October 24th 2022
Happy International Gibbon
Day 2022!
Day 2022!
from Indonesia
Today, International Gibbon Day, marks our 38th day into our 2022 expedition. Our gibbon cinematographer has just begun his leg in Kalimantan and the entire team will not leave Indonesia until November 4th. Two teams (team gibbon and team human primate) set out September 17th for approximately three weeks in Siberut, Mentawai, Indonesia and the remaining time in the small village of Kereng which is about twenty minutes by klotok depending on water levels from other final filming location Sebangau National Park, Kalimantan (Borneo). Here we stayed at our partner's research field station, the Center for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland (CIMTROP) in partnership with The Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF).
We had been to Kalimantan in 2018 for three weeks slushing through the peat swamps, three people for three weeks, in order to capture a two minute teaser. However, on our first day this year we were able to find the gibbons even after they had only been followed for a couple weeks since before the Covid-19 global pandemic. Perhaps it was a great deal of luck by our director of photography Lucky Arie but his skills and talent nailed it on his first day as a wildlife filmmaker. All these screen grabs and clips are from Lucky and we couldn't be happier with his work and the team's to date. Behind the scenes photography by Julia R. Hill, Lucky Arie and the wonderful staff at BNF.
Terima Kashi Banyak to everyone that has supported and worked hard on The Great Call since its inception in 2017 and especially to this year's two team/two location expedition spanning over forty-five shooting days!
We had been to Kalimantan in 2018 for three weeks slushing through the peat swamps, three people for three weeks, in order to capture a two minute teaser. However, on our first day this year we were able to find the gibbons even after they had only been followed for a couple weeks since before the Covid-19 global pandemic. Perhaps it was a great deal of luck by our director of photography Lucky Arie but his skills and talent nailed it on his first day as a wildlife filmmaker. All these screen grabs and clips are from Lucky and we couldn't be happier with his work and the team's to date. Behind the scenes photography by Julia R. Hill, Lucky Arie and the wonderful staff at BNF.
Terima Kashi Banyak to everyone that has supported and worked hard on The Great Call since its inception in 2017 and especially to this year's two team/two location expedition spanning over forty-five shooting days!
Group C Comel with unnamed baby, October 20th 2022
Group C Adult male gibbon Chili, October 20th 2022
Group C adult male gibbon Chili, October 20th 2022
The Great Call Director Allison Carden Hanes traveling by klotok from Kereng village to the Natural Laboratory of Peat-swamp Forest, a special zone within Sebangau National Park.
"Folklore and stories give us a connection to our natural world, no matter where we live... keeping these stories alive ensures we maintain a link between people and animals " - Dr. Susan Cheyne, Vice-Chair of IUCN's Primate Specialist Group Section on Small Apes, Director of Research at Borneo Nature Foundation International
Photograph by Allison Carden Hanes
“
Just maybe gibbons are weeping for humanity...
Photograph by Allison Carden Hanes
Gibbon photography by Lucky Arie at One Health Productions on October 20th 2022 in Sebangau National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia
Lucky Arie is a Director of Photography and Photographer based in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. This is his first wildlife film. He joined our director Allison Carden Hanes in Jakarta on September 19th for a total of thirty-four shoot days. We are incredibly happy and grateful for his hard work and talents. We highly recommend him! Feel free to email us at info@onehealthproductions.com for a direct introduction. Terima kasih banyak Lucky! We are much more than lucky to have you on our team! Untuk banyak banyak lagi!
Sabangau National Park (sometimes spelled Sebangau) is a national park in Central Kalimantan, a province of Indonesia in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo established in 2004. Between 1980 and 1995 the site was a massive logging concessions area. After 1995, the park became a site for illegal logging, which resulted in up to 85 percent of the 568,700-hectare total park area being destroyed. By 2012, less than 1 percent of the park's total area has been reforested and several centuries is needed to restore it to its pre-logged state.
The national park is centered on Sabangau River, a blackwater river. It flows through the Kelompok Hutan Kahayan or Sabangau peat swamp forest (5,300 km2), between the Katingan and Kahayan rivers. The peat swamp forest is a dual ecosystem, with diverse tropical trees standing on a 10m-12m layer of peat - partly decayed and waterlogged plant material - which in turn covers relatively infertile soil.
