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30th August, 2010
KINABATANGAN: Cornwall College students have just completed a two-week field course working in the rain forest around the Kinabatangan River in Sabah.
Their trip to the Danau Girang Field Centre, which is run jointly by the Sabah Wildlife Department and Cardiff University, is hoped to be the first of many.
Dr Andrew Smart, who led the trip said: “The work we carried out focused mainly on the river and freshwater system in the forest which compliments work by Cardiff University. This year we have had a small group who worked hard establishing the methods we will use in the future for long term monitoring of changes in the freshwater systems as the forest becomes more isolated.”
Students worked on profiling the river, which is over 20m deep in places, identifying frogs in the forest pools, catching and identifying fish species and cataloguing the birds along the river and their territories.
“By doing this we can monitor the health of the river which is vital for the forest and for the local people,” said Dr Hazel Selley who was also on the trip.
The students were lucky enough to see orangutans, saltwater crocodiles and the Bornean elephant.
“We were so lucky to see the elephant three times,” said Amy Solman, a student on a Wildlife and Media Foundation Degree.
“I filmed the trip for my second year project and have hours of footage of wildlife and students working on the project,” she added.
One of the highlights of the trip was a day travelling down river to the mangroves at the river mouth and stopping to share a meal with a local fisherman and his family.
“We ate prawns and rice and a speciality called ‘Sabah Veggie’ a dish of forest fern,” said Leanne Hatt who has just finished her Zoological Conservation Foundation Degree.
The students also travelled to Gomantong Caves where they saw millions of bats emerge at dusk.
“We saw bat hawks catching the bats as they came out, one of the highlights of a fantastic trip, now I’m planning how to come back to Borneo next year,” said Patrick Davies, another Wildlife Education and Media student.
Sam Dyer who is on a Zoological Conservation course summed up the trip by saying: “I never thought I’d be interested in fish and snails but working in the forest was fantastic and we saw so many brilliant animals, understanding the small things helps you understand how the rain forest works and how we can help protect it.”
Dave Linnell, CEO of the Cornwall College Group applauded the students.
“I understand this was a successful field course with students working 12 – 18 hour days to get all the projects completed,” said Mr Linnell.
“I am very pleased that this project has been so useful in working with Cardiff University and the Sabah Wildlife Department and am sure it is the first of many run by Dr Smart and his colleagues at Newquay,” he added.
“Field courses such as the one run by Dr Smart from Cornwall College to investigate how the river and the forest work together will provide useful information to the Sabah Wildlife Department for better management of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary ecosystems,” concluded Dr Benoit Goossens, director of the field centre.
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