Biodiversity Conservation Programme (BIOCOP), Brunei Nature Society

Some of the older members of the Biodiversity Conservation Programme (BIOCOP, BNS)
Some of the new BIOCOP members


Two years ago when I started doing my Ph.D. in Biology in UBD, Dr. Joseph Charles introduced me to three young second year UBD students. They were from the BSc. Biological Sciences and BSc. Education Programmes and they volunteered to help me in my fieldwork. These girls wereare tough and they survived well in the forests with the high humidity and the ever-present mosquitoes. Later on they introduced a few of their friends to my work and those are now my most trusted volunteers. Over time we have become the best of buddies.

A year later, a great opportunity came for us to spend few weeks in the Kuala Belalong Field Studiesy Centre helping out in the ASEF (Asia-Europe Foundation) University programme. All the volunteers in my fieldwork and me were assigned to help out in different research projects. We worked in the forest most days from morning till late afternoon helping the lecturers in conducting and supervising university students from around the world. When night fell,s thatis wasis the time when we all foundwould find ourselves gathering togetheraccumulating in the labs and talkinged about everything under the sun.

One night after enduring many days of hard-hitting heavy fieldworks in the beautiful forests of Belalong, we were all feeling a bit down about the miserable state of the environment in Brunei Darussalam. Here we are, living in a country where most of the forests are still intact and in their pristine conditions, and not many people understands the beauty of it and appreciate the aesthetic values of our heritage. So we all felt pretty depressed ad helpless as to what willould be the future of Brunei’s grand forests. Then came Dr Charles the wise man! He said why don’t we the young Bruneian students start a program that teaches people about the value of our own forests.

We were thrilled about the idea of actually doing something positive about the environment! And all of us agreed to be involved in this programme, each playing a part in ensuring the programme will run well. After much discussion between us and Dr Charles, we came up with a name for this environmental programme. We called it the Biodiversity Conservation Programme (BIOCOP), and decided to request the incorporate it as part of the BBrunei Nature Society (BNS) to incorporate it as one of its activities. , which tThehe President of Brunei Nature Society NS kindly agreed to take the programme under its wings and obtained approval from the Natural History Section of the Brunei Museum for this group to carry out various research projects in Brunei..

With Dr Charles as the advisor for the BIOCOP conservation programme, we began to identify potential started to work on various research projects of conservation value. We liaise ourselves with the Natural History Section, Brunei Museum so that we can help them to carry out scientific research in Brunei. ThroughWith the implementation of BIOCOP, we hope to inculcate conservation awareness to the general public on the importance of protecting and managingconserving Brunei’s wild flora and fauna.

There are two stages in the ConservationBIOCOP programmes. The first stage involves the collection of scientific data by volunteers, analyses of data and the sharing of scientific information withto relevant government agencies e.g. Brunei Museum. The second stage involves presentation of the collected data and information to different villages and schools to raise awareness on issues relevant to the area.

We have proposed a 10 years proposed programmejects as follows:

2007 – 2008
Wildlife biodiversity in kerangas forests in Brunei Darussalam

2009 – 2010
Wildlife biodiversity in peat swamp forests in Brunei Darussalam

2011 – 2012
Status of the lesser adjutant, an endangered stork species in
Brunei Darussalam

2013 – 2014
Status, distribution and abundance of tarsiers in Brunei Darussalam

2015 – 2016
Status of the proboscis monkey in Brunei Darussalam

So far we are actively involved in scientific activities conducted by UBD and the Brunei Museum. Some ofBelow are the various projects that we have conducted so far:

2005
• Setting up of BIOCOP under Brunei Nature Society
• Asia Europe Foundation University Programme (Small mammal trapping)

2006
• Egret surveys along Brunei Bay
• An educational trip to Kinabatangan and Mt Kinabalu (self-sponsored)
• Release programme organized by the Natural History Section, Brunei Museum
• Wildlife surveys using camera trapping in various Kerangas forests

2007
• Egret surveys along Brunei Bay
• Wildlife surveys using cage and camera trapping in various Kerangas forests
• An educational trip to Pulau Selirong
• Some of the volunteers participated in the Heart of Borneo Peat Swamp visit
• Release programme organized by the Natural History Section, Brunei Museum
• A workshop on Turtle Conservation in Brunei Fisheries Department
• Bushy – crested hornbills observation in Bukit Patoi, Temburong
• Bird sighting competition in Bang Nalud, Tutong
• Preparation for wildlife exhibition to be held mid 2009
• A conservation presentation given to UBD students and general public

2008
• Wildlife surveys using cage and camera trapping in various pristine and disturbed
Kerangas forests
• Some of the volunteers participated in the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary Expedition
in Sarawak
• Preparation for wildlife exhibition to be held mid 2009
• A conservation presentation given to UBD students and general public