Danum-Maliau-Imbak, Malaysia 2019-2020 Progress Report

Sunrise over a river in DaMaI.

Introduction and History

The DaMaI (Danum-Maliau-Imbak) ecosystem, often referred to as the Heart of Borneo, is one of the last intact primary forests in Asia and a critical habitat for endangered megafauna like Borneo pygmy elephants, Sunda clouded leopards and Sumatran orangutans, as well as all eight species of Bornean hornbills. With hundreds of bird species, some endemic to this area, Danum Valley and Maliau Basin have been designated as Important Bird Areas by BirdLife International.

DaMaI is a critical habitat for highly endangered Bornean orangutans.

DaMaI covers a vast area of multiple land uses, totaling around one million hectares. It contains three core conservation areas: the Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA, 43,800 ha); the Maliau Basin Conservation Area (MBCA, 58,840 ha); and Imbak Canyon Conservation Area (ICCA, 30,000 ha), alongside other tracts of protected and unprotected land.

Today, there is little organized protection for wildlife in the proposed DaMaI World Heritage Site. Illegal hunting and logging have rapidly increased over the past 10 years, depleting wildlife populations; without effective protection, we will lose more endangered species and critical habitats in one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Already, in 2015, rhinos were declared extinct in the wild in Malaysian Borneo.

Deforestation is a major problem in the DaMaI ecosystem. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Since 2017, Global Conservation has been working with the Sabah Environmental Trust (SET) to deploy Global Park Defense against wildlife poaching and illegal land clearing through an integrated system. GC and SET are collaborating with the state government of Sabah, including the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) and Conservation and Environmental Management Division (CEMD) of Yayasan Sabah (YS). An MOU was signed with the government of Sabah during the International Heart of Borneo Conference in Kota Kinabalu on 24th October 2017.

Homemade shotguns and shells confiscated from poachers in DaMaI. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Our technologies and training include park-wide communications, cellular trailcams, aerial surveillance, SMART patrols, the Vulcan Domain Awareness System, ranger and community eco-guard training, and improved visitor security. One key goal is to organize a unified management scheme across the whole ecosystem, and to achieve UNESCO World Heritage Site status for DaMaI.

The DaMaI team poses with equipment for the GPD program. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Program Objectives
To improve management and conservation of biodiversity in DaMaI, a 5-year Global Park Defense initiative was formulated with three objectives:
Strengthening enforcement & monitoring for DaMaI;
Supporting the commitment of the state government in making DaMaI the second World Heritage Site in Sabah by nominating the entire DaMaI ecosystem as a single unit; and
Enhancing capacity for DaMaI, especially in monitoring, patrolling and enforcement activities.

The DaMaI team in front of a ranger station. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Program Progress

SET made substantial progress on these objectives during 2019. Their achievements are as follows:

Objective 1: Strengthening enforcement & monitoring for DaMaI.

Progress

SMART training part two conducted.
Ranger training on patrol, roadblocks and apprehending suspects conducted.
Two workshops on coordinator, stakeholders, and effectiveness of patrolling were conducted.
Equipping team completed.
Regular patrolling is ongoing.
Data analyses are ongoing.

SFD Protect rangers in DaMaI use GPS to mark the site of an illegal trap. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Objective 2: Supporting the commitment of the state government in making DaMaI the second World Heritage Site in Sabah by nominating the entire DaMaI ecosystem as a single unit.

Progress:

There is an ongoing discussion on the prospect of creating a single forest management unit to be known as the DaMaI Rainforest Complex under the Forest Enactment law of 1968, under a single management authority.

The incredible topography of DaMaI is one of the things that makes it so special.

The proposed nomination of DVCA, MBCA, an ICCA, which is collectively known as the DaMaI Rainforest Complex, as the second World Heritage Site for Sabah was approved by the state cabinet on June 22, 2011. The nomination dossier was completed in 2013, but the proposed site was not listed as a national heritage site under the national legislation. In 2017, the state cabinet thus decided to defer the nomination. On July 18, 2018, the state cabinet approved reopening the nomination process, and the process for submission into the tentative list is now open. The original nomination dossier will need to be updated, and one of the crucial elements for moving forward will be looking at DaMaI as a single management unit.

The DaMaI team moves a pile of confiscated lumber. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Objective 3: Enhancing capacity for DaMaI, especially in monitoring, patrolling and enforcement activities.

