Borneo tailor made tour

Planet

Tunku Abdul Rahman National Marine Park
On this trip we visit Gaya Island, the largest of five islands located within the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Marine Park. Spanning an area of 50 square kilometres, the park’s waters are home to an abundance of marine life including turtles and rays, reef sharks and numerous species of clownfish. Whilst on land, primary forest covers the islands and plays host to diverse flora and fauna including Proboscis Monkey. Tunku Abdul Rahman was designated a national park in 1974, and consequently the area’s flora, fauna and marine eco-systems are now protected.

The Gaya Island hotels we work with are 100% committed to ecologically-sustainable practices and involved in conservation programmes to protect the wildlife and preserve the natural environment. These eco-focused initiatives include coral reef restoration; the rescue & rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles and proboscis monkey preservation.

Niah National Park
This Borneo itinerary travels to Niah National Park in Sarawak, one of Borneo’s smallest national parks. Niah is an area of major archaeological significance where human remains dating back 40,000 years were excavated in 1958, and ancient cave paintings discovered on the walls of the limestone caverns. As a national park it lies under the protection of the Sarawak Forestry Corporation which is committed to sustainable forest management and the protection of flora and fauna within the park. The park’s cave systems are home to swiftlets whose unique nests are a sought-after Chinese delicacy. Historically the local community have made a sizeable income from the collection and sale of these nests, with swiftlet numbers declining as a result. However, the national park now operate a conservation programme to education the locals and preserve the swiftlet population.

In Niah NP we work closely with a local travel partner who adheres to our responsible travel policies. The local guides know the region well and are able to offer in-depth information on the national park, the wildlife and local communities; as well as first-hand knowledge on the challenges faced in terms of preservation of their local environment.

In order to truly contribute towards a healthier planet, we believe in putting our efforts into travelling responsibly and donating towards conservation projects. This is why we’ve put together the Selective Earth Programme, which offers all our clients the opportunity to contribute towards conservation projects in Asia. We have teamed up with the World Land Trust (WLT) – an international conservation charity who actively conserve Asia’s rainforest whilst supporting local communities. We work closely with the trust to identify which projects are a priority for funding, to ensure our donations keep on making a difference. We are currently contributing towards the conservation of the Khe Nuoc Trong forest, in Vietnam, as well as planting fruit trees in the surrounding communities.

People

Remote Minority Groups
We are of the staunch opinion that minorities aren’t tourist attractions, any more than children are. All our holidays that take place in and around minority communities are set up with the locals’ best interests at heart and we work with partners who do everything possible to ensure that the entire community benefits from our visits. This Borneo itinerary travels to the remote Kelabit Highlands where life has remained unchanged for generations.

The experience has not been manufactured for foreign tourists; accommodation is provided in the home of a local family. It’s an excellent opportunity for clients to immerse themselves in authentic local life, but we are conscious that this does not have a negative impact on the local people and the income generated from these visits directly benefits the whole community.

Local partners.
We actively choose local guides and drivers, and work only with local travel partners. We insist that any travel partners we work with adhere to our responsible travel policies, and ideally put responsible tourism at the heart of everything they do. We work collaboratively with them to ensure an ongoing exchange of information, so we can all continue to improve our work around responsible tourism.