travels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/galleries/galleries-home/treasures/specimens/wallace/">Trustees of the Natural History Museum, 2018</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Forgotten founder of evolutionary theory</h2>
<p>Born on Jan. 8, 1823, <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/7109.html">Alfred Russel Wallace</a>, originally a land surveyor from a modest background, was a naturalist at heart and an adventurer. He left England to collect biological specimens in South America to finance his quest: to understand the great laws that shape life. But on his trip back home, the ship caught fire and sank, leading to the loss of all the collected specimens and a near-death experience for Wallace himself.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="black and white photo of a standing man in a hat with one knee on a chair" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1439&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230967/original/file-20180807-142251-18qwoq5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1439&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace taken in Singapore in 1862.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Russel_Wallace_1862_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_15997.png">James Marchant</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To make back the money he’d lost in the shipwreck, he headed to the Malay Archipelago, a region to which few Europeans had ever ventured. Wallace spent time in Singapore, Indonesia, Borneo and the Moluccas.</p>
<p>There he wrote a succinct yet brilliant paper, which he sent to Charles Darwin. In it, he described how organisms produce more offspring than necessary, and natural selection favors the most fit. The ideas he’d arrived at on his own were revolutionary – and closely mirrored what Darwin had been mulling over himself.</p>
<p>Receiving Wallace’s paper – and realizing that he might be scientifically “scooped” by this unknown naturalist – prompted Darwin to rush his own writings, resulting in the presentation to the Linnean Society in 1858. Wallace’s paper, now known as the “<a href="http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/essays/Wallace_On_the_Tendency_of_Varieties_to_Depart_Indefinitely_from_the_Original_Type.pdf">Ternate paper</a>,” was an elaboration of his thinking, based on an earlier first foray into the realm of evolutionary biology.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="pen and ink drawing of waterfall over rocky tropical landscape" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1114&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1114&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231758/original/file-20180813-2900-xvsfm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1114&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A waterfall in Sarawak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11028322755">Hugh Low, 'Sarawak; its inhabitants and productions; being notes during a residence in that country with the Rajah Brooke.'</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A few years earlier, when in Singapore, Wallace had met <a href="https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9780349116730">James Brooke</a>, a British adventurer who, through incredible circumstances, had become the rajah of Sarawak, a large state on the island of Borneo. James Brooke would create a dynasty of Sarawak rulers, known as the white rajahs.</p>
<p>Upon their encounter, Brooke and Wallace became friends. Wallace fell in love with Sarawak and realized that it was a perfect collecting ground, mostly for insects, but also for the much sought-after orangutans. He stayed in the area a total of 14 months, his longest stay anywhere in the archipelago. Toward the end of his sojourn, Wallace was invited by Brooke to visit his cottage, a place up on the Bukit Peninjau that was pleasantly cool, surrounded by a lush and promising forest.</p>
<p><a href="http://johnbeaufoy.com/the-malay-archipelago/">Wallace described it in his own words</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“This is a very steep pyramidal mountain of crystalline basaltic rock, about a thousand feet high, and covered with luxuriant forest. There are three Dyak villages upon it, and on a little platform near the summit is the rude wooden lodge where the English Rajah was accustomed to go for relaxation and cool fresh air. … The road up the mountain is a succession of ladders on the face of precipices, bamboo bridges over gullies and chasms, and slippery paths over rocks and tree-trunks and huge boulders as big as houses.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The jungle surrounding the cottage was full of collecting possibilities – it was particularly good for moths. Wallace would sit in the cottage’s main room with the lights on at night, working, sometimes furiously fast, at pinning hundreds of specimens. In just three evening sessions, Wallace would write his “Sarawak Law” paper in this remote setting.</p>
<p>Whether consciously or not, Wallace was laying the foundation for understanding the processes of evolution. Working things through in this out-of-the-way cottage, he started to synthesize a new evolutionary theory that he’d fully develop in his Ternate paper.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="green and black butterfly rests on foliage" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231727/original/file-20180813-2897-1is3m41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The birdwing butterfly <em>Trogonoptera brookiana</em> was named by Wallace for Sir James Brooke, the rajah of Sarawak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/meilyn/162255436">Lyn</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Following in Wallace’s Sarawak footsteps</h2>
<p>I’ve been teaching evolution to college students for over two decades and have always been fascinated by the story of the “Sarawak Law” paper. On a recent trip to Borneo, I decided to try to retrace Wallace’s steps up to the cottage to see for myself where this pioneering paper was written.</p>
<p>Tracking down information about the exact location of Bukit Peninjau turned out to be a challenge in itself, but after a few mistakes and contradictory directions obtained from local villagers, my 16-year-old son Alessio and I found the trailhead.</p>
<p>The moment we started, it was obvious we had ventured off the beaten path. The trail is narrow, steep, slippery and at times barely recognizable as a path. The very steep incline, combined with the heat and humidity, make it difficult to negotiate.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1060&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1060&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231715/original/file-20180813-2906-1gzaxsn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1060&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author with an <em>Amorphophallus</em> flower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alessio Bernardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While much has disappeared since Wallace’s time, a huge diversity of life forms is still visible. In the thick of the jungle along the lower part of the trail, we spotted several stands of the tallest flower in the world, the aptly named <em>Amorphophallus</em>. Hundreds of butterflies were everywhere, along with other peculiar arthropods, including giant ants and giant pill millipedes.</p>
<p>In some stretches, the trail is so steep that we had to rely on the knotted ropes that have been installed to help with the climb. Apparently red ants love those ropes as well – and our grasping hands just as much.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="man stands in a clearing of brown grasses amid jungle trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231709/original/file-20180813-2918-1qfdkfp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author on the former site of the Brooke cottage. Locals sprayed the area with weed killer to reclaim the clearing from the jungle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alessio Bernardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eventually, after about an hour and a half of climbing and struggling, we reached a somewhat flat portion of the trail, not more than 30 feet (9 meters) long. On the right, a small path led up to a clearing, the former site of the cottage. It’s hard not to imagine Alfred Russel Wallace, thousands of miles from home, in complete scientific isolation, pondering the meaning of biological diversity. I was at a loss for words, though my teenage son was puzzled by the emotional meaning of the moment for me.</p>
<p>I walked around the cleared space where the cottage used to be, imagining the rooms, the jars, the nets, the moths and the notebooks. It’s an incredible feeling to share that space.</p>