Progress:

Short-term ranger attachment sent to Sumatra; three rangers were sent to Leuser National Park for about two weeks. Plans for another atttachment have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participated in the 9th World Ranger Congress in Nepal, November 10-20, 2019; SET and the Sabah Forestry Department presented on the effort and work done in DaMaI, as well as the success stories throughout the three-year implementation of the initative. Global Park Defense was highlighted. DaMaI is one of the pioneers in the use of cellular trail cams in Sabah. Combined with SMART and ground patrols, poachers and encroachment activities can be rapidly addressed, aiding the effectiveness of conventional methods.

DaMaI rangers take a well-deserved break while on patrol. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

A two-year EarthRanger customer agreement was signed between SET and Vulcan Technologies Inc., and a representative from EarthRanger visited to facilitate set-up and training on the use of EarthRanger in DaMaI. EarthRanger is an easy-to-use online software solution developed by Vulcan Inc. to meet the unique needs of protected area managers, empowering them to take immediate, proactive actions to prevent and mitigate threats.
A Google Meet with EarthRanger personnel was conducted for refreshment training and updates on the current features in the EarthRanger web database. The outcome of the session was to create a monitoring system that can be displayed in the command centre. Training is still ongoing to fully utilize the web database for GPD.
A grant was awarded to SET in October 2019 by LUSH Asia Ltd. (Hong Kong) for the purchase of 50 surveillance cameras and 30 wildlife cameras. Three different models were tested to determine which one is best for bulk purchase, and the cameras arrived and were installed in August 2020. SET also received and deployed a generous donation of ten surveillance cameras and security boxes from Wildlife Protection Solutions.

A sambar deer captured on camera trap in DaMaI. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

On 28th February 2020, two staff from SET attended a SMART Report Training held by the World Wildlife Fund. The outcome from the training was learning to create a report template from data collected by DaMaI rangers, and later produce a quick report with details provided coming from the “query” features.
Further SMART training was conducted for DaMaI rangers in June and July 2020, with the goal of improving data accuracy and learning to produce reports and maps using SMART software.
Licensed ArcGIS and Arc Globe software were contributed by ESRI via arrangement made by GC on 13th March 2020. Both softwares are installed on the main desktop at SET’s office.
Early this year SET provided the DaMaI patrolling team with two canoes, a boat engine, eight safety vests and four paddles for river patrol activity.

Patrol teams using the new river patrol equipment.

DaMaI Progress in Numbers, January-June 2020
34,841km patrolled by vehicle
325.5km patrolled on foot
26 cases of illegal acitivity were handled by law enforcement teams

Other Updates from the Field

Elephant Poisoning

Sadly, a female Borneo elephant was found poisoned in the DaMaI area in April.

Mini Command Centres

Currently, there are three mini command centres in each conservation area within DaMaI. The mini command centres are equipped with computers for storing data from camera traps and SMART patrols.

Hotspots in DaMaI Rainforest Complex

The DaMaI patrolling team has mapped a number of poaching hotspots over the past two years. Most of the hotspots found were near the main road, and pose threats to the wildlife there. Most of the cellular trail cameras were installed in the hotspots.

A camera trap captures an endangered banteng, a type of wild cow. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Camera traps

It is necessary to further develop a database on hotspot areas, in order to install more surveillance camera/camera traps and other technology to aid in monitoring and enforcement activities in the future. At end of December 2019, there were 9 active cameras installed in DaMaI, with 11 units not installed. Some of the cameras were moved around from one station to another, thus the large numbers of uninstalled cameras, especially in Danum.

A DaMaI ranger mounts a cellular trail cam high in a tree to help prevent theft or vandalism. Photo courtesy SET/SFD/YS.

Poachers and encroachers caught on camera trap in DaMaI.

Wildlife captured on camera trap in DaMai.

Goals and Key Activities for 2020
Obtain vehicles to conduct patrolling.
Develop more space for patrolling equipment storage at the command center; improve reliability of the cellular network.
Obtain more camera traps so that more than one camera can be installed in the same location to monitor one another and prevent theft; obtain cameras with a longer trigger range to install higher on the trees to prevent theft.
Develop a database of encroachment hotspots in order to install more surveillance cameras and other technology to aid in monitoring and enforcement.
Move toward managing DaMaI as a single unit and listing it as a World Heritage Site.
Ranger training opportunities: attachment with Leuser Conservation Forum (FKL) in Indonesia; study visit to ASEAN country.