A bit about Brunei…

If you’re not interested in hearing my thoughts on Brunei, by all means skip some blogs as I do tend to waffle, but I found it interesting and have learnt a lot, so thought I’d share it if you are!

More than 70% of Brunei’s land area is covered by primary rainforest (that’s a lot!), and the best bit…practically all of it is protected by the Brunei Government (hurrah!!). How refreshing. Apart from fringe areas where building is taking place around the main settlements or lining the main highway, you won’t see deforestation taking place as you will in depressingly most of Malaysia, as they seem to have recognised its value as a long-term resource and biodiversity hotspot, and importantly, not a log-producing machine. In fact much of the rainforest here is still impenetrable and untouched.

So for a tinsy tiny country, how can they afford to do this? Well they rather conveniently sit on top of a massive oil reserve, which sorts out their economy marvellously. (Ironic isn’t it, that by digging up one of the world’s most valuable resources, they are able to protect another one?!) 

My concern is that the rainforest may well be protected while oil is there and oil prices are high, but this places Brunei in a very vulnerable position where it is almost entirely reliant on one income, and currently a fragile one at that. 

There is a lot of talk about the need to diversify their income to shield themselves from fluctuating oil prices, but it is not clear how that is going to happen with such a small area and set of resources available to them. It has been mooted that with one of the only remaining untouched rainforests in the world, they could provide this as a platform for research which I am in favour of as it should give the rainforest value as a rainforest, and therefore ensure its long(er)-term protection. I can also see a market for more eco-tourism if carried out carefully (there is currently some eco-tourism, but it is fairly limited in terms of what you can do, we’re told it currently provides little educational benefits, and it costs a lot of money, therefore out-pricing people like me and Bro). Luckily, the current Sultan appears to be sympathetic to environmental issues (or at least appreciates its value enough as a rainforest, and not as a palm oil plantation) but unfortunately, not everyone will agree, and the Crown Prince (the Sultan’s son and heir), does not appear to have the same appreciation of the environment as his father, so who knows what the future holds for Brunei’s rainforest. And who knows what the current Sultan would do if push came to shove and things got desperate. Something I don’t want to think about.