Borneo

With Penan-nomads across the jungle of Mulu Nationalpark

Borneo is, after Greenland and New Guinea the third largest island of the world. The territory is divided among three nations: Brunei a small but oil-rich Kingdom on the West coast; Sarawak and Sabah which are states of Malaysia; and Kalimantan which belongs to Indonesia comprises the remaining two-thirds of the island. Our journey into the rain-forest of Borneo began on Sept.10th 1999. We started at Miri, an oil-town in Sarawak, from where we flew half an our in a small aircraft to the Gunung Mulu Nationalpark. For a long time all we saw below us were the pathetic remains of vast areas of forest, plundered by the timber companies that had left a scarred web of red tracks. It was as if the exposed veins of the former forest were still bleeding. Yes, there were trees left, but the impression was more like that of an open park than a forest. Eventually we reached the virgin tropical rain-forest typified by a mosaic formed by thousands of different tree species.We had not yet reached the National Park but were flying over the Kingdom of Brunei that to date has protected its forests quite well. Suddenly the steep mountains of Mulu with their white limestone slopes rose from the flat plain

The Pinnacles in Gunung Mulu Nationalpark formed by limestone erosion

Here we visited some of the world's most impressive caves that are home to several different bat species. At dawn we saw millions of bats leaving Deer Cave. The Park Rangers whom we told about our plan of crossing the reserve, suggested that we hire Penan guides. Although some parts of the park are developed by tourist trails, there are regions which not even the rangers know. In Batu Bungan, a settlement of sedentary Penan, we met Ipa- a nomadic Penan who still roams the mountains and knows the area very well. We were lucky to be able to hire him. An outboard-powered boat took us to the beginning of an almost non-existent trail where we started our trek to Long Seridan. Martin had already brought our inflatable rubber canoe to Bario, a small town near the Indonesian border, so our luggage was a little lighter. Steep slopes bisected by deep ravines alternated with sharp ridges. Often we walked above vertigo-causing abysses. The slippery wet clay caused us to fall on numerous occasions, espesially when descending. Every time one of us lost contact to the man in front of him, he got lost in the thick vegetation and couldn' t manage to find the trail again. So when we realised that one of us was missing Ipa had to go back to find the lost man and show him the way.

On the Penan Trail

After a long tough day we reached a Penan camp where we were welcomed by friendly people.

Penan Camp

This group always lives in the forest. Their staple diet is the starch of the sago palm and meat, which is killed by blowpipe and poisoned arrows. Their main prey is the huge Barded Pig. Besides Ipa, another Penan, Miri, accompanied us from there. The rain-forest with its beauty and sheer impenetrability gave us the feeling of being in real wilderness. But sometimes when we had a view from a ridge onto the slopes outside the reserve, the logging tracks made it clear that the Mulu Park is now only a small island in the sea of raped forests. We had calculated, that we would be able to make about 10 Kilometres a day as the crow flies, but in reality we had big problems in covering even 5 km, as shown by our GPS! On one occasion during a rest Ipa shot at a small bird with his blowpipe but missed. Later, when we had a small shooting contest he showed us that he can handle his weapon very effectively. On a little river he caught more than ten fish with his thrownet in 15 minutes. A nice change to our menu! Finally we arrived at Long Maraan, a Penan village which has existed for only five years. The territory of this community was fully logged out by the timber companies. Sago palms and fruit trees disappeared and little game was left. As a result the local people, who obtained everything from the forest, were forced to abandon their nomadic life-style and are now trying to survive by rice growing. They greatly miss their old way of life. In Sarawak today there are only about 250 Penan still living as nomads in the forest. Their last strongholds are rapidly disappearing because of the ever expanding logging industry.

Penanchild

We were told, that new logging roads were constructed into the area we wanted to cross next. Two years ago there still had been a large unbroken tract of rain-forest. As a result of this the Penan no longer use their old forest trails and so it was necessary to drive a longer distance by car.

The mountain forests through which the tracks were build seemed devoid of humans. Its not population pressure which destroyed the forests here, but simply the chance to make a quick profit. After some hours we came to a place where a landslide blocked the road. Before that we had negoziated several almost impassable stretches, but this was definitely the end of the road. The loggers had finished their work here and so the road is no longer maintained. Luckily it was not far to a trail which Martin knew from his last visit. We followed the Kuban River along cascades of beautiful waterfalls.