The severely degraded eastern part of the forest, between the Sabangau and the Kayahan, is officially designated for agriculture. However, since the failure of the Mega Rice Project, which drained large areas of peat forest in an attempt to create rice paddies, no further efforts are being made to make it suitable for this purpose.
The forest has been damaged by legal and illegal forestry. There is no longer any continuous forest cover where orangutans may cross the river. A satellite view shows a grid of logging roads throughout most of the forest.
However, the western part is now protected as either National Park or National Laboratory Research Area. A study of the area shows that the hydrological integrity of the forest has been maintained, and it is therefore ecologically resilient, although since it is close to the regional capital Palangkaraya it remains at risk.
The forest is home to the world's largest orangutan population, estimated at 6,910 individuals in 2003, and other rare or unique species. The total agile gibbon population in the Sabangau catchment is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, but is declining fast.
Vulnerable bird species include the large green pigeon (Treron capellei) and possibly Storm's stork (Ciconia stormi) and lesser adjutant (Leptoptilus javanicus). Efforts are underway to establish long-term ecological monitoring in the forest.
The national park is centered on Sabangau River, a blackwater river. It flows through the Kelompok Hutan Kahayan or Sabangau peat swamp forest (5,300 km2), between the Katingan and Kahayan rivers. The peat swamp forest is a dual ecosystem, with diverse tropical trees standing on a 10m-12m layer of peat - partly decayed and waterlogged plant material - which in turn covers relatively infertile soil.
The severely degraded eastern part of the forest, between the Sabangau and the Kayahan, is officially designated for agriculture. However, since the failure of the Mega Rice Project, which drained large areas of peat forest in an attempt to create rice paddies, no further efforts are being made to make it suitable for this purpose.
The forest has been damaged by legal and illegal forestry. There is no longer any continuous forest cover where orangutans may cross the river. A satellite view shows a grid of logging roads throughout most of the forest.
However, the western part is now protected as either National Park or National Laboratory Research Area. A study of the area shows that the hydrological integrity of the forest has been maintained, and it is therefore ecologically resilient, although since it is close to the regional capital Palangkaraya it remains at risk.
The forest is home to the world's largest orangutan population, estimated at 6,910 individuals in 2003, and other rare or unique species. The total agile gibbon population in the Sabangau catchment is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, but is declining fast.
Vulnerable bird species include the large green pigeon (Treron capellei) and possibly Storm's stork (Ciconia stormi) and lesser adjutant (Leptoptilus javanicus). Efforts are underway to establish long-term ecological monitoring in the forest.
Learn more about our partners at Sebangau National Park, the Center for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland (CIMTROP) (Indonesian page) and the Borneo Nature Foundation.
Photograph by Lucky Arie
Enormous thanks to Pak Kitso Kusin and everyone at CIMTROP for your kind support all these years. We are honored to work with you and hope that the project will have many positive impacts on your mission and work.
RIGHT PHOTOGRAPH: Julia Rae Hill, Pak Kitso Kusin and Allison Carden Hanes at CIMTROP offices in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan (South Borneo), Indonesia
Kitso Kusin
UPT. Laboratorium Lahan Gambit - CIMTROP Jl. H. Timang, Komplek Tunjung Nyahu
Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan
RIGHT PHOTOGRAPH: Julia Rae Hill, Pak Kitso Kusin and Allison Carden Hanes at CIMTROP offices in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan (South Borneo), Indonesia
Kitso Kusin
UPT. Laboratorium Lahan Gambit - CIMTROP Jl. H. Timang, Komplek Tunjung Nyahu
Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan
Protecting Borneo's biodiversity through community-led conservation, research and education projects.
Borneo Nature Foundation has been implementing rainforest conservation in Borneo for over 20 years. They partner with local stakeholders to implement landscape-level conservation strategies based on rigorous scientific research, and support communities to develop sustainable livelihoods that complement environmental protection.
1990's FIRST EXPEDITION
Botanists Jack Rieley (University of Nottingham) and Susan Page (University of Leicester) teamed up with Suwido Limin and colleagues at the University of Palangka Raya to conduct fact-finding expeditions into Sebangau's peat-swamp forests.
