Project Bawan 2015 by Fxpeditions Kernow

Project Bawan 2015 A preliminary herpetological survey of Bawan Forest, Borneo Expedition Report 13th August â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10th September 2015

S. Hedges, A. Rosen, R. Gruffydd, D. Maskrey, L. Bienfait and Z. Hughes Published September 2016

Project Bawan 2015 Bawan Karangas Forest, Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia

Aim To test the eﬀec9veness of herpetological survey techniques in an Indonesian peatland rainforest, and to achieve a baseline es9mate of herpetological diversity in Bawan Forest.

Authors Sophie Hedges, Alice Rosen, Rhodri Gruﬀydd, Daniel Maskrey, Louise Bienfait and Zoe Hughes Compiled by Sophie Hedges, Edited by Alice Rosen

Photography Alice Rosen, Louise Bienfait, Sophie Hedges

Address Sophie Hedges 19 Crown Road Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AG shedges.49@googlemail.com www.fxpedi9ons.org

Trusts, Grants and Institutional Support University of Exeter, Whitley Award, Borneo Nature Founda9on (previously OuTrop), CIMTROP, Falmouth and Exeter Student’s Union, Rotary Club of Axminster, Axminster and District Lions Club

Whilst in Borneo we had the privilege of mee9ng with the director of CIMTROP and one of the foremost peatland experts and conserva9onists, Dr Suwido Limin. We were very sorry to hear of his death on the 6th of June 2016. An interna9onally esteemed professor at the University of Palangkaraya, he dedicated his life to the research and conserva9on of peatland rainforests in Kalimantan. He helped to found and also led CIMTROP, The Centre for Interna9onal Coopera9on in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland, and through collabora9on with OuTrop he also helped maintain the Sabangau Rainforest, and the delicate but thriving ecosystem which it houses. We have enormous gra9tude for all of his work and for allowing us to experience the incredible ecosystems which he helped to preserve. We oﬀer our sincere condolences to his family, friends and all those aﬀected by this tragedy.

Acknowledgements This expedi9on would not have been possible without the help and support of our many collaborators and sponsors. From the UK, thanks must go to Ben Toulson and Hannah Royle, both of whom provided invaluable advice and support on eﬀec9ve budge9ng and organisa9on prior to our departure. Credit should also go to Frank van Veen and Helen Morrogh-‐Bernard, who acted as our mentors throughout the organisa9onal process and were on-‐hand whenever any major problems arose. In Borneo, Bernat Ripoll, Simon Husson and Pak Suwido Limin were vital to the expedi9on’s success and provided a huge amount of help, including in sourcing equipment, arrangements for visas, introducing us to the residents of Bawan village and much more. We would also like to express our immense gra9tude to Iwan, Hanapi, Lis, and Sofyan, whose help and humour made the expedi9on the fantas9c experience it was. Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors: The Les Haplin Trust, The Whitley Wildlife Conserva9on Trust, The Rotary Club of Axminster, Axminster and District Lions Club, and all of our Indiegogo funders: J.L. Bienfait, J.P. Bienfait, Sarah Boddington, G.A. van Hasselt, Antonia Hedges, Ben Hedges, George Hedges, Pamela Hedges, Angela Hughes, Derek Hughes, Samantha Kedle, Emily Munster, Linda Munster, Ronny Munster, Joan Pearce, Amy Rosen, Jayne Rosen, Maurice Rosen, Paul Rosen, Sheila Rosen, Ken Singer, Yvonne Singer, R. Stonehewer-‐Smith, Gerald Tayton, Lynn Tayton, and Margaret Tayton. This expedi9on was an incredible experience and our gra9tude goes to all of the above alongside anyone else who helped us in any way, shape or form, all of whom helped to make it the fantas9c success that it was.

Contents Page Abstract............................................. 6 Overview........................................... 7 Introduc9on...................................... 14 Team Descrip9ons............................ 17 Indonesian Team.............................. 21 Objec9ves......................................... 23 Planning and Prepara9on................. 24 Diary................................................. 27 Research Findings Previous Research............... 55 Introduc9on........................ 56 Methodologies.................... 57 Results................................. 61 Discussion............................ 68 Expedi9on Conclusion...................... 70 Appendices Appendix 1: Bibliography............................................... 73 Appendix 2: Environmental and Social Impacts............. 75 Appendix 3: Local Aitudes............................................ 77 Appendix 4: Des9na9on Area......................................... 78 Appendix 5: Travel and Transport.................................. 81 Appendix 6: Food and Accommoda9on......................... 83 Appendix 7: Materials and Informa9on Sources............ 86 Appendix 8: Permission and Permits.............................. 87 Appendix 9: Communica9ons......................................... 88 Appendix 10: Insurance.................................................. 88 Appendix 11: Fundraising............................................... 89 Appendix 12: Medical Arrangements............................. 90 Appendix 13: Risks and Hazards..................................... 93 Appendix 14: I9nerary.................................................... 94 Appendix 15: Income and Expenditure.......................... 95 Appendix 16: Suitability of Equipment........................... 96 Appendix 17: Risk Assessment....................................... 97

