Community Development

 1.         Gravity Water Feed system – Two project groups

Many remote communities within Malaysia still do not have access to clean, drinkable water.  Although great steps have been taken to overcome this problem there still remains a large number lacking this basic need.  Villages without a water source will collect their water in large tanks and barrels from rainfall.  The rainfall in many areas is insufficient to meet their needs all year round so water is often taken from polluted rivers.  This has obvious knock on effects of ill health through water borne diseases such as typhoid.  Many communities use these rivers to wash in and there is additional contamination from chemicals used in agriculture, in particular from oil palm plantations.  Provision of a gravity fed water system is a simple and often inexpensive solution to getting fresh water into a community.  Often a community may have an existing system which needs repair work to make it functional again. 

 Construction of a gravity feed water system involves a detailed survey of the village and area to ascertain where piping and taps should be placed as well as locating a suitable source.  Sources are generally several kilometres from the kampung and will be in hard to reach areas.  They are usually springs or small streams which are free from pollution or human interference.  Once a source has been identified, it is damned using wire cages filled with rocks and/or cement.  Piping is then laid to several reservoir tanks which enable a head of pressure to be established as well as to cope with periods of high demand.  From these tanks, piping is then laid into the kampung; this will usually involve digging the pipe into shallow trenches to avoid it being damaged.  Finally connectors and taps are installed as the system is established within the community to provide the most efficient supply.  During the whole process the local community assist with the work and are educated on how to maintain their system in order to provide a sustainable solution to their water requirements.

 2.         Kg Tampasak, Tongod District 

The Tongod region of Sabah is approximately four to five hours drive from Kota Kinabalu. The communities are predominantly of Sungai Makiang origin living in traditionally built housing of bamboo and leafed roofing.  In some houses there are up to 2 families habiting.  The population are predominantly Christian.  Subsistence farming is practised with hill rice grown on a rotational basis on nearby land.  A secondary source of income comes from a small amount of rubber tapping.    The kampongs have become increasingly isolated over the past few years due to the deterioration of the main track into the area.  There are very few community facilities available and the area has been earmarked for assistance from various NGOs to improve the standard of living.  The Sabah Forestry Department will be providing the support for this project as part of their community development programme.

3.         Kg Rugading, Ranau District 

Kampung Rugading is only 12Km from Ranau, the Capital of the distrtick, only two hours drive from KK and a major spot of for tourist. However the community had to leave the households about five years ago due to an insufficient and unclean water supply. Since then the JKKK has been relentlessly looking for support to help the community implement a new Graivty Water Feed system and help his people return to their village. The community currently live in household of friend and families in another kampung about 4-5 kms away. Once the Water Supply is up and running the predominantly Muslim community hope to return to their homes and land to resuming farming.  

Environment Projects

 4.         Batu Puteh – Eco Lodge

For a millennia the indigenous ”Sungai” (River) people of the Lower Kinabatangan River have been living off the rainforest for food, medicine, household commodities and products of trade. This world changed dramatically from the 1960's onwards, with the advent of mechanised extraction of the forest’s timber resources. The ensuing rapid reduction of traditional forest resources forced many local people into a spiraling trap of dependence on timber as the only remaining viable source of trade. With the final conversion of large tracts of lowland forests of the Lower Kinabatangan throughout the 1980s into permanent agricultural crops, many local people were then forced to poach timber and other forest products to eek out an existence.  The MESCOT (Model of Ecologically Sustainable Community Tourism) Initiative was started in 1996 by a group of about 30 visionary and dedicated individuals from the different villages of Batu Puteh to create an alternative medium of income generation for the people of the area, while in the process protecting the last remaining vestige of rainforest and traditional indigenous cultural heritage.  Raleigh International have been working with the community since 2002 in developing this interesting and cutting edge project. 

The key objectives of the MESCOT Initiative are to develop an alternative path of co-existence with the remaining rainforest resources and generate a sustainable long-term economic path for income generation; the core activity chosen by the MESCOT group was eco-tourism.  It was hoped that this activity would be the key to raising income in this poor and remote rural community, increase the economic value of a depleted forest resource, and, in the process, raise funds to support the protection and restoration of the last remaining wetland forests and wildlife of the area.  MESCOT’s scope was broadened in 1998 when drought induced forest fires ravaged parts of the remaining natural forests surrounding the village. The MESCOT group voluntarily engaged to fight these fires and in the aftermath decided it critical to rehabilitate the degraded wetland forests and critical wildlife habitats and corridors. At the time, these steps were ground-breaking, as previously little was known about the complex floodplain forest tapestry and the different rainforest types of the area.

