We can always come up with wonderful ideas for sustainable buildings but if the locals can’t build and maintain it then it’s not sustainable. Camps International are building a camp on Pulau Mantanani, a coral island off the northwest coast of Borneo. Their other two camps in Borneo, at Tinangol and Kipouvo were designed and built entirely by the local communities. This was possible because at Tinangol the camp (a traditional longhouse) was already built and at Kipouvo they wanted a homestay modeled on ‘standard’...

He held the mud crab still with his bare feet whilst deftly tying up the claws with a length of pink raffia. Job done, the fisherman tossed his catch into a bucket. On our request the second fisherman sorted us out half a dozen choice crabs and a bargain was done. Our two boats parted company and we left the fishermen to their work. Sungai Sedili Kecil is not on the tourist track but that’s why I was there as a guest of Wild Asia. Our job was to assess the community based eco-tourism tourism potential of this proposed Ramsar...