Borneo's dark side

I went to Borneo because I pictured it to be lush and green, wild and untamed, teeming with rare birds and mammals. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, at least not in the province of Sabah on the Malaysian side, where I decided to spend my time. It /was/ mostly green, but for a different reason: acres upon acres of palm tree plantations. Palm trees has always been a pleasant sight for me: they meant tropical weather, beaches, and coconuts. Here, though, seeing the organized mass production of them was a total eyesore.

The reason why there are so many of them, I learned, is because palm oil is the biggest export in Malaysia. The country actually pays its debts in palm oil instead of money. People make relatively good money working in the palm oil industry, and even more if they agree to grow palm trees on their own land. However, a huge cost of this industry is that it endangers the amazing wildlife that used to thrive here.

The Kinabatangan river is a great spot to do river safaris because of the density of wildlife along the river. I was very fortunate to see many amazing animals: several species of monkeys, including wild orangutans and the proboscis (long-nose) monkey that can only be found here; beautiful birds like herons and dozens of hornbills, flying in a cluster to their mating ground; and pygmy elephants, the smallest elephants in the world, just to name a few. There are also leopards, crocodiles, and many different lizards to be found here. Osman was an extremely talented guide so could spot wildlife hidden in trees from hundreds of metres away. He had great instincts and knew the area like the back of his hand. It was an incredible few days on the water that I won't soon forget.

There was a dark side of this, however. We learned from Osman that the reason the wildlife is so dense along the river is because the animals have nowhere else to go. Osman and several other local people who care about the environment managed to convince the Malaysian government to spare a thin patch of forest along the river so that the animals weren't completely driven out. It was so thin in spots that we could see through the trees to where the palm plantations began.

It was pretty heartbreaking to see the destruction of this once beautiful place, and to learn how quickly it happened, in the name of palm oil. Many of the local people hate the industry, but some still have to take jobs in it in order to survive. Others take those jobs to get rich. Unfortunately, Osman informed us that there isn't much we can do back home to avoid palm oil. It's ubiquitous: it's found in everything from shampoos to potato chips. However, I'll still try to favour products that are palm oil free when I have the opportunity. Although it was depressing at times, I'm thankful I got to visit this island before it becomes a complete palm tree wasteland.