<p>We walked down a slope to the huge overhanging rock where Brooke and Wallace found “refreshing baths and delicious drinking water.” The pools are gone now, filled in with natural debris, but the cave is still a welcome shelter from the sun.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="man stands beneath a big rock overhang" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231714/original/file-20180813-2924-f3xxw0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author in the spot where Wallace described ‘a cool spring under an overhanging rock just below the cottage.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alessio Bernardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We decided to climb to the top of the hill. Thirty minutes and buckets of sweat later, we arrived at a viewpoint where we could take in a view of the entire valley, unobstructed by the jungle. We saw oil palm farms, houses and roads. But my focus was on the river in the distance, used by Wallace to reach this place. I imagined what the primary forest, full of orangutans, birdwing butterflies and hornbills, must have looked like 160 years ago.</p>
<p>In the midst of this gorgeous but very harsh environment, Wallace was able to keep a clear head, think deeply about what it all meant, put it down on paper and send it to the most prominent biologist of the time, Charles Darwin.</p>
<p>Like many other evolution aficionados, I’ve visited the Galàpagos Islands and retraced Darwin’s footsteps. But it’s in this remote jungle, far from anyone and anything – perhaps because of the physical difficulties of reaching Rajah Brooke’s cottage combined with the raw beauty of the surroundings – that I felt a deeper connection with that long-ago time, when evolution was discovered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giacomo Bernardi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An evolutionary biologist visits the remote jungle mountaintop where a little-known naturalist wrote his insightful paper about the mechanisms of evolution that spurred on a rivalrous Charles Darwin.Giacomo Bernardi, Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa CruzLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945242018-05-11T10:13:54Z2018-05-11T10:13:54ZBorneo’s bearded pig, gardener of forests and protector of their inhabitants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213392/original/file-20180405-189830-3nciwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C60%2C1500%2C1039&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The bearded boar, one of the most emblematic animals of the Malay archipelago. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sus_barbatus#/media/File:Bartschwein_Sus_barbatus_Tierpark_Hellabrunn-6.jpg">Rufus46/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Borneo – fourth-largest island in the world, home to more than 20 million people – has always aroused the fascination of explorers. The island is dense with forests, waterways and soaring mountains, and its indigenous population have a deep <a href="https://kyotoreview.org/issue-8-9/book-review-histories-of-the-borneo-environment-economic-political-and-social-dimensions-of-change-and-continuity/">relationship with the forest</a>.</p>
<h2>A fragile landscape</h2>
<p>The 743,330km<sup>2</sup> island is home to the largest area of forest in Asia. But Borneo is one of the world’s <a href="http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/factsheet/6552-factsheet.pdf">most intensively deforested regions</a>. At the beginning of the 1970s, its forest area was around 56 million hectares. In 45 years <a href="https://www.cifor.org/map/atlas">20 million of that has been cut down</a>.
Intensive logging, open-pit mining, rapid expansion of agro-industrial plantations – <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-sustainable-palm-oil-supporting-small-producers-and-framing-large-plantings-75653">oil palms</a> in particular – and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/100236/full">hazardous peatland development</a> all endanger Borneo’s forests.</p>
<p>The migration of the rural poor from the overpopulated islands of Madura, Java and Bali is constitute another threat over the forest. Used to a land-intensive style of farming, they clear the forest to grow crops. At times they come into <a href="https://www.economist.com/node/579245">conflict with the native populations</a>, which can turn violent.</p>
<p>Large wildfires, sparked by droughts caused by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/el-nino-quest-ce-que-cest-47645">El Niño phenomenon</a>, further destroy the forest.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163676/original/image-20170403-21983-17w58gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forest clear-cutting prior to the creation of a palm-oil plantation. Borneo (Indonesia), 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork/5551932646/in/photolist-aUztZt-ciAr9w-aUzhCx-wHxF6-aKXzjc-h5cUmf-bGwhVr-8ZrAPp-h5d9yw-9sy7fD-DPGUwp-EeXyfF-Saqsaz-Qfgn3p-r3zf3w-4cWR7b-btBwAb-rnD71V-xs4es2-aUzsSa-aUzuYg-h5cZR3-9sB79E-8ZrBv2-btBA7G-aUzhtg-9sy6Q4-rpvBQa-rnD4PR-aUzre6-rDES95-aKXCi8-dx3rwe-8ZuFoE-dTkQS4-aKXxvv-huMKXP-6MAHTu-rFXrHK-majujk-aKXAXX-6MAR4J-9D1gCd-6rGWnq-aKXzKc-CnAAsw-Dqsjdf-qJXSHy-rDEYJj-qKaSj2">Rainforest Action Network/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Orangutan, clouded leopard and … the bearded pig</h2>
<p>Borneo is rich in its biodiversity and home to many <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35002501">unique species</a>. Its unique plants include carnivorous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepenthes">nepenthes</a> as well as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafflesia_arnoldii"><em>Rafflesia arnoldii</em></a>, which produces the largest flower in the world with the smell of rotting flesh. Animals such as the orangutan, Borneo pygmy elephant, clouded leopard, long-nosed monkey and tufted ground squirrel call it home.</p>
<p>One species that is rarely mentioned is the bearded pig, <em>Sus barbatus</em>, despite it being the most <a href="https://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/images/stories/DPTInteraction/Interactions-bioculturelles/chercheurs/edmond_dounias/Dounias_symbolisme2007_sanglier.pdf">emblematic animal of the island</a>. This wild boar owes its name to an abundant tuft of upward- and forward-pointing bristles covering its cheeks and lower jaw. There are two subspecies: <em>S. barbatus oi</em>, present only in Sumatra, and <em>S. barbatus barbatus</em>, present on the Malay Peninsula and Borneo.</p>
<p>The bearded pig is a tireless migrator, either alone or in large herds. It often travels hundreds of kilometres to obtain its preferred foods. In doing so, it plays a crucial role as the gardener of the forests of Borneo.</p>
<h2>Tireless gardener of Dipterocarpaceae</h2>
<p>To understand this function of the wild boar, it is necessary to evoke the singular feature of Borneo’s forest: the predominance of a family of trees, the Dipterocarpaceae. These tall evergreens, mainly located in low-altitude forests, are <a href="http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/Dipterocarps.pdf">easily recognisable</a> by their “crown shyness” – the crowns of mature trees do not touch each other.</p>
<p>Most of the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/07/80-of-rainforests-in-malaysian-borneo-logged/">wood species exploited</a> by the forest industry come from this family alone, thus increasing the sensitivity of the Borneo forest to unsustainable logging.</p>
<p>At irregular intervals of 2-15 years, a unique phenomenon occurs: all the Dipterocarpaceae species – as well as several species of Fagaceae associated with them and which produce lipid-rich acorns – dispense their fruits all at once within a short period, which does not exceed a few weeks.</p>
<p>Sometimes up to 90% of similar trees in one portion of the forest will bear fruit at the same time. From an evolutionary biology point of view, such <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_(botany)">mast fruiting</a>, concentrated in space and time, aims to overwhelm potential predators, a strategy renown as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_satiation">“predator satiation”</a>.</p>
<p>Because the phenomenon occurs in a staggered manner within the forest mosaic, animals that seek these nutritious fruits – first and foremost the bearded pig – must migrate from one fruiting zone to the next. In so doing, they perform an essential function for the dipterocarp trees, dispersing their seeds over vast distances.</p>