Colled’s tree frog © Alice Rosen

Abstract Project Bawan 2015 set out to test the effec9veness of herpetological survey techniques in a peatland rainforest, and to achieve a baseline es9mate of the herpetological diversity of Bawan Forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. We hope this was the first of many more expedi9ons to the area, allowing opportuni9es to expand on current knowledge of the site by prac9sing a range of surveying techniques. Peatland rainforests are home to many wonderful endemic species, but many are data deficient and effec9ve conserva9on strategies cannot be implemented without a prior understanding of the baseline biodiversity. We conducted visual encounter surveys and pimall trapping to assess the herpetological diversity of Bawan. Our expedi9on aims to make a vital contribu9on to the conserva9on of peatland rainforests whilst providing crucial insight into the ecological importance of this unique habitat. By returning to Bawan in the future we can build an irrefutable case for protec9ng the rich peatland forests of Borneo.

Aqua9c swamp toad © Alice Rosen

Overview This expedi9on was an ambi9ous project in which we planned and executed a pilot study of herpetological surveying techniques in a peatland rainforest. During our stay at Bawan the camp was set up and developed into one which could host future expedi9ons to the forest and accommodate survey teams from BNF (Borneo Nature Founda9on – previously OuTrop, the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project). We are op9mis9c that future expedi9on teams will be able to carry out surveys at Bawan, using our knowledge of effec9ve techniques and expanding on them. Beginning our exci9ng journey, we travelled from London Heathrow to Doha and on to Jakarta. We then took a domes9c flight to Palangkaraya on the island of Borneo itself. Here we met our in-‐ country supporters, BNF, and our sponsor CIMTROP (Center for Interna9onal Coopera9on in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland). We spent a few days sor9ng out travel arrangements and the feasibility of geing research visas. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen problems with the applica9on process, we were unable to obtain permits in 9me for the start of our expedi9on. We therefore had to limit our plan to prac9cing surveying methods in different environments. However, we hope to assist a future expedi9on group to travel out to Bawan, surveying herpetofauna (amphibians and rep9les) and to publish the resul9ng data.

Old logging railway © Sophie Hedges

Next, we travelled to BNF’s Sabangau forest camp on the edge of Palangkaraya. The thrilling journey began by following a small river in shallow boats (klodoks), taking us to the forest edge. We were immediately stunned by a sigh9ng of a stork-‐billed kingfisher and a snake winding through the water around us. The final stage of the journey into Sabangau forest was on an old logging train across a mile of recovering forest. The cart seemed to balance perilously on the rickety wooden track, yet the journey was made safely many 9mes a day by visitors to Sabangau. At the camp we took our first precarious steps along a narrow boardwalk into the depths of the forest. Here we prac9ced naviga9on skills, using our equipment and seing up pimall traps. In our methodology this consisted of 4 deep buckets, dug into the ground, with tarpaulin between them ac9ng as drip nets to guide in herpetofauna. On our return to camp back along the boardwalk we stopped in our tracks, having just heard the call of an orangutan. Soon we found ourselves in sight of a huge flange male, who was luckily preoccupied with following a female and juvenile slightly ahead of us. It was a brilliant sight and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have witnessed three wild orangutans, as well as huge monitor lizards and many large, beau9ful buderflies during our stay at Sabangau camp.

Klodok © Alice Rosen

Orangutan at Sabangau © Alice Rosen

On our last day at Sabangau we met with BNF’s camp manager and cook to discuss what was required to run Bawan camp. Back at the office in Palangkaraya we set about buying scien9fic and camp equipment and food from the local market. During this 9me, final repairs were made to Bawan camp by hired locals and BNF staff for our arrival. Bawan camp was more elaborate than any of the team an9cipated and we were pleasantly surprised to have separate sleeping, ea9ng and cooking areas. Mandi (rooms with buckets to shower with) and toilet cubicles had also been built. Over the next few days we set up the camp equipment, including a water pump, bringing water from the river. We cleared the camp of debris and cut a series of 1km transects (straight line paths) in the forest to prac9ce our techniques. When the forest is disturbed by fire or deforesta9on, ferns grow as a pioneer species. We planned to compare these disturbed areas with the undisturbed, dense regions of forest. When cuing transects in the disturbed regions, the ferns were unexpectedly high and thick and the clearer areas didn’t last as long as we had hoped. Our chances of spoing herp9les in this habitat were low; therefore, we decided to compare the environments via our pimall trap technique and walk transects in the undisturbed forest only.

