We at HOSCAP Borneo believe that scientific research and community-based conservation go hand-in-hand. As there is little meaning in doing conservation without the backing of scientific research, there is also little meaning in conducting scientific research when there are no tangible conservation benefits on the ground. With the end of field-work in the Sela’an Linau logging concession, HOSCAP Borneo teams up with the Society of Wilderness Sarawak ( 砂拉越荒野保護協會 SOW Sarawak) topave the way for a Nature (Appreciation) School to be established in the village of Long Lellang. SOW Sarawak will spearhead this initiative involving local communities and using the skills learned by HOSCAP Borneo field guides. Visitors to the Nature School will get a chance to experience life in the Kelabit Highlands, go trekking and camping into the mountains of Murud Kecil, visit neighbouring Penan villages, understand the usage of medicinal plants, and much, much more. We thank Coffee Chang and Sandra Wong of SOW Sarawak for their dedication and passion and for taking the initiative without waiting for “somebody else” to do it. We also thank them for allowing us to use their images. And we hope people will put words into actions by supporting this endeavour to find ways of preserving our natural world in the midst of widespread deforestation and habitat destruction. If you are someone who has said “What can I do?”, then this is the time and opportunity for you to do something!

The team arrive in Long Lellang airport by twin otter flight

Mr Chang greeted by old friends at the Long Lellang Airport

Welcome to Long Lellang

Sandra Wong with Bapa and Ibu at Long Lellang

Coffee Chang and John Mathai at Bapa and Ibu’s place in Long Lellang

Bapa and Ibu. HOSCAP Borneo researchers have stayed at their home all through research activities in the Long Lellang site

The kitchen and fire place at Bapa and Ibu’s in Long Lellang.

Coffee session with Coffee Chang and Ibu at Long Lellang

Coffee session with Coffee Chang and Uncle Englai at Long Lellang

Coffee session with Coffee Chang, Uncle Englai and John Mathai at Long Lellang

Uncle Englai

Porridge made with a veggie delicacy of the Kelabit Highlands. Apparently this veggie is dried and sold at RM30 per gram!

Ibu packing take-away rice parcels for us – Kelabit style.

Walking out of Long Lellang and the first thing he sees are coffee shrubs!

On the walk from Long Lellang to Long Main

HOSCAP Borneo main guide Robert Lajo at the Penan village of Long Main

At the Penan village of Long Main

Friendly villagers from Long Main (Uncle Allen Bong and wife) giving us fresh veggies during the walk

Slash and burn field aka temuda on the walk from Long Main to Long Kepang

Rice being grown on a recently-cleared slash and burn field

Penan village of Long Kepang

Lio Ayai’s house at Long Kepang. Lio has been a field guide of HOSCAP Borneo since 2012

Rhoday Gon, Lio’s wife

Penan bracelets made in Long Kepang

View of the forest on a rainy, misty morning

The walk back to Long Lellang from Long Kepang and view of Long Lellang on a rainy, misty morning

Rice fields in Long Lellang on a rainy morning

The village of Long Lellang

Longhouse at Long Lellang. The site of the proposed Nature School to be organized by Coffee Chang, Sandra Wong and 砂拉越荒野保護協會 SOW Sarawak

The ‘ruai’ of the longhouse to be used as a classroom for the Nature School at Long Lellang.

The kitchen of the proposed Nature School at Long Lellang

Another view of the kitchen at the proposed Nature School in the village of Long Lellang.

The back-room of the proposed Nature School at the village in Long Lellang.

The utility section and stairway to the the river. Proposed Nature School at Long Lellang.

Coffee Chang, John Mathai, Sandra Wong, Robert Lajo and Uncle Englai having discussions with local people at Long Lellang about the proposed Nature School and its benefits to local communities in the Sela’an Linau FMU

Time to leave – at the airport in Long Lellang.

HOSCAP Borneo guides and Coffee Chang

Sandra Wong and Lio Ayai, HOSCAP Borneo guide from Long Kepang

On the twin -otter flight back to Miri

Flight from Long Lellang to Miri under the steady hands of Muhammad Syukri Draim

Leaving Long Lellang

Bird’s-eye view of pristine forests over Long Lellang

Flying over the Murud Kecil mountain range

Flying over the Murud Kecil mountain range

Pristine forests await visitors to the Nature School at Long Lellang

Pristine forests over Long Lellang

As we leave the forests behind, signs of man’s activities begin to appear – logging roads scar the land.

As we leave the forests behind, man’s activities begin to appear – plantations in the distance.

Forests scarred by human activities

More scars upon the land

The pride of human enterprise……..

The pride of human enterprise – natural forests raped in the name of progress.

The scars of human enterprise on the land

Plantations as far as the eye can see as we approach human ‘civilization’. According to the authorities, this is also classified as “forest”. Is it really?

Plantations as far as the eye can see as we approach human ‘civilization’. According to the authorities, this is also classified as “forest”. Is it really?

Plantations as far as the eye can see as we approach human ‘civilization’. According to the authorities, this is also classified as “forest”. Is it really?

Back to Miri

Post field-trip discussion at Black Bean Coffee & Tea. Plans for the Nature School at Long Lellang in full swing.

All photos taken and provided for HOSCAP Borneo’s use by Sandra Wong, ©Society of Wilderness Sarawak