<p>A tireless forager, the bearded pig also reshapes the soil surface and accelerates the decomposition of organic matter. It browses and cleans the undergrowth, improving the access of tree roots to soil nutrients.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212833/original/file-20180402-189824-1b8da3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dipterocarpaceae forest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edmond Dounias/IRD</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A mediator with the spirit world</h2>
<p>As it evolved, the bearded pig has adapted to the unpredictable pattern of dipterocarp mast fruiting.</p>
<p>It is omnivorous and can live off alternative food sources when dipterocarp trees aren’t producing fruit, periods that can last several years.</p>
<p>When abundant food is available, the boar’s efficient metabolism allows it to stock fat that will help it survive during the lean times.</p>
<p>Its physical attributes also reinforce its ability to survive: it’s highly fertile, reproduces early and can live in either small or large groups. Its long legs are adapted to extensive migrations through dense forests, and it’s an adept swimmer, too. All the better to maximise access to coveted resources.</p>
<p>The bearded pig is also the favourite game of the peoples of Borneo: it represents <a href="http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/research/livelihood/forest_health/pdf10.pdf">97% of the bushmeat volume</a> consumed by the Punan hunter-gatherers.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212834/original/file-20180402-189824-1gar86o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bearded boar hunting, a millennial practice in Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charles Hose</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hunting of wild boar, a practice attested to go back more than 35,000 years, justifies the prominent position of this animal in the culture of Borneo dwellers. They attribute to it a symbolic role as mediator between men and the spirits that regulate access to forest resources.</p>
<p>The rarefaction of the wild boar or the discovery of dead individuals in the forest are thus all bad omens. The Punan interpret these as expressions of the wrath of supernatural forces against them, signalling a need to restore harmony through frugal behaviour and the intervention of a shaman.</p>
<p>Through its interactions with other forest wildlife – birds, monkeys, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_muntjac">barking deer</a> – the bearded boar reveals the relationship that the peoples of Borneo have with their forests, their concern for a sane cohabitation with all the living creatures of the forest and a reasonable use of its resources. For the inhabitants of Borneo, this mammal is much more than just game.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XCktNumO8kY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Wild boar hunting by the Punan (2000).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ecological and cultural keystone</h2>
<p>Although its omnivorous diet and adaptability allow it to survive in even the most degraded environments and keep it away from the verge of extinction, the bearded pig is nevertheless classified as <a href="http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=41772">vulnerable on the IUCN Red List</a>. This is an undeniable indicator of the severe degradation of the forests of Borneo.</p>
<p>More efficiently than the most eminent ecologists, wild-boar hunters are in the front line of detecting the slightest behavioural change in their most charismatic resource. Sentinels of their environment, they can be incomparable partners for the international scientific community in monitoring and understanding the various drivers of change, including <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073008">climate change</a>, that affect their forests.</p>
<p>An ecological and cultural keystone species, the bearded pig is a strange mammal that nonetheless bears witness to the fact that no sustainable preservation of forests is conceivable without the decisive contribution of indigenous knowledge, and without recognition of the indigenous peoples’ specific vision of the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edmond Dounias receives funding from FAO. He is associate to the Center for International Forestry Research. He is affiliated with non-profit scientific societies: the Society of Anthropology of Paris, the International Society of Ethnobiology, the French Society of Human Ecology, and the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition</span></em></p>The bearded boar is rarely honoured, yet its role in the forest of this island in the Malay archipelago is as crucial as it is emblematic.Edmond Dounias, Directeur de recherche, interactions bioculturelles, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/904762018-03-07T10:32:59Z2018-03-07T10:32:59ZHow the Banjar people of Borneo became ancestors of the Malagasy and Comorian people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207950/original/file-20180226-140204-1o7x66f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It has been called "the single most astonishing fact of human geography" – East African islands the Comoros and Madagascar have both African and Asian influences.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the dawn of the second millennium, before the Europeans came to East Africa, the Banjar people from southeast Borneo sailed 7,000 kilometres across the Indian Ocean and colonised the Comoros and Madagascar. </p>
<p>They joined voyages led by Buddhist-Hindu Malay kingdoms, such as Srivijaya (sixth to 13th centuries). The Malay traded with far-distant regions, notably across East Asia and reaching as far as East Africa. They had set up trading posts in southeast Borneo and mixed with the indigenous Ma'anyan, from whom the Banjar are descended.</p>
<p>The Malay trading networks during the first millennium triggered one of the earliest protoglobalisation processes, bringing Southeast Asian populations to East Africa. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209035/original/file-20180306-146666-arp68i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>‘Astonishing fact of human geography’</h2>
<p>The geographer Jared Diamond has called it “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=XLo9DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT335&lpg=PT335&dq=%E2%80%9Cthe+single+most+astonishing+fact+of+human+geography%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=0xaU-q0Iec&sig=xJyFQNwsNTNzMr9YbFZP5vCvw4I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwje2a74wszZAhUEn5QKHXhPBQYQ6AEITzAH#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Cthe%20single%20most%20astonishing%20fact%20of%20human%20geography%E2%80%9D&f=false">the single most astonishing fact of human geography</a>” – that East African islands the Comoros and Madagascar have both African and Asian influences. </p>
<p>Scientists have long debated the origin of the African-Asian ancestry of the Malagasy people. Previous efforts to locate the Asian origin of Malagasy highlighted Borneo broadly as a potential source. But no firm source populations were identified. </p>
<p>Our four-year <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989113/">international research collaboration</a>, including Professor Herawati Sudoyo’s team at Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, identified the Banjar people as the Asian source of this outstanding migration. </p>
<p>We analysed the genomes from 3,000 individuals from 190 regional populations from around the Indian Ocean. These included 30 populations from Indonesia, Madagascar and the Comoros. </p>
<p>Our research is the first to reconcile data and hypotheses coming from linguistic, archaeological and genetic research into the settlement of the Comoros and Madagascar. </p>
<h2>Language, culture and genes</h2>
<p>Linguists have long found that, astoundingly, despite the island being close to Africa, the vocabulary of the <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1102.2180.pdf">Malagasy language</a> largely originated from one that was spoken along the Barito River valley of southeast Borneo. </p>
<p>Some 90% of Malagasy vocabulary is from the language of the Ma'anyan, an indigenous group of roughly 70,000 people who live in remote inland areas of southeastern Borneo. Less than 10% of the vocabulary of the Malagasy language is from African languages (mainly Sabaki, a branch of Bantu). </p>
<p>Archaeologists have also found <a href="http://www.rogerblench.info/Archaeology/Indian%20Ocean/Austronesians%20in%20East%20Africa%20offprint.pdf">cultural evidence</a> — including ironworking techniques, outrigger boats, musical instruments such as the xylophone, and the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4914162/">cultivation of rice, bananas, yams and taro</a> (a “tropical food kit”) — that supports a strong Southeast Asian connection. </p>