The mainstay of the eco tourism project is a lodge, now semi finished, which sits on the edge of a large oxbow lake formed by the former course of the river.  The Tungog Lake is of special significance in the Lower Kinabatangan because it is only one of three deep clear-water oxbow lakes within the floodplain, being totally disconnected from the main Kinabatangan River Channel, and is a natural sanctuary for more than 150 native freshwater fish species, and a host of other rare aquatic dependant birds and wildlife.  Major floods in early 2000 had a major impact on the lake, introducing an exotic weed to the Kinabatangan called Salvinia molesta.  Within two years this exotic noxious floating fern had totally engulfed the surface of the Tungog Lake, which stretches for some 1.5km in length. The devastation immediately noted was the disappearance of the rare diving water-bird the Oriental Darter and the three native Otter species.  From all accounts, research and literature, the Tungog Lake was doomed to suffocate under the ferocity of the Salvinia blanketing, decaying and filling up the lake, starving the clear waters of oxygen. 

 This is a very ambitious and exciting project which has taken many years meticulous planning and it is only now that the community are starting to realise their dream.  The group will live in an environmentally sound jungle camp on the edge of this small community, just 10 minutes up river from the main lodge/lake site.  The team will assist local tradesmen with finishing off the lodge, develop trails and bird hides as well as help the local community in its continual battle to rid the lake of Salvinia.  In addition there is the opportunity for wildlife cruises along the rich banks of the mighty Kinabatangan river, where monkeys, crocodiles and an assortment of birdlife can be seen at close quarters.  This is an exciting project, combining a unique environmental project with interaction from the community. 

4.         Imbak Canyon – Trail & Infrastructure Development

Imbak Canyon is the last remaining untouched and relatively unexplored area of Sabah. Less than 200 people have ever entered this virgin primary jungle area while the last research team discovered a new tree species. The region is home to wildlife including elephants, orangutans and 100’s of rare bird species. Yayasan Sabah (the concessionary) now wants to reserve this area as a natural gene bank to help protect future biodiversity of the whole region and has asked Raleigh International to play a major role in the development of this area.

 In early 2004, a Raleigh International project team worked closely with the staff of Yayasan Sabah to plan the location and type of necessary infrastructure needed to protect and allow access to the pristine protected area of Imbak Canyon. The first stage included mapping the area to determine points of interest, possible trail networks, sources of water and best locations for a field centre.  The second expedition to Imbak in late 2004 started putting in place basic infrastructure including a Ranger’s camp, visitors’ accommodation and basic trails.  This is the first permanent structure built as part of the master development plan for this conservation area.  The infrastructure has been gradually expanded by a number of Raleigh teams during the two expeditions in 2005.  In addition a new trail as been recce’d along the ridges and into the centre of the canyon by groups during expedition 05G in late 2005.

 The next phase of this exciting project is to further expand the infrastructure including finishing the field centre complex, developing the newly recce’d trails into the canyon for researchers and upgrading existing tracks to a waterfall and jungle camp.  In addition one of the key priorities identified was the need for a bridge crossing the Imbak River to the entrance of the conservation area. In the dry season this river can easily be crossed by foot. However, during the rainy season the river often becomes swollen cutting off access to the conservation area. This would be approximately a 200ft span hanging suspension bridge to be constructed from scratch.  This bridge will enable scientists to access the canyon for research purposes as well as enabling a gravity feed water system to be fed across the river into the field centre. This expedition it is hope that the final stage of the construction can commence.

 Adventure Projects

 5.         Trekking and Diving

The trekking element of this project will see teams trekking in the south western corner of Sabah on the Kalimantan and Sarawak border starting from the small village of Long Pasia.  The trek will be 10 – 11 days in duration and will involve teams carrying all their own supplies and equipment for the duration.  Long Pasia is a very remote area and is steeped in tradition and folk lore.  The surrounding jungle has been under threat for many years from logging and the community has suffered from a gradual decline in numbers as young people move away from the area.  In order to halt this decline and re-establish the community as well as help protect the surrounding environment, WWF worked closely with the community to develop an eco tourism plan.  This has been going for several years but is starting to decline as new areas are opened up in Sabah.  The area is one of the richest plant diversity sites in Borneo in particular for orchids, rhododendrons and pitcher plants.  In addition the people of the area have an interesting history as fierce head hunters.  There are many ancient legends passed down through the generations which make this a fascinating place to spend some time as well as being thick and untouched jungle.

 The trekking will be across arduous and physically challenging terrain, which will often mean they are extremely remote and will need them to be fully self sufficient.  Teams will camp wild near the trail, ensuring they have a minimal impact on the local surroundings which will include leaving nothing behind.  Where necessary teams will assist local guides to upgrade the trail through the dense vegetation since the jungle very quickly grows back across trails.  Teams will obviously have the opportunity to learn about the pristine rainforest environment as they progress.

All adventure groups will be involved in a SCUBA diving conservation program in Tungku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in partnership with Borneo Divers and Sabah Parks.  The team will spend 3 to 4 days doing their PADI Open Water diving qualification followed by 1 to 2 days of an underwater clean up, where they will collect litter and other waste from selected areas of the marine park.  During this time they will live on their very own paradise island from where the diving is carried out. 

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