Heart of Borneo Highlands Eco Challenge II underway
BARIO: The Heart of Borneo Highlands Eco Challenge II has finally kicked off in the highlands of Long Pa’ Sia’, Sabah after a year-long preparation.
An enthusiastic group of adventurous people comprising about 20 participants will walk in the footsteps of the early settlers of the highlands, who used to travel on foot between Long Pa’ Sia’ to Long Semadoh in Sarawak with some continuing on to Ba’ Kelalan and Bario, and to Long Bawan in North Kalimantan, through challenging terrain and cool weather, yet beautiful mountainous landscape in the Bornean rainforest.
According to a press release, the event, which started on July 20 and will end on July 29, is organised by the Alliance of the Indigenous Peoples of The Highlands of Borneo ( Formadat).
“Eco- challengers will walk past historical sites of the people living in the highlands of Sabah, Sarawak and North Kalimantan, as well as lush paddy fields that produce the fragrant Adan rice and Bario rice.
“The routes were once used as migratory paths thousands years ago by the highlanders.
“The eco- challenge is not a competition but an ecotourism event that relives history, culture and stewardship of nature in the highlands.
“It aims at promoting the importance of conservation in the highlands and preserving its history, nature and culture. So the concept of treading lightly, taking nothing but photographs, and leaving nothing but footprints, is core to the organiser and participants,” the press release stated.
Meanwhile, Formadat also hopes that the eco- challenge would grow into a signature event in the Heart of Borneo’s highlands that emphasises on ecotourism and at the same time benefit the local people.
“These benefits include increased publicity on the highlands as one of the preferred ecotourism destinations in Sarawak, Sabah and North Kalimantan.
“The number of participants is kept small to reduce the potential impact upon the environment in the highlands, which is sensitive to changes,” it said.
Formadat is a trans-boundary, grassroots initiative that aims to increase awareness and understanding of the highland communities, maintain cultural traditions, build local capacity, and encourage sustainable development in the Heart of Borneo without risking the degradation of the quality of the social and natural environment.