Short Summary
My name is Priscillia and this is my MSc project in Oxford Brookes University developed in partnership with Little Fireface Project to help conservation of slow lorises in Borneo.
Borneo is a hotspot of diversity and the recent increase in forest fragmentation can lead to a massive extinction of species. Borneo is the third-largest island in the world with the oldest Rainforest in the world of 140 million years old.
It is home to 221 species of terrestrial mammals with the known Bornean Orangutan, the Asian elephant, the Sumatran rhinoceros, the Bornean clouded leopard, the Hose's civet and many more. It is also home to nomadic tribes like the Penan who have an extensive knowledge of the forest.
This project will focus on the knowledge of local populations, especially local tribes about wildlife with a specific focus on slow lorises.
Why?
They are nocturnal animals and most of the people living in close proximity with them don't even know they exist or simply keep them as pets without really knowing what they really are.
For this project I am giving interviews to gather data on wildlife and what people really know about it. I am also doing some education activities with children in school and villages to talk about lorises and the importance of animals in the forest.
Here some pictures of the school visit done in Brunei beginning of this month:
Learning about slow loris and making amazing drawings...
Selling cookies to raise fund for loris project in Brunei...
Giving a talk to older students...
This have been made possible with grant donation by Memphis zoo in the US.
What We Need
For this project I already have a small grant from Memphis Zoo for the education part and other cost. I already have enough funding and my own savings to visit two different tribes the Bidayuh and the Iban. The first one easily found around Kuching, the capital city and the second one, the long houses I will visit are in the interior forest that require long hours of driving and boats to access.
To visit some tribes like the nomadic Penan, it requires a guide and hours of trekking in the forest to find them.
For this project I still need:
1. Local guide and transportation to the interior forest of Sarawak to visit the Penan
60 euros/ day = 420 euros
2.Printing and materials for activities with children: 50 euros
Any excess funds raised will be donated to local NGO helping with lorises rescuing.
The Impact
The Penan people are threatened by loss of their habitat and the knowledge they have about the forest is really valuable and this will maybe the last chance I have to meet them and gather as much information as possible. In the future these tribes will be settled in villages and the new generations lose slowly the ancient knowledge.
It is important for us to work with the local population to help save species from extinction and their knowledge is the first step.
A short movie will be made of this trip and will be available to watch online to enjoy with me this amazing adventure...
Other Ways You Can Help
Even if you cannot contribute, just share as much as possible to help us make this project happen.
Help me making this trip possible and learn more about the Penan relationship with the animal surrounding them.