Why Wildlife & Trees? A Trip to Borneo.

About 25 years ago I was travelling through Kalimantan on the island of Borneo by boat as part of an epic 18 month backpacking trip ahead of the year 2000. The only way to get around was to hitch a ride by boat from one village to the next, which meant we got to go deep into the jungles and were fortunate enough to see wildlife like Orangutans living freely in the trees.  Our Lonely Planet had suggested a handful of stops along the way. One Rain Forest stands out in my mind.  After quite a detour to get there, we arrived at midday, in the 40 degree heat, only to find it had been decimated by slash-and-burn deforestation. The only living things poking out of the de-forested landscape were a few exotic orchids that seemed immune to it all.

 That evening, we pulled up to a tiny village built on stilts at the rivers edge, hoping to find accommodation for the night. As we clambered off the boat, I was devastated to find a young female Orang-Utan tied to the wharf by a short chain around her neck. She looked at us with pleading eyes, baring her teeth. 

The whole day was such a shock and an eye opener. The country was wild back then, no infrastructure at all, you could only travel by boat through the rivers, cutting across through the jungle from one tributary to the next, somehow navigating  through from one ramshackle village to the next. The indigenous Dayak communities still mostly in loin cloth, hunting in the forest, adorned with stick-and-poke tattoos.

Yet the people (the Orang) of the forest (the Utan) and ‘the people of the forest’ 

they call Orang-Utan, had no control over their futures. 

When I left the country, I stopped by the first internet cafe to email the details and location of the chained Orang-Utan female to the WWF. I doubt it helped back then. So when Bruce and I were discussing the future of local manufacture in New Zealand and our sustainability intentions, the idea of funding a give-back project in lieu of gifts led me to these two projects and our little orphan, Popi.  

We are delighted to be able to help thanks to you, our clients.

Read more about Popi in the Blog Post entitled "Meet Popi".