Cablegate: Heart of Borneo: Protecting the World's Oldest

VZCZCXRO5473
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB
DE RUEHKL #1835/01 2730101
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300101Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7641
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001835

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

OES FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCMURRAY
INTERIOR FOR FWS/INTERNATIONAL AND NPS/INTERNATIONAL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV TBIO MY BX ID
SUBJECT: HEART OF BORNEO: PROTECTING THE WORLD'S OLDEST
FOREST

REF: BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 0497

1. (U) Portions of this message are sensitive but
unclassified.

SIPDIS

2. (U) Summary: Malaysian support for the Heart of Borneo
(HOB) conservation initiative is solidifying at all levels.
WWF, which is actively promoting the initiative, expects the
leaders of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei to sign a
declaration formally launching the HOB program at the
December ASEAN Summit. During a visit to Sabah State, in
northern Borneo, the Ambassador found broad support for HOB
among public and private sector stakeholders, as well as
appreciation for the Secretary,s July announcement that the
U.S. would be contributing $100,000 to the initiative.
Sabahan supporters viewed the USG pledge as a significant
expression of global interest in HOB that would raise the
profile of the project within the three governments and
encourage their efforts to launch it. Environmental
activists working to protect orangutans and other endangered
species are pleased that HOB would facilitate the creation of
critical migratory corridors between the fragmented parks of
the island, as well as increase the area of tropical forest
land preserved from development. Delivering quickly on our
funding pledge will help sustain momentum toward the formal
launch of this multinational effort to protect and preserve
the world,s oldest rainforest. We also should be working
now to line up more substantial and sustained funding, which
could be announced immediately following the release of the
HOB declaration in December. End summary.

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Protecting the World,s Oldest and Most Biodiverse Forest
--------------------------------------------- -----------

3. (U) The undisturbed primary forest of Borneo is 130
million years old, far older than the forests of Brazil and
Africa and rivaled in age only by the Daintree Forest of
northern Australia. The longer time span has allowed for the
evolution of greater biodiversity, the range and depth of
which is still unplumbed. Over the past decade in Borneo,
previously unknown species of plants and animals have been
discovered at an average rate of 3 per month. The area
provides habitat for 54 species listed as endangered or
critically endangered by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN),
including the orangutan and the Sumatran rhino; as well as
species such as the Malayan sun bear that IUCN suspects may
be endangered, but that have been so poorly studied that
there is insufficient data to confirm their status.

4. (U) Borneo,s forests extend across three national
borders ) Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei ) and the border
between two Malaysian states ) Sabah and Sarawak. Much of
the natural environment has been severely degraded by
logging, the establishment of plantations (particularly palm
oil), and mining and other extractive activities.
Significant swaths of primary and secondary forest remain,
however, in 23 different parks and conservation areas
maintained by the nine different government entities on the
island (the three national and two Malaysian state
governments mentioned above, and the four Indonesian
provinces of Kalimantan). As conceived and promoted by the
conservation organization WWF, the Heart of Borneo (HOB)
program would coordinate and expand the conservation efforts
of these governments in an integrated program covering as
much as 220,000 square kilometers ) an area roughly the size
of the state of Minnesota.

5. (SBU) WWF has been careful to respect the sensibilities
of the governments concerned and insists that it is acting
only as a catalyst. Nevertheless, WWF-Malaysia expects that
WWF headquarters soon will designate HOB as one of only five
&Class A8 projects that the organization deems to be the
world,s top conservation priorities. Policymakers from
Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei discussed HOB and approved the
concept in principle at the July 2006 ASEAN ministerial
meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The Secretary pledged $100,000 to
support HOB during her visit to KL for the ministerial.
Since July, officials of the three countries, with support
and encouragement from WWF, have been working through the
steps necessary to formally launch the initiative. In
Malaysia, these efforts have focused on bringing the two
state governments of Sabah and Sarawak on board. (Comment:
Malaysian state governments have a measure of independence
from the Federal government, in particular in matters of land
and forest usage. Buy in from Sabah and Sarawak will be
critical to the success of HOB.) The Malaysian internal

KUALA LUMP 00001835 002 OF 003

process culminated in a meeting on the island of Labuan (off
Western Sabah) September 21-22, at which all parties agreed
in principle to support HOB. While work continues within and
between the three national governments to finalize
arrangements, WWF officials are optimistic that the leaders
of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei will sign a declaration
formally launching the Heart of Borneo initiative at the
ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines December 10-13, 2006.

