The Borneo Diaries: Part Two

Reforestation and wildlife

For many of us, listening to people bang on about deforestation and the extinction of animals is boring and monotonous, causing them to zone out. That’s why writing part two of The Borneo Diaries felt like a mammoth challenge.

So, before I bore you to death, I’ll talk about wildlife. When I was in Borneo, I was lucky enough to see animals in their natural habitat and watch monkeys swing through the trees as they screeched at one another just five minutes from where I was sleeping for three nights. Trying to explain the feeling of being so close to such enticing characters in their natural habitat is difficult; it moved me to tears and made my heart pound. When I watched a wild orang-utan swing through the trees, it really hit me hard how brilliant these animals are and why we should care that their homes are being destroyed.

One of the reasons that the rainforest in Borneo is being brutally destroyed is so that palm oil can be planted. Palm oil, by the way, is actually an unnecessary ingredient in far too many products that we can find in our own homes. We drove past a palm oil plantation one day and it was vast. Palm tree after palm tree after palm tree was painful to watch for ten minutes outside of the coach window, especially knowing that before they were planted, trees which were home to many species of bird and monkey stood tall.

I also got the chance to visit Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary where hundreds of orang-utans end up after being orphaned because of hunting or forest fires. Another reason they find themselves in Sepilok is because they are kept as pets once their habitats have been destroyed for a profit that could be gained in another, virtually harmless way. When visiting Sepilok, I was blessed with the opportunity to come face-to-face with an orang-utan (see above) which made me realise how important it is that we look after these animals and make sure they don’t die out. It looked at me with such innocence and intelligence that to stand by and watch harm come to something that shares 96.4% of our DNA – yes, that is my favourite fact – would be wrong in every sense of the word.

There are many things we can do to ensure that these beautiful animals are here for a long time after we die. One of them is volunteering. When I planted trees in the Old Rainforest (one of the most species-rich and diverse places on the planet), it was a wonderful feeling. Knowing that you left the rainforest in a better state than it was when you found it is without comparison. If you can volunteer your time, please do it. However, volunteering isn’t for everyone. In this case, you can donate to charities like WWF or even Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary which rehabilitates the animals and release them back into the wild. Another thing you can do is sign petitions pressuring the Bornean government to create more forest reserves so that orang-utans still have a place to call home.

To read part one of The Borneo Diaries, click here.