Earlier this year the British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership began collaborating on its biggest biodiversity conservation project to date, known as the Borneo Programme.

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

It is taking place in Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo, and will feature 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 are 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. In Indonesian Borneo, Earthwatch are 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.