For the next four weeks we walked along the forest transects in the morning and evening. We prac9ced finding and iden9fying amphibians and rep9les, and developed our knowledge of Bornean biodiversity. We also tested out our pimall traps in both the disturbed and undisturbed environments. The pimall traps were unsuccessful in trapping herpetofauna over a period of two weeks so we decided to remove them as they proved to be an unsuccessful technique. There were several factors which could have affected its success, such as the areas being too exposed for herpetofauna to venture there. We would suggest improvements to future teams if they wanted to try this technique again. The variety of amphibians and rep9les in the forest and even around camp was astounding. We found many types of dwarf lider frogs and the Colled’s Tree Frog species exhibi9ng massive varia9on in colour. We also found Lesser Swamp Frogs, various Bent-‐toed Gecko species, Skinks and Pit Vipers to name but a few. Possibly the most surprising encounter was of the Asian Leaf Turtle, classified as ‘Near Threatened’ by the IUCN Red List of threatened species, that weighed more than a kilogram. The expedi9on was enriched with the sights of gibbon, kelasi (red langur monkey) and macaques. It was especially thrilling to wake up to the sounds of gibbon social calls at 5 am almost every morning. Although they were difficult to spot, we heard and had glimpses of exo9c birds such as Hornbills and parrots. The exci9ng mammal species seen ranged from a sleeping porcupine to a stalking clouded leopard. We heard sun bear roars and iden9fied bearded pig tracks. It was a privilege to be in an area of such diversity that undoubtedly increased our sense of the importance of conserving this peatland rainforest. During our 9me at Bawan, we experienced first hand the problems which put the forest and its wildlife at risk. We frequently heard chainsaws in the distance, although this was mainly non-‐ industrial local harves9ng. On the last week of our expedi9on, the camp was shrouded in smoke from far off forest fires which occur frequently during the dry season. This closed the local airport we were due to fly from. This put our connec9on with interna9onal flights at risk but we hired a car and drove for 5 hours to an airport along the coast which was not as badly affected. Despite difficul9es with visas, budget and scien9fic techniques, this expedi9on was successful in tes9ng a variety of surveying methods in difficult terrain. Walking transects, par9cularly in the evening when herpetofauna are ac9ve, proved to be very successful. In total, we iden9fied at least 12 different amphibian species, across 4 families, and 13 rep9le species across 10 families. However, we hope to confirm the IDs of more amphibian and rep9le species with the help of experts in herpetology.

13 © Louise Bienfait

Introduction Borneo is the third largest island in world, totalling 743,330km2 and is divided among three countries: Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia (the lader occupying about 73% of the island). The rainforests are an9podal to the Amazon and thought to be one of the oldest in the world. This vast landscape consists of varying habitats such as lowland rainforest, peat swamp forests (such as Bawan), and the Sunda Shelf mangroves; all of these regions have been hit hard in previous years by extensive logging for plywood and palm oil companies. Since the signing of ‘The Heart of Borneo’ agreement in 2007, 123 species have been discovered, adding data to the previous counts of 221 terrestrial mammal species, 420 resident birds, and 3,000 species of trees. In recent years the increase in logging and disrup9on to the forest has threatened many habitats, puing vulnerable species at risk of ex9nc9on; from just 1999 to 2010 the peatland rainforest cover fell from 76% to 36% with Central Kalimantan alone reported to lose 2.5% of its peatland rainforest annually. This type of ecological habitat is predicted to be completely destroyed by 2030, leaving disastrous eﬀects for the many fauna and ﬂora species which call it home.

14 Forest ﬁre smoke © Sophie Hedges

Colled’s tree frog © Sophie Hedges

Because of this rapid decline in peatland rainforest cover, any surveys which aim to highlight human impacts on the biodiversity of species in the area is encouraged. Project Bawan decided to inves9gate herp9les as they are known to be very vola9le to even the slightest changes in the environment and play a significant role in ecosystem stability. The last study conducted in the area of Bawan was by BNF in 2010, who were also observing the logging impacts on the ecological surroundings; in their conclusions they emphasised the need for further research which we hope our study has provided. Looking at amphibians alone on the island more than 600 new species have been iden9fied between 1995 and 2010 and this number is predicted to keep on increasing. However, effec9ve conserva9on strategies cannot be implemented without a prior understanding of the baseline biodiversity, which we aim to provide through this study. Whilst in country we worked closely with BNF, an NGO working on primate conserva9on. They were able to give us guidance and assistance throughout every stage: from planning, to forest naviga9on, walking the transects and catching herp9les. Every member of the core team was from a bioscience background which meant our inves9ga9on could take on a more typical scien9fic research approach. We hope our findings will be useful for future studies in the area, and will allow comparisons to be made on a yearly basis through future Project Bawan expedi9ons.

