In 2008 the British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership began collaborating on an ambitious project - Maintaining Ecosystem Services in the Forests of South East Asia known as the Borneo Programme.

Sunrise over Danum Valley Conservation Area. (Photo Credit: Dzaeman Dzulkifli)

Forests provide vital ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, watershed protection and local climate regulation, yet the forests of SE Asia are suffering rapid degradation and conversion. Borneo was selected as a focus because it lies in one of the 25 global Biodiversity Hotspots and falls within two important countries for BAT. The programme is taking place in Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo, and features biodiversity conservation projects on the ground involving the NGO partners, Earthwatch Institute, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and the Tropical Biology Association (TBA). The programme aims to build capacity in the maintenance and restoration of forest ecosystem services in the region, as well as generating lessons for other forest projects elsewhere.

The Partners are working closely together and providing their expertise to support the overarching objectives of the programme, which are:

• Capacity-building for British American Tobacco staff in native forest ecosystem service management and monitoring
• Capacity-building for South East Asian forest managers, conservation scientists and institutions in native forest ecosystem management and monitoring
• Lessons learned and models generated for native forest restoration and conservation projects

British American Tobacco’s role in the Borneo Programme will be to coordinate communications and support between partners, British American Tobacco companies, local stakeholders and institutions in Borneo. Employees from the South East Asia region will actively participate in aspects of the Programme. The Biodiversity Partnership will capture the lessons from the Borneo Programme and hope to provide the means by which this programme can benefit the region, the partners and contribute to improving biodiversity conservation issues.

Earthwatch is working in Malaysian Borneo to raise awareness of forest ecosystem services among BAT staff in the region, and are also supporting research on native forest restoration to build a strategy for increasing biodiversity and ecosystem value of forests. Teams of BAT staff worked on the research project in 2008 and 2009, and plans are under way for another team in November 2010. In Indonesian Borneo, Earthwatch is assisting FFI in assessing High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF). Using expertise from the Partnership South East Asian Bats project, Earthwatch is increasing the capacity of the monitoring programme by studying bats as an indicator of forest ecosystem health (bats act as pollinators).

Fauna and Flora International are developing a model for the sustainable management of unprotected HCVF and Orangutan populations living within. This model aims to build the capacity of local stakeholders to identify, monitor and protect HCVF. They are working on sustainable financing through a carbon financing mechanism; Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). FFI are also engaging with Export Leaf Indonesia and local stakeholders to improve their understanding of native forest management.

The Tropical Biology Association will deliver capacity building and technical training courses to local stakeholders and institutions engaged in forest management. One course and one specialist workshop was delivered in Danum Valley and Sabah, Malaysia, during 2009, with a third course planned for 2010. The training will increase skills and develop capacity in key biodiversity and ecosystem research and management. Furthermore, it will catalyse new projects on the management of forested ecosystems and develop an information-sharing/support network amongst stakeholders. Researchers and conservation managers from other local projects (including FFI and EW Projects) will share lessons learned during the courses on indicators of ecosystem health and how high conservation forest ecosystems can be protected.