When strong rain started in the afternoon, we found shelter in a small hut on the other side of the river. It rained all night and the next morning it would have been impossible to cross the roaring river. We moved on and later walked for some time in the bed of the river which was then only a small creek. The descent on the other side of the mountains was shorter; and suddenly we left the shade of the forest. We found ourselves in green pastures on which water gbuffaloes grazed and lush flooded rice paddies. This was wonderful scenery. Soon after we passed some longhouse villages where friendly locals exchanged handshakes with us. Then we arrived at Bario, the center of the Kelabit Plateau. Before the Second World War only a few whites visited this isolated area, but today there is a daily flight from Miri. This has made the highlands an interesting trekking destination, but they are still not crowded with. In Bario we were lucky to meet Lian Tarrawe in the only hotel which coincidentally belongs his brother. He is a Kelabit, born in Bario; and having worked for 20 years in the oil industry in which he rose to a management position.. He took early retirement to avoid stress. He now accompanies tourists, mainly to stay fit. As we knew that it would be difficult to find an English-speaking guide in Kalimantan we were happy that he was willing to accompany us. We walked on a small trail regularly used by tourist trekkers and which leads to the vicinity of Mt. Murud, Sarawaks highest mountain. After sleeping in Pa Lungan, a small Kelabit village

Pa Lungan

we continued through lush valleys with thick vegetation and beautiful montane forest. Because of the altitude the heat was not as bad as in Mulu which made walking easier. Most of the time the trail was clear. The melodic cries of Gibbons, different Langoors which we saw several times and some of the rare Agathis or Damar trees (much valued by the loggers), indicated to us that the rain-forest here was still intact. Finally we crossed the mountains and, in the light of the full moon, reached Long Bawan on the Kalimantan side. This is the biggest village of the Krayan district. Wet rice is grown in its fertile valleys. The next day we went to see the immigration officials. Locals from both sides are allowed to cross the border, but unfortunately not foreigners. Neither our visa nor the letters of recommendation from the WWF could convince the official to allow us entry. We had no choice other than going to Ba Kellalan in Sarawak from where we flew to the coast. After several other flights we finally arrived at an official entry point.-Tarakan, on the coast of Kalimantan. On the following day we flew with a small plane back to Long Bawan, where Lian was waiting with our luggage. Over Sarawak we had seen logging activities everywhere, but on this flight for a long stretch we saw nothing but an untouched rainforest wilderness with white rivers flowing through it. Unfortunately this area is located outside the Kayan-Mentarang Nationalpark, which forms a belt along the border for about 300 kilometres. This 16,000 sqkm National Park is by far the largest reserve in Borneo and we wanted to explore it next. From Long Bawan we trekked south. At first we recognised a new forest type, totally different to the jungles we crossed up to now. Thin trees with leathery leaves formed dense groves which were only some metres tall. These so-called Kerangas grow on extremely poor white sands. Big forest fires during the last two years have destroyed a huge part of the Kerangas around Long Bawan. After some hours we walked again through the tall montane jungle, infested with numerous leeches. Their bites are not dangerous or painful but the frequent attacks hammered on our nerves.We had to pick several of them from off our legs every time we stopped for a rest. Even after removal of these blood-suckers the wounds bleed for a long time.

Leeches-ever present plague of the jungle

It took us two days to reach Long Layou, where Lian's uncle Levi Gala lived. He is the traditional chief of the upper Krayan Region(Kepala Adat). Levi Gala gave us a lot of information about his district. We were especially interested in the relationsship of the people to the National Park. The Kepala Adat told us, that the implementation of the different conservation zones, in co-operation with WWF worked quite well, although some open questions remain. These people hope, that the Park will attract tourists and they have already developed some ideas for tourism. Many of the men worked in logging camps on the other side of the border. But for their region most were strongly against "development" by the timber companies. They fear water pollution, and negative impacts on fish and wildlife which is so important for their diet. We learned, that the trail to the Bahau River down which we wanted to paddle had last been used six years ago! There were some villages back in the 1970s but these are now all abandoned. A man wanted to guide us, but later we heard that even he did not know the entire route.We were focused on this route until we met Anddreas Bato, a professional guide from Sarawak, who visits relatives here. He suggested that we take another trail and was ready to accompany us. As Lian Tarrawe was not keen to continue with us we hired Anddreas. We crossed the border again on a trail which is used by Indonesians travelling to work to Sarawak.