Colled’s tree frog © Alice Rosen

Expedition Team Sophie Hedges – Expedi9on Leader Sophie is a third year zoology student studying at the University of Exeter. Over the course of her degree she gained ﬁeld work experience around Cornwall, the Scilly Isles, and more recently in Tenerife, all contribu9ng to her knowledge on surveying techniques. Alongside her degree, Sophie completed her Gold DofE award where she helped organise two four-‐day expedi9ons canoeing down the River Thames and the River Wye; observing and surveying human impacts on the environment. She has also competed at the World Pilot Gig Championships in 2015 with Nankersey rowing club. Prior to leaving for Borneo, she took part on an amphibian surveying course which provided the basics for handling herp9les and completed a basic ﬁrst aid course. From September 2016, Sophie will be researching the impacts of agri-‐environmental schemes on wild bee popula9ons for her Masters by Research.

Alice Rosen – Scien9fic Director Alice is in her final year studying Zoology at the University of Exeter. She has been able to prac9ce a variety of field techniques in a diverse range of environments, including field courses to Iceland and Costa Rica. In her first year, Alice volunteered as a field researcher in Greece as part of a loggerhead turtle conserva9on project, conduc9ng a variety of surveys and leading morning survey teams. Alongside her degree, Alice undertook voluntary work at various wildlife and environmental organisa9ons, and competed in the World Pilot Gig Championships with Nankersey Rowing Club. In prepara9on for the expedi9on, she has also adended conferences on tropical expedi9ons and amphibian research, and completed a basic first aid course. From November 2016, Alice will be star9ng a Masters by Research, inves9ga9ng an9-‐predator coloura9on in the common frog.

Rhodri Gruffydd – Kit and Logis9cs Manager Rhodri is currently studying for a masters at the University of Exeter aper comple9ng his zoology degree at the same ins9tu9on. He has thoroughly enjoyed his 9me there and has been proac9vely involved with South West Lakes Trust, Na9onal Trust and the 2013 BioBlitz on campus. He has gained roles as Japanese Society Commidee Secretary and Tennis President with the Falmouth and Exeter Student Union. These ac9vi9es have provided him with the teamwork, communica9on and organisa9onal skills essen9al for an expedi9on. He has relevant experience carrying out zoological studies in the rainforest through a volunteer posi9on in Mexico and a university ﬁeld course to Borneo. This has allowed him to gain exper9se in scien9ﬁc research, as well as an understanding of how expedi9ons are run and what kit is needed in extreme rainforest environments. The previous experience travelling in Borneo has also given him the apprecia9on and awareness of the local customs, and some prior knowledge of the Indonesian language.

Daniel Kit Maskrey – Health and Safety Officer Kit is currently studying for his masters at the University of Exeter, where he completed his BSc Zoology degree last year. A combina9on of his course and previous field volunteering experience, both at home and abroad, have given Kit extensive experience in a wide range of survey and conserva9on techniques. In Northern Cyprus, he directly handled, measured and in some cases biopsied small and large rep9les. In volunteering roles he also gained invaluable awareness of how to engage people in conserva9on. Alongside his degree course, his experience helping to run socie9es has given him valuable organisa9onal and teamwork skills both taking and giving direc9ons effec9vely.

Louise Bienfait – Social Media and Communica9ons Louise is a Dutch student, currently studying BSc Conserva9on Biology & Ecology at the University of Exeter. She chose this course because of the prac9cal assignments, ﬁeld trips and expedi9on opportuni9es. Louise has worked on game reserves in several African countries. During a Safari Guide course with EcoTraining in Botswana she gained experience in the ﬁeld. In the Congo she tracked lowland gorillas and experienced the conserva9on work being done in the rainforest. Prior to the expedi9on Louise undertook an internship at Roderdam Zoo to get hands-‐on experience with amphibians and rep9les. Louise is a keen amateur photographer and also has experience in camera trapping. She has also successfully completed her Expedi9on First Aid Training in 2015. In 2016 she will be the leader of ‘Expedi9on Cloudbridge’, an expedi9on to Costa Rica studying amphibians in Cloudbridge Nature Reserve.