<p>Genetic studies, too, have generally confirmed the dual ancestry of the Malagasy and Comorian populations. </p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>Using cutting-edge statistical approaches, we determined that the Banjar and the East African people (Swahilis community) interbred first in the Comoros archipelago around the eighth century and later in Madagascar around the 11th century.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the dynamic of admixture strongly differs in the two territories. Banjar ancestry ranges from 37% to 64% in Madagascar but is only 20% in the Comoros. This is probably because of major Swahili settlement in the Comoros prior to Austronesian arrival.</p>
<p>We determined and dated the gene flow (migration) over the last 2,000 years between 190 populations around the Indian Ocean. Our research shows that human migration is correlated to the volume of trade (estimated from historical records). </p>
<p>Over the last 2,000 years, the volume of trade along coastal areas of the Indian Ocean oscillated, with peaks and falls. Scientists have identified four phases of trade in the Indian Ocean trading network. </p>
<p>The first phase began with the expansion of the Silk Road trading route (first to fifth centuries), which transported goods and ideas between China, Eurasia and South Asia. The second phase followed in the sixth to tenth centuries with the spread of Islam and Arab merchants. The third phase came with the rise of maritime routes beginning in the 11th century through to the 15th century. The fourth phase came with the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, which drastically restructured the trade network to the present day. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208496/original/file-20180301-152569-17wc7ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A relief on the Borobudur Temple in central Java, depicting an eighth-century wooden outrigger boat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2097218">Wikimedia Commons/Michael J. Lowe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The mixing between the Banjar and the East African people in the Comoros happened during the peak of the second phase. And the mixing between Banjar and East African people to Madagascar happened during the following centuries. This Asian settlement of Madagascar and Comoros islands represents the most distant migration observed through our research. </p>
<p>Through our research we built a robust scenario showing that the flows of goods and ideas were linked to the movements of the people who brought them. In short, trade exchanges drive human contact and admixture between populations.</p>
<p>The Indian Ocean trade network therefore provides an early example of globalisation, establishing connections between human trade and mobility that are still apparent around the world today.</p>
<h2>A puzzle</h2>
<p>Our research has settled the debate on the African-Asian ancestry of Madagascar and the Comoros. We now know that Asians came to the Comoros archipelago first in the eighth century and then Madagascar in the 11th century. </p>
<p>What’s still a puzzle for us is the exact maritime route(s) from Borneo to these East African islands. It’s another part of the astonishing facts of human geography to be uncovered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90476/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>François-Xavier Ricaut received grants from the French Ministry of Research, the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, French Archaeological Mission in Borneo (MAFBO), and the French Embassy in Indonesia through its Cultural and Cooperation Services.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicolas Brucato received fundings from the French ministry of research (ANR) and the French Embassy in Indonesia through its Cultural and Cooperation Services.</span></em></p>This research reconciled data and hypotheses from linguistic, archeological and genetic research on the settlement of the Comoros and Madagascar.François-Xavier Ricaut, Researcher in Anthropobiology, Université de Toulouse III – Paul SabatierNicolas Brucato, Postdoctoral researcher in genetics and epigenetics of human populations, Université de Toulouse III – Paul SabatierLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/919442018-02-15T17:34:56Z2018-02-15T17:34:56ZWe surveyed Borneo’s orangutans and found 100,000 had ‘disappeared’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206573/original/file-20180215-131038-12etyu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gudkov Andrey / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“The Big House”, home to the University of Michigan’s American football team, is one of the world’s largest stadiums. Here’s what it looks like when packed to the brim with more than 100,000 rowdy spectators:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206569/original/file-20180215-130997-16q9p42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You could fit every orangutan in here.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_Stadium_2011.jpg">AndrewHorne</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now, imagine replacing those people with Bornean orangutans. It’s a funny sight, isn’t it? Thousands of red-haired apes jostling in the stands. Well, scientists just learned that at least 100,000 of these orangutans have disappeared over the past 16 years. And the worst part of this story is that all the remaining orangutans on the vast island of Borneo would only just about fill The Big House again one more time.</p>
<p>This finding is the result of our new study, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.053">Current Biology</a>, in which we investigated what has happened to orangutans in Borneo, the Southeast Asian island where most of them live. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206567/original/file-20180215-131038-dhyywz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orangutans population map: most live on Borneo, which is divided between Malaysia (in the north) and Indonesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.orangutan.org.uk/about-orangutans/habitat">Orangutan Foundation</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We first gathered 16 years of survey data, collected both from researchers on the ground and from “aerial surveys” which used helicopters to identify orangutan nests high in the canopy. We then combined this with satellite images which indicated how the landscape has changed. </p>
<p>Our results show that the declines were steepest in areas that were deforested or transformed for industrial agriculture (often oil palm or paper pulp plantations), as orangutans struggle to live outside the forest. </p>
<h2>Killing is at least as big a problem as deforestation</h2>
<p>Worryingly, however, the largest number of orangutans were lost from areas where the forest remained intact or where only the tallest trees had been <a href="https://forestsnews.cifor.org/22924/how-selective-logging-could-help-protect-indonesias-forests?fnl=en">selectively logged</a>. Here the species is in decline because it is hunted, just like any other edible animal on Borneo. </p>
<p>One analysis, based on interviews with 5,000 local people, found that few hunters would go out <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0075373">specifically to target an orangutan</a>, and locals generally prefer deer and pigs. However, when an orangutan is encountered at the end of a long hunting day, a big orange primate sitting in a tree is a sitting duck or, more accurately, a sitting ape. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"960815359082115073"}"></div></p>
<p>Orangutans are also increasingly killed when their forest habitat is cut down and they are pushed into people’s gardens and <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/02/orangutan-shot-17-times-decapitated-two-men-claim-self-defence-7281060/">into plantations</a>. People who encounter them there are scared or angry and resort to killing them.</p>
<p>Orangutans are very slow breeders. Previous research has indicated that a population will probably go extinct even if only <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199213276.001.0001/acprof-9780199213276-chapter-22">one reproductive female per 100 adults</a> is removed per year. But killing rates have been identified as being as much as <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0027491">three to four times higher</a> than this, which would explain the immense losses seen within Borneo’s forests. </p>
<h2>All is not lost</h2>
