Borneo holiday, Highlights of Borneo

Environment:
On this tour, you will visit the famous Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah, founded in 1964, to rehabilitate orphan orang-utans. The site is 43 square kilometres of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60 to 80 orang-utans are living free in the reserve. The facility provides medical care for orphaned and confiscated orang-utans as well as dozens of other wildlife species. Some of the other animals which end up being treated at the centre include:- sun bears, gibbons, Sumatran rhinos and the occasional injured elephants. A visit to the Sepilok Rehabilitation centre benefits the orang-utans in a number of ways - as the entrance fees paid to the centre goes directly to paying the staff, providing the food and the training of specialist guides to rehabilitate the orang-utans back into the wild. Donations are welcomed by the centre although not a condition of entry and we separately urge all our clients to donate a small amount for their visit.

The Nature Reserve, located beside Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort, has a forest garden planted with different types of trees and plants to encourage the habitation of insects and small wildlife. Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Hotels Environmental Initiative. In accordance with the Group's environmental policy, all Shangri-La and Traders hotels have "Green Programs" to identify ways to reduce wastage, eradicate practices that damage the environment and generally promote environmental awareness. Staying at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort benefits the visitor in terms of educating clients to the conservation of the orang-utans. The hotel directly funds the Nature Reserve and again employs local specialists in rehabilitating the orang-utans with the ultimate aim of releasing them back into the wild.

Community:
Our local ground operator owns and operates a number of eco-lodges which are included in this itinerary. Accommodation has all been locally built and is run and operated by local people. The main purpose of these trips is to interact and contribute to local communities and projects and understand the need to minimize any negative impact on the local environment. Our ground agents only employ local guides to accompany our clients. All food in the lodges is sourced locally, helping the local rural communities wherever possible.