Zoe Hughes – Fundraising Director Zoe is a second year student studying BSc Zoology. She has learnt useful techniques such as tagging animals, humane animal trapping and how to carry out sta9s9cal surveys. She is keen to learn diﬀerent languages and appreciate local cultures and customs. An addi9onal goal in comple9ng this expedi9on was to develop her photography skills and collect footage for a Broadcast and Film course she is taking part in this year. Zoe has experience of other demanding roles, including being part of a Ten Tors expedi9on team, which involved improvisa9on in stressful situa9ons, naviga9on and planning. Her leadership roles include a theatre produc9on project, which formed the main part of her Silver Arts Award and running a school club for year 7 students mo9va9ng them to enjoy science and consider it for a future career. She also completed a basic ﬁrst aid training course in prepara9on for the expedi9on.

20 Lis © Alice Rosen

Hanapi © Kit Maskrey

Indonesian Team During our 9me in Borneo we formed strong rela9ons with a number of Indonesian members of the BNF team. We were lucky enough to have two guides helping us during our stay at Bawan, Iwan and Hanapi, who with their knowledge on just about everything to do with the rainforests of Borneo helped us collect a lot more data than we otherwise would have. They proved valuable when naviga9ng around the unknown forest and also showing us the best methods of catching frogs. The two were highly appreciated by all members of the team, and we truly believe the expedi9on would not have run as smoothly as it did without their guidance. We were also able to hire one of BNF’s cooks, Lis, which enabled us to focus solely on the research instead of worrying about preparing three meals a day. Lis was an amazing cook, we were all astounded by the food he produced on the 9ny camp-‐like stoves. The days would have been a lot longer and a lot more stressful without Lis.

22 © Alice Rosen

Expedition Objectives

ii.

To learn and gain first-‐hand experience of survey techniques in the field with support and guidance from Indonesian field staff To test the efficacy of the techniques and to evaluate and suggest improvements

iii.  To collect as much data as possible on herpetological diversity in the area of Bawan, to achieve a baseline es9mate of the species found there iv.  To iden9fy species with the help of experts and highlight new species or those of conserva9on concern v.  To establish a connec9on between Project Bawan and BNF with the hope of future expedi9ons to the area, with the poten9al to perform comparison studies on a yearly basis

23 Pit viper © Alice Rosen

Planning and Preparation Ini9ally a team of eight, Project Bawan comprised of six undergraduate and two postgraduate students at the University of Exeter. We were keen to conduct a successful overseas research expedi9on, focusing on amphibians and rep9les. We reached out for help from academics within the School of Biosciences, in hope that we could be put in touch with overseas contacts at poten9al ﬁeld sites. Aper deciding to contact Mar9n Holland, co-‐founder and director of Frontline Conserva9on (previously the Heart of Borneo Project), we found inspira9on in the possibility of taking our expedi9on to Borneo, Indonesia. We were advised to approach Dr Frank Van Veen, whose role as module director for the Borneo ﬁeld course, among other work, meant that he was able to provide us with a contact at the Borneo Nature Founda9on (BNF) in Indonesia. Project Bawan arose from discussions with BNF’s founding director, Simon Husson. He suggested Bawan Forest, in Central Kalimantan, would be an ideal loca9on for conduc9ng a herpetological survey, in a region that was almost en9rely unstudied. A preliminary assessment of Bawan’s biodiversity carried out by BNF in 2010 showed that it supports a high diversity of fauna, and is likely to have both local and global importance for biodiversity conserva9on. BNF’s survey found at least three rep9le and three amphibian species that are endemic to Borneo. Comprising a variety of peat-‐swamp forest types, interspersed with burnt and disturbed regions, Bawan Forest presented an ideal opportunity to assess the impact of habitat loss and degrada9on on herpetological species diversity.

24 White lipped frog © Alice Rosen

The design of our project and proposed methodology stemmed from previous studies conducted by the Heart of Borneo expedi9on and the BNF survey of Bawan (Harrison, Boonman, Cheyne, et al., 2012; Van Berkel, Rogers, Kilburn, et al., 2012 pp:50). BNF’s 2010 survey used visual encounter transects and pimall traps to study the biodiversity of Bawan. Addi9onally, BNF suggested using acous9c recorders to iden9fy the calls of amphibian species as a poten9ally more effec9ve surveying method. The plans for the expedi9on were then approved and supported by Pak Suwido Limin, head of CIMTROP at the University of Palangka Raya in Indonesia. From these discussions, we decided that the expedi9on would be feasible and worthwhile. We proceeded to submit a grant proposal to the Exeter Annual Fund and Les Halpin Trust, with the help of Simon West, a former Project Bawan team member. As a result, we successfully secured funding and then dedicated much of our 9me over subsequent months addressing logis9cs, applying for visas, and fundraising. By this 9me, we had unfortunately lost our two postgraduate team members, but the remaining team of six were nonetheless determined to make the expedi9on a success. We received invaluable guidance from Simon Husson and BNF throughout the planning stages of the expedi9on. In addi9on, we gained support and advice from the naturalist and television presenter, Steve Backshall, whose plethora of first-‐hand expedi9on experience gave us a unique perspec9ve on the challenges associated with the rainforest environment, and how best to prepare ourselves. In the final stages of prepara9on for the expedi9on we encountered numerous setbacks, mainly revolving around our applica9on for research permits. We made the last minute decision to apply for Social-‐Cultural Visas and to fly out later than planned, which ul9mately worked in our favour (see Appendix 8: Permission and Permits). With the indispensible advice of our sponsors and supporters we were able to overcome these issues and meet the key aims of our expedi9on.

