Read Part I first

Imbak Tampoi Basecamp

A white Landcruiser bounces into the Imbak Tampoi Basecamp and three men jump out clutching rolls of paper and clip boards. I sense forestry officials and so try to lurk inconspicuously. ‘Is that a map of Imbak region?’ I enquire innocently, ‘can I have a look?’ I add before he has a chance to respond. Sure enough it is a map of the proposed logging coupe, an area of nearly 23,000ha in the Sungai Pinangah, Gunung Rara and Kuamut Forest Reserves.

Much of this region has already been logged but as this selective harvesting was done 20-30 years ago there is much valuable secondary forest remaining. The proposed coupe borders four Virgin Jungle Reserves and encompasses un-logged areas, the Imbak Canyon buffer zone, plus steep areas which shouldn’t be logged under the sustainable forest management license agreement.

Most of my attention however is focussed on the 5000ha around the Tampoi Basecamp highlighted to be the first to go, sometime before the end of the year 2007. A short way down the track workers are already conscientiously marking out the 30m riparian reserve along the Imbak River.

I communicate my findings to an NGO colleague in Kota Kinabalu and together we begin to disseminate information to hopefully sympathetic acquaintances. Our plan is that we might be able to persuade someone to raise the issue at a forthcoming presentation to the Sabah Society by Sam Mannan, Sabah’s Director of Forestry. We even prime Sam himself about our concerns plus I write a ‘press release’ style email to the Sabah Society to inform them on the situation.

Unfortunately I can not make it to the talk as I am still in Imbak looking at birds. It is depressing to be surveying an area where our data may just record what used to exist. In this context I’m not sure whether it is better to find more species or less. Of course it’s better to find more but the whole thing feels rather hopeless. We record over 150 species, nearly 50 of which are Near Threatened or faced with a High Risk of Extinction as categorised by the IUCN Redlist.

A week later I am sitting in the office of my client; the Conservation Division of Yayasan Sabah. We are discussing my design of a new research laboratory at Danum Valley Field Centre but at the end of the meeting I can’t help enquiring for a progress report on the logging at Imbak Basecamp. Apparently the conservation division have lodged an appeal to save the 5000ha but are not hopeful. Once the logging contracts have been awarded it is very difficult to go back.

I ask whether the public and conservationists can help by campaigning for a reprieve. ‘No! That is absolutely what you should not do’ I am told emphatically, before he continued, ‘because apparently someone wrote an email that was read out at the Sabah Society talk and thanks to Sam’s [Mannan: Director of Forestry] response we are now having to answer to the Tan Sri about some things which have appeared in the papers about our Conservation Division’. My stomach lurched. He did not know who had written the email but I had a horrible feeling that I knew who the author was. I didn’t know what had happened at the talk, but it seemed that I had inadvertently landed my patron in the shit.

Pete on the Kangkawat River border of Imbak Canyon Conservation Area. The left hand side will be logged, the right hand side is conservation area.