1995 ORANGUTAN POPULATION DISCOVERY
Helen Morrogh-Bernard and Simon Husson, the zoology undergraduates of Nottingham University, joined the third expedition and undertook the very first orangutan surveys in Sebangau. Incredibly, they discovered that this forest was home to the largest known orangutan population in lowland Borneo.
1999 OUTROP WAS FOUNDED
Helen and Simon founded the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop) to raise awareness of the importance of Sebangau for orangutan conservation and to encourage sustainable management, protection and restoration of this globally-important rainforest.
2003 ORANGUTAN PROJECT
It has been ongoing since 2003 when Helen Morrogh-Bernard, first started to habituate wild orangutans in Natural Laboratory of Peat-swamp Forest, a special zone within the Sebangau National Park and collect data on their behaviour and ecology.
2004 DESIGNATION OF SEBANGAU NATIONAL PARK
OuTrop identified Sebangau as home to the largest orangutan population in lowland Borneo, bringing the region to the forefront of orangutan conservation efforts and contributing in the award of National Park status in 2004
2005 GIBBON PROJECT
Established by Dr. Susan Cheyne in the LAHG, a special zone within the Sebangau National Park, to study the gibbon's behaviour. OuTrop has studied seven wild gibbon groups and continue to focus on three of them.
2008 WILD CATS & CAMERA TRAPS
BNF began their first camera trap surveys in the LAHG, a special zone within the Sebangau National Park. Using infrared camera traps, they seeked to answer key questions about the behaviour and ecology of Borneo's secretive wild cats.
2010 BLOCKING MAN-MADE DRAINAGE
OuTrop started blocking man-made drainage canals in the LAHG, a special zone within Sebangau National Park by building dams made from sustainably-sourced materials and designed by peat hydrology experts.
2015 FOREST FIRES IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN
In 2015, massive fires raged for months in Central Kalimantan. OuTrop is working to address the root causes of the fires through implementation of our integrated, community-based fire-prevention strategy for the region.
2016 BORNEO NATURE FOUNDATION WAS CREATED
Born out of OuTrop and legally registered as charitable foundation in 2015, they changed their name to Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) to extend our reach and tackle conservation challenges across Borneo. We established our Rungan Programme, working to support the protection of vital orangutan's habitat.
2018 EXPANDING INTO THE HEART OF BORNEO
BNF launched our Barito Ulu Programme, working in the Heart of Borneo to revive research and conservation in the spectacularly bio-diverse and yet unprotected rainforests of northern Central Kalimantan.
2019 COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENT WITH SEBANGAU NATIONAL PARK (BTNS)
BNF officially signed a Collaborative Agreement with Sebangau National Park (BTNS) on May 2019. This agreement serves to consolidate and develop our relationship and collaboration towards their common goal of preserving the biodiversity in Sebangau National Park and strengthening the joint conservation efforts.
2020 ACHIEVEMENT YEAR
BNF received major recognition for our conservation efforts in Borneo when we won the UpLink Trillion Trees Challenge, People's Choice Award at the World Economic Forum and the Keeling Curve Prize.
2022 BNF NOW
BNF always looks forward and strives to protect the Endangered species even more while involving the community and work collaboratively with local stakeholders. BNF hopes, their work can get a bigger impact than before.
Borneo Nature Foundation has been implementing rainforest conservation in Borneo for over 20 years. They partner with local stakeholders to implement landscape-level conservation strategies based on rigorous scientific research, and support communities to develop sustainable livelihoods that complement environmental protection.
1990's FIRST EXPEDITION
Botanists Jack Rieley (University of Nottingham) and Susan Page (University of Leicester) teamed up with Suwido Limin and colleagues at the University of Palangka Raya to conduct fact-finding expeditions into Sebangau's peat-swamp forests.
1995 ORANGUTAN POPULATION DISCOVERY
Helen Morrogh-Bernard and Simon Husson, the zoology undergraduates of Nottingham University, joined the third expedition and undertook the very first orangutan surveys in Sebangau. Incredibly, they discovered that this forest was home to the largest known orangutan population in lowland Borneo.