26 Rainforest sunrise © Alice Rosen

2015 Expedition Diary:

Journey to Bawan Forest 27

Truck stuck in the sand © Alice Rosen

13th August 2015 In the morning we lep Palangka Raya in two 4x4s and a truck packed full of people, supplies and equipment. The roads became increasingly potholed and uneven as we headed through smaller and sparser villages. Before long we reached Bawan village, where we met the head of the village and the local police to discuss our plans for our stay in Bawan Forest. Aper a quick lunch, it was 9me to make the final stretch of our journey. An extremely bumpy sand road took us part of the way, but our progress was frequently halted as the cars became stuck and we had to dislodge them. The road then came to an abrupt end so we walked the final stretch down a long narrow path into camp, apprehensive and unsure what to expect of our home for the next month. The Bawan campsite refurbishment completely exceeded our expecta9ons (Appendix 6). We quickly began clearing the remaining wood and seing up the water pump and generator. Motorbikes, piled high with bags and boxes, made several trips along the path to deliver our supplies and equipment. Aper seing up camp we were properly introduced to Iwan and Hanapi, who would be our field guides, Lis, who would be cooking for us, and our camp manager from Bawan village, Pak Musel. Over the course of the expedi9on we made an effort to learn basic Indonesian, although Iwan could speak English very well.

Bernat and Hendri, from BNF, would also be staying with us for a few days to make sure everything was running smoothly. They told us that there were a series of transects running through the forest, cut in 2010 as part of the preliminary survey there. In the apernoon we went for a short walk in the forest to see which of these old transects were s9ll accessible, and which had been completely overgrown.

Newly built pondok at Bawan camp © Alice Rosen

14th August 2015 We checked the pre-‐exis9ng transects from BNF's last visit to Bawan, to assess their condi9on and to see the extent of the burned/disturbed areas of forest and if they overlapped with any of the transects. We could then decide which transects to use as part of our study, and es9mate the amount of work needed to clear them. We decided we would have three 1km transects in the undisturbed forest behind camp (named U1, U2 and U3) and three in the area disturbed by ﬁres approximately 10 years ago (in front of camp). In the apernoon we started to clear and tag the ﬁrst transect un9l it was too dark to con9nue.

Communal area © Alice Rosen Equipped with tea and coﬀee © Alice Rosen

15th August 2015 In the morning we finished clearing and marking our first transect, U1, and also managed to clear and mark transects U2 and U3 in the apernoon. To clear the transect, Iwan and Hanapi walked ahead with their parangs (a type of machete), crea9ng a narrow path by chopping small branches that obstructed the way. Marking involved walking along the transect with a measuring tape and adaching a bright orange tag to a tree every 25m, up to 1km. On each tag was wriden the transect number and distance from the start of the transect. We also marked individual waypoints every 25m on each of three GPSs, labelled in the same way. This would prevent us from geing lost and allow us to have a rough idea of where we were in the forest. We returned to camp that evening to find the local villagers had constructed a new access road to camp using a bulldozer. Later that night, it rained heavily, a good sign since we were likely to see more frogs. Our plan was to start surveys on the 19th to allow 9me to set up pimall traps and con9nue cuing transects.

16th August 2015 Whilst ea9ng our breakfast we were amazed by the sound of orangutan and gibbon calls from the forest. We suspected the gibbons were around half way along the main transect, less than 500m away, and hoped to sight them at some point in our stay. We finished cuing transect U3 in the morning and along the way spoded a cen9pede, a large s9ck-‐insect and a Mjoberg's Dwarf Lider Frog. We went out again late morning to start cuing transects in the disturbed forest. Aper cuing the first 600m of the transect we decided that it would be impossible to see amphibians or rep9les in this habitat because the ferns were too thick. We assessed the habitat further away from camp and it was very similar. The area was too recently disturbed to allow small trees to grow in place of ferns, so we decided to cut an extra transect in the undisturbed forest, by the river (U4). In the evening half of us went on a night walk to try out spoing amphibians and rep9les with head torches. We walked the first 400m of transect U1 and found our first three frogs! We iden9fied one frog as a Colled's Tree Frog, one as a Rhacophorus species and the other we hope will be iden9fied by experts. In the evening a civet was also seen moving through the trees next to camp.