Small jungleriver

We saw few animals when trekking with our heavy backpacks along the trail, but excursions off it in the vicinity of our camps proved that there was a lot of wildlife around. Big colourful pheasants roamed the thickets and bearded pigs ploughed the soil in search of fruits. In Long Dano and Ramudu we again enjoyed the warm hospitality of the Dayak in their traditional long-house villages. These tiny asettlements are surrounded by green mountains and could only be reached on foot. In the past all Dayak lived in long-houses which were built on stilts. Sometimes they were several hundred metres in length and were home to many families. Nowadays most Dayak live in single houses. Lian told us that there are plans to establish a reserve in the Kelabit Highlands. But meanwhile the logging companies move towards the last remaining stretches of virgin forest. For part of the distance to Long Bangga we had a lift in a company car. Again we drove through plundered forest, which is probably degraded for ever. Here, near the border, the Penan still struggle for their jungle home. Anddreas told us that up to now some groups managed to keep out the loggers. But the pressure on the last forest nomads continues. We spent a day recovering in Anddreas' house at Long Bangga before we started our trip back to Kalimantan and the Kayan Mentarang Nationalpark.

We were told, that an American tourist whose destination had been the upper Bahau grasslands, had had an accident about three days walking away. As he had gone into Indonesian territory illegally, helicopter rescue was not possible. As an alternative, a rescue crew of ten men was being formed to bring him back on a stretcher.

The rescue crew

We joined them, because we wanted to take the same trail. The crossing of the border mountains on an ancient trail, which today is mainly used by Indonesians looking for work, led us to regions just below 2000 metres altitude. The moisture-laden clouds form another different forest type in this zone. All of the small, stunted trees were covered with thick layers of moss and epiphytes.

In the moss forest

Mushrooms

The temperatures were much lower, so the locals called the camp where we slept "cold camp". The moss forest disappeared soon after we had crossed the border ridge and once again we were in beautiful, quite open montane forest. Mushrooms of all forms and colours especially fascinated us.

Mushrooms

Anddreas showed us the only snake we saw on this journey.

Tree snake in camouflage

We made camp at a small river flowing over numerous steps and waterfalls. The crew carried a gun for hunting and shortly before dark two men returned with their prey - a barking deer and a bearded pig. We immediately cooked part of the meat over our fire, but smoked the rest. This took all night. The area on the upper Bahau is today totally devoid of people. 30 to 40 years ago the situation was quite different as indicated by the sites of abandoned villages that we frequently passed. There were no ruins, only fruit trees showing the location of the past settlements. We even saw Chinese jars, inside which the ash of the dead had been buried. Everywere in the Kayan Mentarang Area population numbers has dropped since the 1950s. Most people wanted to live where modern goods are readily available at a much lower price than in the remote interior. Whole areas such as here or south of Long Layou were abandoned. When we reached the Bahau, we met the american whom we wanted to rescue. He had fallen through a log bridge and injured two ribs. But now, a week after his accident he was able to walk. The transport on the stretcher would have been almost impossible in the rough terrain. While he headed back to Long Bangga with the rescue crew, we continued with Anddreas and his Grandfather, who was over 70. The old man lived in this area until the 1950s and was still very knowledgeable.

The Grandfather

In the evening at the campfire he told us interesting stories of his youth, before Christianity came to the region. It rained almost every day, but mostly late in the afternoon or at night. While we walked along the Bahau the sky opened its gates. Immediately the slopes became very slippery and a lot of falls occured. Early next morning we started on an exkursion. Soon we left the forest and entered a wide open area of rolling hills covered with fresh green grass. Here we had nice vistas on the surrounding jungle-clad mountains. A rare opportunity because the dense vegetation usually allowed no outlook. This grassland already existed when Anddreas' Grandfather was still a youth. But certainly it was of human origin, because along the edge we found secondary forest growing over the grass. Every time Dayaks come here they burn the grass to stop the forest encroaching and encourage the growth of new green grass that attracts the animals which they hunt. As this savanna had been recently burned we moved on to another grassland not far away where there was a better chance of seeing game. On another walk in the evening, besides Sambar deer, we managed to spot two of the biggest savannah dwellers- the mighty red and black Banteng Buffalos.

