I have learned from several sources that the buffer zone to Maliau Basin is to be logged again. It's unclear as to the extent of the logging but I've been told that it will affect the area around the access road, between the gate and the studies centre. The Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Plan allows for the buffer zone to be logged once more using reduced impact logging (RIL). So far Yayasan Sabah (YS) have only formally implemented RIL on one small experimental plot near Danum Valley Conservation Area. In the early...

I find myself getting deeper into the shit. I'm not sure how it happened but I have become interested in biogas collectors. This is a device used to collect the biogas (mostly methane) which is emitted when biological waste is digested by bacteria. The biogas once collected can be burned to provide cooking, lighting and carbon credits. The chemistry of burning methane in the presence of oxygen is that it produces water and CO2. Carbon dioxide is a less potent greenhouse gas than methane so that's how we can earn carbon credits. The...

Plain-pouched Hornbills in flight photo by Jasmin & John Steed Other photos and text by Ian Hall 19th August 2008 It was five o clock in the evening and all the day’s heat was pouring out of the red earth of the bola sepak pitch. I had my umbrella to provide shade from the sun but it was awkward to hold binoculars and monitor a telescope with only one free hand. Luckily the evening hornbill flight does not really get going until 6pm but we had to be there at five to ensure that the count included the early...