32 Transect tag © Alice Rosen

Walking through the forest © Alice Rosen

1km Main T

Right: Map of transects in Bawan Forest

Transect U3

t ransec

1km

Transect U2

1km

Transect U1

River

U4 sect n a r T

Forest edge Bawan Camp

§  U1 consisted of rela9vely open forest with larger trees at the start, intersected by a couple of small streams and ending in thick vegeta9on. §  U2 was around 450m from camp and had less dense vegeta9on, one stream and was about 100m from a previously burned area of forest ﬁlled with ferns. §  U3 was 900m from camp and was denser and a lot drier, which meant it took longer to cut. §  U4 ran close to the river, intersec9ng it at 100m, and ended in thick vegeta9on, similar to U1.

17th August 2015 We set up three pimall traps in the disturbed forest and three in the undisturbed rainforest. Each pimall trap consisted of 4 buckets: 3 in a large triangle and one in the centre. We dug holes using a crowbar, placed the buckets into the holes and used 3m length tarpaulin between the buckets as drip nets to guide amphibians and rep9les into the buckets. We cut a small hole into the bodom of each bucket so that they wouldn't fill up if it rained heavily, and then put lids on un9l they would be used and opened. Later on in the day when it was much cooler we went back to the disturbed and undisturbed areas to open the pimall traps. In the evening Rhodri, Kit and Louise went on their first night walk and returned with photographs of a Black-‐eyed Lider Frog, two Colled's Tree Frogs, an uniden9fied frog, a tarantula and a female Bornean Keeled Green Pit Viper. Our cook Lis had to leave camp for personal reasons, and so we then planned 9me each day to cook meals. We decided on a schedule that would allow at least 24 hours between walks on a par9cular transect, so as not to disturb it too frequently. For all forest walks we were split into two groups of three, but these groups changed every day. The following schedule was designed to be repeated every two days: AM: (Team of three plus Iwan) -‐  visual encounter survey along transect U1 (Team of three plus Hanapi) -‐  visual encounter survey along transect U2 PM: (Team of three plus Iwan) -‐  open pimall traps in undisturbed forest -‐  visual encounter survey along transect U3 (Team of three plus Hanapi) -‐  open pimall traps in disturbed forest -‐  visual encounter survey along transect U4 Next day AM: (Team of three) -‐  check pimall traps in disturbed forest and close for the day (Team of three) -‐  check pimall traps in undisturbed forest and close for the day

Louise seing up a pimall trap in the disturbed forest

18th August 2015 We split into two teams and went out to check the pimall traps in each of the habitats, but all were empty. Aper closing them for the day we cut and marked our ﬁnal transect, U4, which stays close to the river and ended in thick vegeta9on, similar to U1. Iwan and Hanapi cooked lunch and showed us how to use the cooking equipment. Aper this Kit, Rhodri and Sophie went into the undisturbed forest to dig the ﬁnal pimall trap.

19th August 2015 We went on the ﬁrst of our morning transect walks, at 8:30am. The team on transect U1 in the morning saw a small orange frog, possibly a type of dwarf lider frog, but couldn't iden9fy it from the book. They took photos and planned to iden9fy it back in England. It is possible that it is an undescribed species, or has not yet been described in Kalimantan as amphibian studies in this area are limited. The U2 team saw a Bornean Keeled-‐Green Pit Viper which was likely to be the same one seen 2 days previously.

Both sets of pimall traps were opened before the evening walks. We felt hopeful that we’d have a successful visual survey, aper spoing a Gunung Murud Lider Skink and a Kinabalu Bent-‐Toed Gecko on our way to the start of the transect (U3). On the transect itself our op9mism was slightly discouraged as we neared 800m, having only seen the glidering eyes of hundreds of spiders reflected by our torch light, but no amphibians or rep9les. Our aden9on was quickly revived as Hanapi stopped on the path to warn us of a thick swarm of fire ants that carpeted the forest floor for over 5m ahead of us. We sprinted forwards, careful not to trip or fall into the mass of ants known for their painful s9ng. We all made it through without a single s9ng, and at 800m along the transect we came to a stream where Hanapi found four small frogs, likely to be types of dwarf lider frog. Near to the end of the transect we froze in our tracks at the sight of a large pair of yellow eyes, reflected by the torchlight. The animal stared at us, and aper a few seconds slinked away into the darkness, its outline disappearing behind thick trees and ferns. We carried on walking the last 100m of the transect, thrilled by what we had seen, when the eyes reappeared directly in front of us, less than 20m ahead on the transect. The bright yellow eyes belonged to a Sunda clouded leopard. The leopard is a vulnerable species, typically cau9ous and rarely seen, but this curious individual must have been following our group for some 9me. An exci9ng and alarming experience! On transect U4, the other team also had success with their sigh9ngs. As well as spoing many herp9le species, including a large Colled's Tree Frog, a skink, and a White-‐lipped Frog, they also came across a sleeping bird and a Common Bornean Porcupine. Back in camp they also found a Red-‐legged Tree Frog in the mandi!