<p>There is a positive twist to the story: there are actually more orangutans than we had previously thought. Some populations, in parts of Malaysian Borneo and larger national parks in Indonesian Borneo, even <a href="http://www.greeners.co/berita/report-reveals-71820-orangutans-left-in-the-islands-of-sumatra-and-kalimantan/">appear to be relatively stable</a> and make it seem unlikely that the species will go extinct just yet. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206574/original/file-20180215-131029-rjt9ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recent research found orangutans spent more time on the ground than we had realised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katesalin Pagkaihang / Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And the more we learn about orangutans, the more we find that they are a resilient species that can adapt to new challenges. For example, our colleague <a href="http://www.hutan.org.my/about/">Marc Ancrenaz</a> has discovered that orangutans can cover large distances by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep04024">walking on the ground</a>, and that they <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/of-pongo-palms-and-perceptions-a-multidisciplinary-assessment-of-bornean-orang-utans-pongo-pygmaeus-in-an-oil-palm-context/EAB43948746DC794FC573596E5036135">adapt their diet</a> to new resources such as acacia or oil palm. If they are not hunted, these abilities may allow them to survive in the fragmented landscapes that now make up most of Borneo.</p>
<h2>Prevention is more important than rescue</h2>
<p>People working on the ground know that the orangutan can be saved. It requires persistence, good collaboration with governments, strong support from local people, and help from companies that manage the land. Once forests are maintained and protected, and killing is stopped, orangutan populations can be stabilised. It might even allow them to slowly bounce back and recolonise forest areas where orangutans have disappeared in the past.</p>
<p>We need to think outside of the box. For instance, a lot of effort and funding goes towards rescuing individual orangutans, who are then moved to a safer place where they can be rehabilitated. But while this may help individuals in desperate situations, it is a very expensive and ineffective way to deal with the overall conservation problem. To put things into perspective, we lost more than 100,000 orangutans in the past 16 years and saved perhaps 1,000 through rescues, translocations and rehabilitation in the same period. </p>
<p>If we really want to stop the decline, we must both protect forests and stop the killing within them. As most orangutans live outside protected areas, we need to get the communities and companies who manage their habitats on board. Here, there are many possibilities. For example, one oil palm plantation is now <a href="http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=207&doi=10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15">protecting 150 orangutans</a> within its concession, showing that oil palm is not inevitably linked to the complete destruction of primate habitat. </p>
<p>On a larger scale, the Malaysian state of <a href="https://www.borneotoday.net/sabah-ready-to-trail-blaze-the-world-on-certified-sustainable-palm-oil/">Sabah</a> and the Indonesian province of <a href="https://www.rspo.org/news-and-events/news/rspocertified-palm-oil-could-become-the-norm-in-sabah-kalimantan">Central Kalimantan</a>, both in Borneo, intend to certify their entire production of palm oil as sustainable by the year 2025, which includes a zero-killing policy. At the same time, both countries are developing new long-term action plans for orangutan conservation. </p>
<p>We urge the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia to include firm strategies to stop the killing of orangutans. Because if we do not learn from past failures that stadium will eventually be empty, forever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91944/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erik Meijaard works for Borneo Futures. He has received funding from the Arcus Foundation to conduct this research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Voigt and Serge Wich do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To save the orangutans we must both protect their forests and stop any hunting and killing within them.Maria Voigt, Doctoral Researcher, Sustainability and Complexity in Ape Habitat, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchErik Meijaard, Adjunct professor, Australian National UniversitySerge Wich, Professor of Primate Biology, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/889552017-12-26T19:55:38Z2017-12-26T19:55:38ZThat time when science came with me on a tropical holiday<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200047/original/file-20171219-4980-5d0qjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hanging out in Borneo. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-baby-child-orangutans-sabah-malaysian-102696650?src=ehzWR3HYthFCwpguVsALow-1-35">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Curiosity and awe dwell deep in the heart of most scientists. They are central to the motivation behind scientific thinking, and they have been my faithful and comfortable companions since childhood.</p>
<p>In 2004 my partner and I travelled to the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. At the time I was a postdoc, just a few years out of my PhD. </p>
<p>Sweating it out it in the oppressive tropical heat of Borneo was tough, but worth it for the amazing natural attractions. My time there had an intellectual impact too. It helped crystallise for me the innate nature of scientific thinking, and drew me even closer to one of my great scientific influences: David Attenborough.</p>
<p>It was a holiday when science came along for the ride. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-evidence-of-early-humans-in-the-jungles-of-borneo-87336">We found evidence of early humans in the jungles of Borneo</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Unfamiliar and mysterious</h2>
<p>There’s something special about travel – it somehow reinforces that innate scientific drive to understand the world around us. What is it about being in unfamiliar and exotic environments that sharpens the senses, heightens the instinct to want to know how the world works? Maybe that’s why scientific thinking seems to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/337/6102/1623.long">come so naturally to children</a>. So much of their daily existence is unfamiliar and mysterious.</p>
<p>Immersion in nature is associated with <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0051474">increased creativity and problem-solving abilities</a>. And experiencing awe - feeling wonder and insignificance at something so vast it is difficult to comprehend - has been linked with <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/understanding-awe/201704/the-emerging-science-awe-and-its-benefits">enhanced critical and creative thinking</a>. Awe has also been shown to make people more <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27612-seeing-awe-inspiring-natural-sights-makes-you-a-better-person/">considerate and generous, endorse more ethical decisions, and report more prosocial values</a>.</p>
<p>I’ve been lucky to experience many amazing natural wonders. The Great Barrier Reef, Hawaiian volcanoes, alpine glaciers, and ancient forests in New Zealand and North America, harbouring some of the <a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/quammen-text">largest</a> and <a href="http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-plants/kauri/">oldest</a> living things on the planet.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-too-cheap-to-visit-the-priceless-great-barrier-reef-83717">Is it too cheap to visit the 'priceless' Great Barrier Reef?</a>
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<h2>Exotic Disneyland</h2>