1999 OUTROP WAS FOUNDED
Helen and Simon founded the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop) to raise awareness of the importance of Sebangau for orangutan conservation and to encourage sustainable management, protection and restoration of this globally-important rainforest.
2003 ORANGUTAN PROJECT
It has been ongoing since 2003 when Helen Morrogh-Bernard, first started to habituate wild orangutans in Natural Laboratory of Peat-swamp Forest, a special zone within the Sebangau National Park and collect data on their behaviour and ecology.
2004 DESIGNATION OF SEBANGAU NATIONAL PARK
OuTrop identified Sebangau as home to the largest orangutan population in lowland Borneo, bringing the region to the forefront of orangutan conservation efforts and contributing in the award of National Park status in 2004
2005 GIBBON PROJECT
Established by Dr. Susan Cheyne in the LAHG, a special zone within the Sebangau National Park, to study the gibbon's behaviour. OuTrop has studied seven wild gibbon groups and continue to focus on three of them.
2008 WILD CATS & CAMERA TRAPS
BNF began their first camera trap surveys in the LAHG, a special zone within the Sebangau National Park. Using infrared camera traps, they seeked to answer key questions about the behaviour and ecology of Borneo's secretive wild cats.
2010 BLOCKING MAN-MADE DRAINAGE
OuTrop started blocking man-made drainage canals in the LAHG, a special zone within Sebangau National Park by building dams made from sustainably-sourced materials and designed by peat hydrology experts.
2015 FOREST FIRES IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN
In 2015, massive fires raged for months in Central Kalimantan. OuTrop is working to address the root causes of the fires through implementation of our integrated, community-based fire-prevention strategy for the region.
2016 BORNEO NATURE FOUNDATION WAS CREATED
Born out of OuTrop and legally registered as charitable foundation in 2015, they changed their name to Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) to extend our reach and tackle conservation challenges across Borneo. We established our Rungan Programme, working to support the protection of vital orangutan's habitat.
2018 EXPANDING INTO THE HEART OF BORNEO
BNF launched our Barito Ulu Programme, working in the Heart of Borneo to revive research and conservation in the spectacularly bio-diverse and yet unprotected rainforests of northern Central Kalimantan.
2019 COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENT WITH SEBANGAU NATIONAL PARK (BTNS)
BNF officially signed a Collaborative Agreement with Sebangau National Park (BTNS) on May 2019. This agreement serves to consolidate and develop our relationship and collaboration towards their common goal of preserving the biodiversity in Sebangau National Park and strengthening the joint conservation efforts.
2020 ACHIEVEMENT YEAR
BNF received major recognition for our conservation efforts in Borneo when we won the UpLink Trillion Trees Challenge, People's Choice Award at the World Economic Forum and the Keeling Curve Prize.
2022 BNF NOW
BNF always looks forward and strives to protect the Endangered species even more while involving the community and work collaboratively with local stakeholders. BNF hopes, their work can get a bigger impact than before.
LEFT PHOTOGRAPH: Director of The Great Call, Allison Carden Hanes (Alli), beside gibbon team Abdul Aziz (Aziz) and Bustani Arifin (Unil) with Head of Research, Indah Sartika Sari, at CIMTROP/BNF Camp
RIGHT PHOTOGRAPH: One Health Productions and Borneo Nature Foundation staff at CIMTROP/BNF Camp
RIGHT PHOTOGRAPH: One Health Productions and Borneo Nature Foundation staff at CIMTROP/BNF Camp
Photographs by Lucky Aire
CEO at One Health Productions/Director & Producer of The Great Call
- Allison Carden Hanes
This gibbon day wraps up many years of investigative research, preparation and a great deal of time with our characters, colleagues and partners in Europe, Kalimantan and Siberut, the Mentawai Islands. We are so grateful for everyone that has been a part of this thorough and long process. We believe this year has been a great success and we hope to move on to our final location next year - China. To learn more or support The Great Call project please email us directly at info@onehealthproductions.com. We look forward to chatting with you!
Terima kasih banyak!
- Alli
Terima kasih banyak!
- Alli