-----------------------------------
Critical Role of Wildlife Corridors
-----------------------------------

6. (U) Ambassador and Economic Counselor visited the Danum
Valley conservation area in Eastern Sabah ) one of the
proposed keystone parks for the Heart of Borneo program )
and Kota Kinabalu, the state capital, to discuss HOB with
government officials, researchers, environmentalists and
other stakeholders. The trip also provided opportunities for
public outreach to highlight U.S. support for nature
conservation worldwide and the Secretary,s funding pledge
for HOB in particular. The primary forest of the Danum
Valley contrasts starkly with the logged-over secondary
forest on its borders, yet 10 years of research by the
husband-and-wife team of Dr. Isabelle Lackman and Marc
Acrenaz, directors of the local NGO Hutan, has convinced them
that orangutans, pygmy elephants and other species indigenous
to Borneo can survive even in secondary forest zones under
the right conditions. One key measure is to ensure that
natural corridors are preserved to allow animals to migrate
freely between conserved areas. Lackman and Acrenaz cited
genetic research showing that the estimated 1100 orangutans
living in the Kinabatangan River Valley of Eastern Sabah, an
area where palm oil cultivation is widespread, live in 10
different family groupings that rarely intermingle. Unless
this situation changes, inbreeding could lead to the
extinction of these isolated groups within two to three
decades. They expressed strong support for the potential of
the Heart of Borneo to address this type of challenge by
linking up protected habitat areas with established migratory
corridors.

7. (U) Another local researcher, Wong Siew Te of the Danum
Valley Research Center (and a Phd. candidate of the
University of Montana) highlighted the important role wild
pigs play in sustaining Borneo,s forests. Seeds from the
dipterocarp trees that make up 90 percent of the native
primary forest are a significant food source for Borneo,s
&bearded pig.8 Historically, herds of pigs propagated the
tree seeds in wide ranging migrations. Wong cited accounts
of migrations of thousands of pigs, which sometimes took half
a day to pass a given point. Such mass migrations no longer
occur in Eastern Sabah. Wong acknowledged that he has no
research to support his supposition, but he believes the
absence of mass migrations is due to the break up of large
forested areas by logging, plantations and other human
activities. He speculates that this will lead to a decline
in new tree recruitment that will become noticeable in the
next 10-20 years. Like Lackman and Acrenaz, he supports the
creation of wildlife corridors that would be facilitated by
Heart of Borneo.

----------------------------
Appreciation for USG Support
----------------------------

8. (SBU) Public and private sector stakeholders in Sabah
expressed appreciation for the Secretary,s funding pledge.
In a joint press conference with the Ambassador at the Kota
Kinabalu Wetlands Center, WWF-Malaysia Chairman Tengku Zainal
Adlin called the U.S. contribution a &significant expression
of global interest8 in Heart of Borneo. Speaking to the
media, he stressed that WWF was only a catalyst and
emphasized that the individual governments would decide the
best approach to managing their resources. In private
conversation, he said he thought the U.S. contribution would
raise the profile of the project within the three governments
and encourage their efforts to launch it.

9. (SBU) Deputy Chief Minister for Tourism and the
Enviroment Chong Kah Kiat told the Ambassador the Sabah State
government &is all for a WWF-led Heart of Borneo.8 When
Tengku Adlin demurred and said that governments needed to be
in the lead, Deputy CM Chong countered &do not expect the
governments to take the initiative.8 &You must push,8 he
told the WWF-Malaysia Chairman, &otherwise no one will
push.8 Chong also lauded the Secretary,s pledge as a means
to raise the profile of HOB and encourage the support of

KUALA LUMP 00001835 003 OF 003

senior leaders in the three national governments. He
stressed the need for &strong support at the political
level8 to overcome vested interests.

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Maintaining Momentum
--------------------

10. (SBU) Comment: We did not encounter any of the concerns
reftel reports with the size of the U.S. pledge. However,
two months have passed and at some point questions will start
to be asked about how and when the pledge will be
implemented. Delivering quickly on the Secretary,s promise
will help sustain momentum toward the formal launch of this
multinational effort to protect and preserve the world,s
oldest rainforest. We also should be working now to line up
more substantial and sustained funding, which ideally would
be announced immediately following the release of the HOB
declaration in December. The Heart of Borneo project will
take years to plan and implement, and will require a large
measure of deferred gratification from the people of Borneo.
A clear global commitment to provide significant long-term
funding for this effort will give the governments involved
the confidence they need to undertake it.
LAFLEUR

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