<p>One place stands out to me as a kind of biological Disneyland: the exotic jungles of Borneo. Home to iconic animals like the orangutan and proboscis monkey, weird and wonderful plants – like the carnivorous <em><a href="https://botany.org/Carnivorous_Plants/Nepenthes.php">Nepenthes</a></em> and the rotten meat-stinking <em><a href="http://www.rafflesiaflower.com/">Rafflesia</a></em> – and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-evidence-of-early-humans-in-the-jungles-of-borneo-87336">rich human history</a> we are only just starting to understand.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199908/original/file-20171219-27607-1vipb1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Nepenthes - or Pitcher Plant - growing on the slopes of Mt Kinabalu. A diverse range of species of these carnivorous plants are found in the different climatic zones on Kinabalu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Saunders</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When it comes to experiencing amazement and wonder, it’s hard to beat the pure thrill of encountering an orangutan in the wild. A long, hot, dusty minibus ride through endless palm plantations, noisy speedboat ride and mad scramble up the slippery banks of a crocodile-infested river brought rich reward: an audience with a giant, solitary male. To sit in quiet mutual contemplation within arms reach of this huge but gentle “person of the forest” was something I will never forget.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-a-new-species-of-orangutan-in-northern-sumatra-86843">How we discovered a new species of orangutan in northern Sumatra</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Orangutans are only found in Borneo and Sumatra, where their lowland forest habitat is being rapidly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/07/bornean-orangutan-declared-critically-endangered-as-forests-shrink">destroyed, degraded and fragmented</a> through illegal logging and burning. One of our closest living relatives was recently declared at “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild” by the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/17975/0">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>. As a result, many young orangutans end up in orphanages like the <a href="https://www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk/about-us/sepilok-orangutan-rehabilitation-centre">Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199911/original/file-20171219-27591-1guzq4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A young orangutan at Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Saunders</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Curiosity and unfenced danger</h2>
<p>Apart from being a great place for humans to see orangutans up close, rehabilitation centres are also helping us understand how curiosity contributes to problem solving. A recent study showed that normally solitary, cautious orangutans become more inquisitive if they spend more time with humans as youngsters. And this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/science/orangutans-intelligence-cognition.html">curiosity increased their cognitive abilities</a>, measured by their ability to open tricky boxes or use tools to access fruit or honey.</p>
<p>The threat to habitat in Borneo is laid bare in the forests along the Kinabatang River, an important corridor for many endangered species. In many places, the forest is reduced to a narrow strip stretching no more than a few hundred metres from the water, hemmed in tightly by palm oil plantations. But even there, it’s possible to see remarkable wildlife up close - sometimes too close.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199913/original/file-20171219-27547-eoaxij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Up close - too close - to a herd of Borneo pygmy elephants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Saunders</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One very enthusiastic guide, upon seeing the unmistakable fresh tracks of elephants crossing the river, had us jumping out of the boat through overhead-high elephant grass and straight into a clearing. The herd of 20 or so elephants quietly grazing there were suddenly infiltrated by some very excited humans. We made a hasty retreat, and it was sadly unsurprising news to hear a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/sydney-vet-gored-to-death-by-pygmy-elephant-20111207-1ojrv.html">young Australian vet was trampled to death</a> by the same herd a couple of years later.</p>
<p>In many ways, travelling in Borneo was reminiscent of childhood holidays in the 1970s and ‘80s. It’s a place of raw enthusiasm and unfenced danger, without safety harnesses or liability waivers. I first came to this realisation while scrambling up the rock faces near the summit of 4095m high <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1012/">Mt Kinabalu</a> in the early morning dark, with lightning cracking in the distance and without safety gear. A visit to the war memorial in Sandakan, where thousands of allied prisoners of war were <a href="https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/stolenyears/ww2/japan/sandakan">marched through the jungle to their deaths</a>, put a darker perspective on danger.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199914/original/file-20171219-27585-1njqul8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The stark moonscape of the tropical alpine zone approaching the 4095 m summit of Mt Kinabalu, with lowland forest in the distance below.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Saunders</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-australian-history-boom-has-busted-but-theres-hope-it-may-boom-again-70527">The Australian history boom has busted, but there's hope it may boom again</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>Life in the tropics</h2>
<p>Even among all this danger and excitement, the tropics dictate a languid daily rhythm. It’s so hot during the day that even the wildlife keeps a low profile – there’s not much else to do but laze in the shade, reading.</p>
<p>David Attenborough’s autobiography “<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/life-on-air-9781849900010">Life On Air</a>” was almost the perfect accompaniment for a trip to Borneo. Not only was Attenborough a huge influence on my life, reading his reflections on many of the same places I was visiting was a real thrill, and gave some unexpected historical context. It was sobering to read how much the place had changed from his time there in the 1950s, making some of his earliest TV documentaries.</p>
<p>I’ve become increasingly aware of a shift in my motivation for visiting unique natural wonders like Borneo or the Great Barrier Reef. The adventure and thrill of seeing so many unique creatures up close will always stand out, and they still invoke awe and curiosity. </p>
<p>But I travelled there in the past with no inkling that they might disappear. Now, these great natural wonders are under extreme threat from land clearing, climate change and other threats. There is added urgency and an overwhelming sense of sadness that I need to take my kids to see them before many are fundamentally changed, or disappear altogether.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darren Saunders is secretary of Science and Technology Australia.</span></em></p>My holiday to Borneo in 2004 was more than just a chance to see incredible wildlife like orangutans and pygmy elephants. It helped crystallise for me the innate nature of scientific thinking.Darren Saunders, Associate professor, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/873362017-12-15T00:21:51Z2017-12-15T00:21:51ZWe found evidence of early humans in the jungles of Borneo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199207/original/file-20171214-27562-12z05o6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digging in Traders Cave in the iconic Niah Caves archaeological complex. Darren Curnoe excavates while Roshan Peiris observes. (Photo: Mhd. S. Sauffi/Darren Curnoe)</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I recently led a team excavating at one of the most iconic archaeological locations in Southeast Asia, Niah Caves in Malaysia. </p>
<p>Over a period of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/">three weeks</a>, we dug through what we believe to be around 20,000 years of human history. We uncovered several human bones, the remains of large mammals (probably deer and wild cattle) and marine oyster shells indicating a period of seafood meals. Stone tools and charred rocks were also unearthed.</p>
<p>It was exciting and a little bit daunting to be digging at Niah Caves, given its place in both the history of archaeology and more broadly of humankind.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yto-sPtBbpc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Daily Dig Diary Day 21: ancient human bones, tools and oyster shells were found at various depths. All diary postings can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-where-did-the-first-person-come-from-85891">Curious Kids: Where did the first person come from?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Famous for head hunters</h2>
<p><a href="https://sarawaktourism.com/attraction/niah-national-park-miri/">Niah Caves National Park</a> is located in the eastern part of Sarawak, a state of Malaysia that hugs the northern coastal strip of the island of Borneo.</p>
<p>Borneo straddles the equator, and is covered mostly by dense tropical rainforest. It’s home to a remarkable variety of wildlife, including the endangered orangutan. </p>
<p>Sarawak also has a rich cultural heritage with almost 40 indigenous linguistic or cultural groups living there. It is an island that was famous until the 1970s for its <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/with-the-headhunters-of-borneo-1568180.html">head hunters</a>.</p>
