In the center of Brunei’s lush and pristine jungle, ecotourism provides economic opportunities for local individuals who have long struggled to search out a path to prosperity.
Brunei stays the least visited country within the ASEAN region by way of tourists. However, these numbers have steadily increased in recent times as more government support has flowed into the sector and the country’s natural gems have change into more widely known.
In 2008, Leslie Chiang was seeking to start his own tourism business and located space and inspiration within the wilderness around Ulu Temburong National Park.
The site where he established the Sumbiling Eco Village (SEV) is positioned within the midst of one in all the best-preserved areas of primary rainforest in all of Borneo. Originally from Malaysia, Chiang saw the ruggedness and potential of Brunei and felt nostalgia for a landscape that had been lost in lots of other parts of the region.
“When I first came here, it was an abandoned rice field,” Chiang said. “First I saw the gorgeous river, then all this, I fell in love with it. This is beauty.
Over the past decade, Chiang has been growing SEV into what he calls a “sustainable and profitable” business. It welcomes visitors from throughout Brunei and the world, including groups of curious students from local schools, backpackers and older adventurers.
Its concept has evolved to follow the increasingly popular tourist trend – glamping. On the picturesque river bank he pitched several large, equipped tents with electricity and comfy mattresses.
“The younger generation lives in the city, uses more mobile phones, the Internet and so on. That’s why they are a bit absent,” he said. “So my goal is to encourage them to get back to, you know, nature.”
But at the guts of this endeavor is its role in providing opportunities for Indigenous landowners. The Iban – also often known as “dayak” – migrated to Temburong from other parts of Borne
about over 100 years ago. They have traditionally relied heavily on the jungle and small-scale agriculture to survive, and have had difficulty finding formal employment.
Now they’re retooling tours to teach visitors concerning the local environment and use their jungle skills to reap fresh produce for SEV.
“We provide them with jobs, and we also indirectly, in a slow way, tell them to continue their way of life, in a sustainable way,” Chiang said. “We involved about 20 families: some directly, some not directly. Previously, they didn’t have a everlasting job, so most of them went to the forest searching for food or fishing, and sometimes odd jobs.
“This place is… a showcase for the local people which you could still benefit from the jungle but it could still be kept in pristine condition.”
Source: This is a component of an article originally published in Asia News Channel
