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SOS
Rhino : In the News
: News From The Field : Monthly
Field Report for January 2006 |
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MONTHLY FIELD REPORT
January 2006
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Ireland is a beautiful country. My first visit there was to Galway for the Cohab conference in August. From Galway, I travelled by road to Belfast. The most spectacular sight is the stones neatly piled to form fences. I thought Ireland is blessed with so many stones! Anyway, that was just halfway to Belfast before the ‘stone’ fences become hedges, no wires! That is the moment I was informed that we were now in Northern Ireland, the part that is linked to London. A quick history on Irish politics can be helpful and usually re-enforced in many of Irish jokes. So to appreciate the jokes, one needs to know a bit of Irish politics. I returned to Belfast for Christmas and New Year or a year-end vacation. This time I had the opportunity to visit Dublin, the home of Guiness Stout. I think the visit is made more interesting because I have Dr. Christina Wong as my guide. She hails from a village near mine in Penampang, and studied and practices complementary medicine in Belfast for over 20 years. Now an avid supporter and donor of and to the Sumatran rhino conservation, Dr. Tina McCutcheon as she is popularly known in Ireland, is actively raising awareness about the Sumatran rhino of Borneo amongst the Irish. Tina has visited SOS Rhino project site in Tabin Wildlife Reserve twice!
Pix shows Dr. Christina Wong trekking in Tabin jungle.
Heavy downpours were experienced in the east coast of Sabah. Flooding can occur between November till early March, coinciding with the Northeast monsoon. The flood situation was quite dramatic. Our base camp at Tanjung Utik was submerged and the water barely touching the floor of the huts. We were lucky that one of our RPU members was on standby and managed to save the plastic water tanks from been washed off to the sea.
Flooding in the forest reserve makes it difficult for surveys and patrols to be conducted. The wild animals are also affected and many of them will be looking for high ground. As the higher ground provide minimal and selected food, wild animals tend to look thinner during the long period of high water. They will soon start foraging aggressively when water level has returned to normal.
 Pix shows SOS Rhino (Borneo) base camp at Tanjung Utik submerged by water from the Segama river.
Pix shows Tanjung Utik base camp in normal time.
Nothing very much can be done by our RPUs during the rainy periods. However, it is time to keep the eyes peeled to the swift swollen rivers for loose stray logs. Some logs are in good condition. Our RPU will with their skill in boating, will intercept many good logs from the Segama river and secured them near the base camps. They can be used to replace the old logs of the floating jetty or with a chainsaw, made into planks for repairing the huts. In the early days, stealing logs can be done by first cutting down the trees along the river in the upstream. The log stealers must know the species of trees that can float. When the flooding starts, these logs are brought down by the swift water and intercepted as they approach the river mouth. This method is still been used by small time illegal loggers but with the constant surveillance and patrolling by boats from the forestry, wildlife and SOS Rhino (Borneo), such activity has declined to almost zero in Tabin.
 Pix shows the bad condition of the road. A good 4WD can also get stuck in this mud. On left, patrolling by boat during the rainy seaon is most effective.
Pix shows a typical scene of the forest during the rainy season.
Meeting with Field Coordinator
On 11th January I went to Lahad Datu to meet up with the Forestry Officer but again I missed him as he had taken off for Sandakan for an important meeting. Lynn the Field Coordinator and Marikus driver-cum-team leader was with me. I met up with most of the new RPU members at Trekforce building and after dinner, a special meeting was held. I left for Dagat on 12th to meet up with the other members of RPUs and to assess the base camps.
RPU 1
RPU 2
RPU 3
RPU 4
RPU 5
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