<p>It’s also the place where <a href="http://wallacefund.info/content/biography-wallace">Alfred Wallace</a>, credited by history as the discoverer of evolution by means of natural selection, developed his ideas during the nineteenth century.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/worlds-scientists-turn-to-asia-and-australia-to-rewrite-human-history-88697">World's scientists turn to Asia and Australia to rewrite human history</a>
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<hr>
<p>Sarawak also has an extraordinary history of human occupation. This stretches back at least <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248406001801?via%3Dihub">46,000 years ago</a>, soon after the earliest modern humans settled the region after they made their long journey out of Africa. </p>
<p>Borneo is the island where these early people began island hopping across Southeast Asia and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory_of_Australia">eventually settling</a> New Guinea and Australia, making it crucial also to understanding ancient human history across the Australasian region.</p>
<h2>Incredible caves</h2>
<p>The massive Niah Caves complex sits within a large limestone hill in the centre of the national park. There are 21 caves in the main cave network with six large entrances or cave mouths. The largest cave is the West Mouth (Lobang Kualar) which is more than 60 metres high in parts. </p>
<p>The chambers of Niah Caves reverberate with the sounds of bats and birds known as swiftlets, which seem to fill almost every nook and cranny they have to offer. The swiftlets make highly sought after bird nests, used for traditional Chinese medicine and to make bird’s nest soup. These nests are collected and traded each day by local Punan men, who scale tens of metres into the highest ceilings of the cave climbing wooden poles without safety harnesses, risking their lives in the process.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SiahDFnYq3c?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Daily Dig Diary Day 16: bamboo structures allow local men to collect birds nests from the caves. All diary postings can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The potential of Niah Caves for informing scientific understanding of human origins was first recognised during the nineteenth century, when Wallace alerted Thomas Henry Huxley – “<a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/thuxley.html">Darwin’s bulldog</a>” – to them. Huxley organised the first European expedition to Niah Caves, led by <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/507692">Alfred Hart Everett</a> in 1878-79, but he returned to England with little to show for his efforts.</p>
<p>The caves had to wait almost 100 years before the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/42927946?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">first archaeological digs</a> were done, led by Tom Harrisson from 1954, and joined soon after by his partner Barbara Harrisson. Their excavations ran for 13 years until 1967, digging in several of the caves in the Niah Caves complex and adjacent areas.</p>
<p>Their largest haul was found in the West Mouth, where in 1958 they unearthed the so-called “<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2016.00075/full">Deep Skull</a>”. This was a partial skull, and accompanying leg bones from an individual today known to be about 35,000 years old. </p>
<p>The Harrissons found a total of 270 sets of human skeletons in the West Mouth, but unlike Deep Skull most of them are from an early farming or Neolithic cemetery, dated between about 2,000 and 4,000 years old.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g1i09bjoTfk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Daily Dig Diary Day 20: cremated bones in a Neolithic cemetery. All diary postings can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cemeteries and coffin boats</h2>
<p>Three other teams of archaeologists have worked at Niah Caves since the Harrisons.</p>
<p>The first was from Malaysia, and dug in the West Mouth in the 1970s – the scientists found an Iron Age cemetery, dating between about <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/1754/">500 and 2,000 years old</a>. </p>
<p>The second group, also from Malaysia, excavated a small area of an adjacent cave called <a href="http://www.trekkingsarawak.com/LocationPages/Niah/NiahPaintedCave.html">Painted Cave</a> and found yet more Iron Age cemeteries. This cave had also been dug earlier by the Harrissons, where they found numerous boat-shaped coffins and described dozens of paintings adorning the walls of the cave.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PbR6wNVZCZA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Daily Dig Diary Day 12: boat coffins in Painted Cave. All diary postings can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The final team was from Cambridge University and focused on reassessing the earlier work of the Harrissons. Among other things they provided a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248406001801?via%3Dihub">detailed framework</a> for determining the age of the archaeological finds of the Harrissons using modern geological techniques.</p>
<p>After six years of planning the project with colleagues at the Sarawak Museum Department, on the twentieth of November 2017 we began the next phase of archaeological research at Niah Caves. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Harrisson’s excavations, and also the year of my fiftieth birthday.</p>
<h2>Traders Cave</h2>
<p>We chose to dig at a site called Traders cave, which sits outside of the Great Cave complex. We had surveyed it numerous times and had always been struck by its potential. </p>
<p>Traders Cave is 190 metres long, about 30 metres wide and up to 15 metres high. The Harrissons dug a small pit at the entrance to it back in 1956 but found nothing of note and gave up, focusing instead on the West Mouth.</p>
<p>My team included people from from Australia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, involving archaeologists, heritage specialists and student volunteers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199136/original/file-20171214-27597-1ehzqh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The team included Australians, Malaysians and Sri Lankans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/">Darren Curnoe</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Across the three weeks, we dug two squares in the middle of the cave, about 20 metres apart. Each one measured one metre by one metre, and we dug each layer in small units or “spits” of five centimetres. </p>
<p>In the first one we dug through two metres of sediment before we stopped, to continue the work next year. In the second square, we reached a depth of 1.8 metres before we hit the limestone floor of the cave and could dig no further.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199218/original/file-20171214-27593-kqrdaf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Darren Curnoe digging Square A in Traders Cave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mhd. S. Sauffi/Darren Curnoe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, what did we find? In the first square, we found several human bones including fragments of skulls and part of a leg bone, across different layers. We also recovered the remains of large mammals, probably deer and wild cattle, and a whole layer of large marine oyster shells that were brought into the cave by people and probably consumed there. A number of stone tools and rocks that seemed to have been burned in fires made in the cave were also unearthed.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/llU77KwNQqI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Daily Dig Diary Day 8: sorting through the findings from one of the pits. All diary postings can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/curnoeanthropologist/..</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second square was not nearly as rich but it did provide us with a collection of stone tools stretching across much of its nearly two metre depth.</p>
<p>At the moment, all of the evidence we have points to us having dug through <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/tags/palaeolithic">Palaeolithic</a> layers. Based on comparisons with the objects found by the Harrissons in the Great Cave complex, we think the Traders Cave deposits are mostly 20,000 years old or more.</p>
<p>Next year we’ll return to dig again for at least two weeks. We plan to focus on the first square, the richest one: we’ll dig until we reach the cave floor, and also open the square up, enlarging it to search for more human and animal bones and stone tools. </p>
