1StopBrunei

Borneo is being deforested at an unbelievably shocking rate. The Malaysian and Indonesian Governments are both incredibly corrupt, and short-sighted when it comes to what to do with their rainforest, and vast swathes of rainforest is being torn down, and more-often than not replaced by Palm Oil plantations (you’re going to be hearing about this from me a lot, but more on that another time). Brunei, as I’ve said before is not, thank goodness. Yet.

However, as with all places, Brunei has a great many environmental issues that it needs to sort out.

For one poaching. This is a huge problem and I could rant about this for a long time. Two animals which are being poached to an inconceivable degree are pangolins, and slow lorises. Pangolins are a type-of ant-eater who pose no threat to humans, but are poached for their keratin-rich scales and their meat. 4,000 pangolins (5 tonnes worth!) were recently uncovered frozen pit in Malaysia (including a total of 96 animals that were still alive!, 77kg of scales plus 24 bear paws).

Their defence mechanism when under-threat is to curl up in a ball and let their scaly exterior protect them. Whereas this does a sterling job of protecting them from animal teeth, it makes them sitting ducks for poachers who simply pick them up and pop them in a bag. Easy. As a result of these two factors, Pangolins are apparently the most trafficked animals in the world.

Photos taken from the internet (I've never seen one!)

Already at risk, Slow Lorises have recently suffered an accelerated decline after the release of a couple of you tube videos of pet Lorises looking insanely cute, which then went viral. This initiated a wave of people who suddenly wanted one as a pet, and this inevitably fed the poaching market with millions of dollars to catch these tiny creatures. Slow Lorises are the only poisonous primate, so any lorises caught have their teeth ripped out (usually crudely using pliers) to prevent them from biting would-be buyers. This means that many die before even reaching their new owners due to infection. It’s easy to place the blame on the poachers’ heads, but we’re talking about people who often come from a very poor background, and often have many mouths to feed with very few options for a viable income. Poaching is a very lucrative industry, and therefore quite appealing to people in some circumstances, and I don’t know if many of us would turn it down if put in the same position. I am in absolutely no way condoning what they do, I’m just saying there are two sides to everything, and if people who do have money keep paying for it, then poachers will keep poaching. This is a far far wider problem than just in Brunei and is one that needs to be addressed. Education needs to be increased, and we need to look into why these poachers are resorting to such an industry, and provide them with viable alternatives for an income where ever possible.

Another issue we were acutely aware of was the amount of litter everywhere. This is not anything we’ve not seen before, but it is particularly hard to stomach when you know that this pristine forest is on these people’s doorstep, and many of them still have absolutely no qualms about dropping their litter wherever they are. When you walk around the water village you don’t see litter underneath the houses, you see it piled up on the river bank. And here lies one of the issues. If it doesn’t end up on your doorstep, it doesn’t matter, right?!! We saw windows being opened, hands appearing and litter just dropping out. Not my problem any more.

So this is where I introduce 1StopBrunei and their charismatic founder Shavez. We heard about this group on our way to Melbourne in February. I got chatting to a teacher from Brunei in the line for a coffee (for as you know teachers are like magnets, and we do like to talk!), and when I asked if he knew of any active groups in Borneo doing good things for the environment, he told me about 1StopBrunei. This is a group set up in 2012 to raise awareness with the people of Brunei about environmental issues on their doorstep, and to open their eyes to and educate them about the beautiful country around them. Shavez is now only 22 and studying a degree in BSB whilst being unfathomably active at with his organisation. Each week he, his committee members, and anyone else (like us) who want to support or get involved, go on wildlife walks…in the rainforest, on the beach, in the mangroves, around town, in the water village…the aim is to enjoy the environment and spread the word. 1SB also have a monthly beach cleanup, a fortnightly book club and weekly documentary night where anyone is welcome. On top of that Shavez will visit a different school each week to give a talk to the students. It’s sociable, it’s unifying, it’s refreshing…(and let’s be honest, it’s perhaps what more of us would have done at Uni if we lived in a country where alcohol was banned!). Possibly of the most important missions they do is being the eyes and ears of the country and whenever they hear anything about a wild animal who is injured, captured, or for sale, they launch a crusade to rescue it. Sometimes this involves negotiating with someone trying to sell a captured animal so that they will stop them from selling it. Always where possible they will release it back into the wild. 1SB is gaining a voice, and the people of Brunei are starting to listen.

Also not my pictures (I've never seen one of these either!)

These guys are incredible. We were blown away by the amount of work they are doing, and all squeezed on top of their normal lives. 1SB I take my hat off to you!

Want to be a part of it?...Why not like it on facebook and see for yourself! 1StopBrunei