Tags: Rainforest

News From The Field: Creatures of the Night

January, 11 2019


Dusk approaches along the banks of the Sekonyer River in Tanjung Puting National Park, the gateway to Camp Leakey. Orangutans have already made their nests and hunkered down for the night. In the national park, especially during the high season in July and August, holidaymakers slumber on the kelotoks (houseboats used for tourism) parked on…

Read More

Zooming in on ‘Forest Fragmentation’

August, 31 2017


Harmful consequences of Palm Oil plantations for Biodiversity – Zooming in on ‘Forest Fragmentation’ You might have heard that the production of palm oil is very damaging to our global environment and tropical biodiversity.[1] Acres of rainforest are cleared every hour, displacing or killing the many animals who live in them, including the critically endangered…

Read More

Insects of the Bornean Rainforest Part 1: Caterpillars

March, 31 2017


If you spend ten minutes in the forests of Borneo, you might not see the thousands of insects that surround you, but you will hear them. Life bursts from every inch of this biologically rich environment, from the branches that provide highways for ants, to the sheltering cracks and crevices in the trees, to the…

Read More

A Look Back at the History of Iconic Camp Leakey

April, 6 2016


When Birute Mary Galdikas ventured deep into the heart of Borneo in 1971 as a young graduate student, it was in pursuit of a long sought-after dream – that of exploring an ancient tropical rainforest and discovering more about the mystery held within it: the Bornean orangutan. Dr. Galdikas was fascinated by these animals we…

Read More

Preserving Peatland Rainforest Saves Orangutans... and the Global Climate

March, 7 2009


Most rainforests in Borneo and Sumatra, home to the orangutan, are distributed on peatlands which are typically low, swampy areas that are seasonally flooded. These rainforests are like no others in the world. Part of their uniqueness lies in their large capacity for storing carbon dioxide which is the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global…

Read More