<p>A major focus of our work will also be to determine the age of the finds and the sediments at Traders Cave, using as many different techniques as we can so we can be confident of their true age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darren Curnoe receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>From the tropics of Borneo, Darren Curnoe posted a daily diary sharing his team’s dig to explore ancient cemeteries. Through two metres of clay, human bones and tools were discovered.Darren Curnoe, Associate Professor and Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of New South Wales, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/853052017-10-18T10:43:14Z2017-10-18T10:43:14ZGiant lizards are thriving on Borneo’s oil palm plantations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190793/original/file-20171018-32355-1ya9c98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Twining</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Oil palm trees plague the once untouched and wild island of Borneo. Towering rainforests have been chopped down and the land turned into a monotonous monoculture of plantations, the principle source of palm oil. In the Malaysian region of Sabah, in the north of the island, these trees now cover a staggering 20% of the entire state.</p>
<p>The problems caused by palm oil have been well documented. Deforestation has led to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-indonesia-cant-stamp-out-fires-that-have-cast-a-haze-over-south-east-asia-50029">huge fires</a>, massive carbon emissions, and left <a href="https://orangutan.org/rainforest/the-effects-of-palm-oil/">orangutans</a> on the brink of extinction. But what is happening on the plantations themselves? What has large-scale logging and forest conversion done for the ecosystem and its biodiversity? </p>
<h2>Important scavengers</h2>
<p>Scavengers are an important but often overlooked group in understanding how ecosystems function. They provide vital services including the removal of carrion, which is a crucial component in recycling nutrients and preventing disease. And disruption of these groups has possible far-reaching implications. To investigate how scavenger communities were adapting to the new reality of oil palm plantations, I went to Sabah. Colleagues and I designed and made our own baited traps and set them up various different sites along rivers within the <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/">Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems</a> (SAFE) project. Some traps were in virgin jungle, others were in logged forest of varying levels of disturbance and some were among oil palm. </p>
<p>We captured 118 individual animals in all, with the most abundant being the Malay civet and the South-East Asian water monitor, a large lizard. Our bait was also investigated by domestic dogs, collared mongoose, smooth-coated otter, short-tailed mongoose, bearded pigs and sun-bears. Our results were published in <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177143">PLoS One</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author, scavenging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Danny Benasip</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was a consistent trend: the more disturbed the land, the more water monitors we found, while their numbers decreased as we moved away from plantations into untouched forests. In fact, the Malay civet was the only native mammal recorded alongside water monitors in oil palm at all, and even this species preferred higher quality forest sites. </p>
<p>So why would lizards appear to be particularly at home in these plantations?</p>
<p>The South-East Asian water monitor (<em>Varanus salvator macromaculatus</em>) originally evolved in the region’s mangroves and has remained largely unchanged for around 17m years. It’s primarily adapted for life in and around water, with nostrils positioned high on the end of an elongated snout for breathing while submerged, and a long tail that works as the perfect aquatic propulsion system. However, when the monitors are threatened the tail turns into a powerful club with a jagged crest that makes it all the more dangerous.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189591/original/file-20171010-17703-1ed9w9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author, scavenging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Danny Benasip</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among rural populations in Borneo, water monitors have a negative reputation as a scavenger and a pest. But in most of their extensive range they are actually active hunters with eyes adapted for detecting movement, claws for climbing and gripping prey, and an arsenal of 60 backward-facing serrated teeth that evolved to cause maximum laceration and bleeding in their prey.</p>
<h2>Unfussy eaters</h2>
<p>These “dragons” have a phenomenal ability to eat almost anything that can fit inside their stomachs. Their diet includes small invertebrates, crustaceans and amphibians through to larger mammals, birds and their eggs. They’ll even eat other monitors. </p>
<p>As stress sometimes makes water monitors regurgitate their stomach contents, we were able to make some opportunistic observations of their diet. We found some truly mind boggling items, from human refuse such as instant noodle wrappers through to porcupine spines which are so hard and sharp they pierce through human skin with ease and deter almost all other predators. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190594/original/file-20171017-30386-1rw7wwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Malay civets prefer forests to oil palm plantations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joshua Twining</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This unfussy eating is what enables water monitors to survive in the wasteland of oil palm. In the natural forests that surround the plantations, they face competition from mammal scavengers and predators such as sun bears, otters, civets and mongooses. There, water monitors are found only in relatively low numbers and at significantly smaller sizes. </p>
<p>But those mammals struggle to survive in the plantations, where a lack of shade boosts the temperature and lower plant diversity filters up through the food chain. Lizards can handle the heat, of course, and the presence of extra food from human refuse means water monitors appear to thrive there, reaching terrifying sizes and high numbers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189782/original/file-20171011-23247-yiqouz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of many oil palm plantations in Sabah, Malaysia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sharif Putra / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A landscape filled with roaming giant lizards soon becomes a battle arena. Unlike smaller lizards who settle their disputes with a subtle arm waves, tail wags or flapping of their dewlap (neck skin), water monitors use a more archaic means: fighting. They stand on their muscular hind legs, stomach pressed to stomach and wrestle, they rip and claw and bite and tear, until one submits. </p>
<p>This “survival of the toughest” is what drove the males of the species to reach such formidable sizes. But it is also one of the reasons why degraded habitats such as oil palm may be an ecological trap. The easy availability of food from human garbage sites or domestic animals draws in extra male monitors, resulting in a heavily skewed sex ratio. Increased competition for prime spots in the plantations then means they use up lots of energy, and risk serious injury just holding onto their territory and fighting off other males. The increased parasite load that come from living at high densities reduces overall fitness of individuals, and in addition to energetic costs to adults, increased densities of a species that cannibalises juveniles of the same species, greatly deduces the chance of young making it to adulthood. </p>
<p>For now, these giant lizards appear healthy. Of Borneo’s large native scavengers, they are the only species that has successfully adapted to the plantations. But, in the long run, due to the culmination of adverse effects, water monitors may be doomed to the same fate as the bears and other mammals that once inhabited the space now dominated by oil palm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85305/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua P Twining received funding from the Sabah Foundation, Benta Wawasan, the Sabah Forestry Department and the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership. He is affiliated with Queen's University, Belfast (PhD student at the University). </span></em></p>Deforestation has wiped out most other predators, so the lizards have lots of food and little competition.Joshua P Twining, PhD Candidate in Ecology, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.