Since leaving Bario we carried our inflatable rubber canoe with us all the time, but here in the headwaters, insufficient water, dangerous rapids and waterfalls made the Bahau mostly unnavigable.

Upper Bahau

So we followed the river for another two days before we were able to use our canoe. The old trails were so overgrown that it was very difficult to cross the secondary forest which now cover the old fields. Some times we saw wild boar which didn't spot us because of the heavy rain. Most of the time we walked a distance away from the river, but for some stretches we balanced on the rocks along the river banks. There we saw otters and Anddreas quickly caught a fine fish which made a good lunch. Steep rock walls forced us to do some climbing which was not so easy with our heavy backpacks. Finally we came to a place were it seemed possible to put in our canoe. As it is only suitable for two persons in white-water, our two partners considered building a bamboo float, but as that proved impractical we crammed four people into the canoe. We managed to negotiate some of the rapids with four on board.

In the rapids

but in places two of us had to walk for a while.We were in sight of the first village, Apau Ping, when we capsized. We had already safely negotiated the difficult stretches but a short moment of inattention led to some swimming. Unfortunately some villagers spotted our embarassing accident! The next day we passed two small villages of the Kenyah-Dayak, some 10 km apart. The villagers grow mainly hill rice in shifting cultivation. They harvest only once from a field, and then leave it for ten years before cultivating it again. During this period the soil recovers. Along the river almost all foresthad been cut at different times. This results in a mosaic of secondary forest of different ages. Nowadays, bedcause of the low population that is stable or dropping in numbers, there is no need for the locals to cut virgin forest. The Bahau has a drop of 4 metres/km and was flowing quite swiftly. We had to negotiate numerous rapids, but most of them were relatively easy. Only occasionally did we have to line the boat down along the edge of a difficult rapid. Anddreas and his grandfather left us in Long Alango where they have relatives. The Bahau here forms the border of the Nationalpark. Logging concessions outside the reserve have already been granted. The traditional chief wants to prevent logging by all means as he knows that this will destroy his region. After we had paddled for some hours, we left the canoe on the Bahau and walked up a tributary to the Lalut Birai station of WWF. During the days we spent there we learned a lot about conservation in Kayan Mentarang and made some excursions in the surrounding primary forest. Before continuing in our canoe we had to fix a small puncture. This posed no difficulty. Tigtht basalt gorges with dark, sharp rocks changed with flat stretches were the river was quite wide.
On one occasion we met three hunters with a pack of little dogs. They soon found a bearded pig which they killed by spear and shortly afterwards they got another one which had tried to escape by swimming in the river. We took care not to camp to close to the water. That proved to be a wise precaution as the water level rose considerably when on one occasion it rained all night. The storm caused a big branch to fall near our camp but fortunately we were not hit! The higher water level was good for us because many rocks in the rapids were submerged. As a result we managed to run without greater problems a stretch which the locals had told us would be very difficult. But then another rapid appeared in a sharp bend. We had not scouted it, as we had been told by the locals that there were no problems after Long Peliran. Suddenly we saw a rock in the current but managed to avoid it. But after that obstacle the boat was lying at an angle to the current when we shot down a step. A big wave hit us and we capsized. It took some time in the strong current before we reached the shore. Fortunately only Martin's hat was lost! It was raining when we reached Long Pujungan, a big village which is an administrative center. Here the Bahau finally leaves the Kayan Mentarang Nationalpark.

WWF Office in Long Pujungan.

There has been a logging road to here for the past five years and as logging has decimated the forest everywhere downstream, we decided not to continue in our canoe.

The end of the virgin rain-forest

Instead we took an outboard-powered long-boat which transported goods and passengers and needed only a day to reach the East coast. During the six weeks we took to cross Borneo we deligthed in the awesome pristine beauty of the jungle paradise, but were greatly saddened by seeing vast stretches of logged terrain that is now virtually dead, and concerned by the ever-present threat to the remaining forests from those people who see them only as a resource that can yield a quick financial gain.