20th August 2015 A toad, Bufo quadiporcatus, was spoded on a leaf by the camp toilets. Aper breakfast, both teams went out to check the pimall traps. All were empty, except for a large tarantula in the bodom of a forest pimall bucket. At ﬁrst we tried coaxing it out with a s9ck, hoping it would climb onto the s9ck and out of the bucket, but this only seemed to aggravate the tarantula. Sophie then managed to lip the bucket out of the ground, lying it on its side so the tarantula could escape (away from us!).

On our way back from checking the pimalls we heard a bearded pig in the distance, and low rumbling noises of a sleeping animal. We spent the apernoon iden9fying species from photos we had taken and discussed how we could change strategies to improve our chances of sigh9ng more herp9les. We decided to leave camp earlier for the morning walks as Iwan suggested amphibians are usually visible before dawn.

Common sun skink © Alice Rosen

21st August 2015 The morning transect walks started at 5:30am according to our change in strategy. Both groups found several dwarf Lider frogs, and the U3 group were lucky enough to spot a gibbon and a hornbill, and also heard an orang-‐utan on the way back to camp. Several Common Sun Skinks were found scrambling through the leaf lider around camp that morning. When we opened the pimalls in the evening, there was a dwarf Lider frog next to the tarpaulin which was a promising sign that the drip nets might be working. The group on U1 in the evening found an uniden9ﬁed lizard, a dwarf Lider frog and a Brown Marsh frog. The other team on U2 found several Colled's Tree Frogs and a Peter's Bent-‐toed Gecko.

22nd August 2015 In the morning we checked the forest pimall traps, but were again disappointed to ﬁnd them all empty. Aper a discussion about the technique, it was decided we would add a small amount of water and some leaf lider to the pimall traps in an adempt to adract amphibians and reduce the likelihood of them drying out. Unfortunately, the forest group lost the extension aerial for the radio so the range was now reduced. In the apernoon we used guides to adempt to iden9fy the frogs, geckos and lizards we found on our last transect walks.

39 © Alice Rosen

Asian Leaf Turtle © Louise Bienfait

23rd August 2015 One team walked transect U2 at 6:00am and heard gibbons about 200m away from the transect. At 450m they saw four dwarf Lider frogs in a marshy area. The U1 team on the morning walk found an Asian Leaf Turtle, an extremely important ﬁnd as the turtle is classiﬁed at ‘Near Threatened’. During the day, Louise spoded a small Red-‐sided Keelback Snake whilst siing by the river. In the evening, the U3 team found a Kinabalu Bent-‐toed Gecko, a skink, a Lowland Lider Frog, several dwarf Lider Frogs and another Colled's Tree Frog. The team on U4 found 9 frogs, including a Four Lined Tree Frog, and a Black Banded Skink. On the way back to camp Iwan almost stepped on the tail of a very large snake with a bright red tail, which the team suspected was a Red-‐Headed krait. The uncommon snake is known to be dangerously venomous. Luckily, however, the snake quickly retreated and both Iwan and the snake were unharmed.

Asian Leaf Turtle carapace and plastron © Louise Bienfait

24th August 2015 Unfortunately, both sets of pimall traps were empty again. We prepared the camp for the arrival of BNF’s volunteers, who would be staying with us for a few days to conduct orangutan nest surveys and gibbon triangula9on surveys. At midday the first group of volunteers from BNF arrived and sedled into camp. In the apernoon, we iden9fied photos of species and made a note of which photographs belonged to which visual encounter to make it easier when sending off photos to an expert for iden9fica9on.

25th August 2015 In the morning, we heard kelasi (red langur) calling from nearby as we made our way along transect U4. When we reached the end we sat on the forest ﬂoor for a quick break before we made our way back to camp. We were startled by a rustling sound in the leaves caused by a heavy footed animal no more than 10m away. We stopped to listen, holding our breath for some sign of movement. Minutes passed, and we decided to cau9ously head back along the transect, making as lidle noise as possible. Aper just a few steps, we caught a ﬂee9ng sight of a mouse deer bounding across the path ahead of us, followed by the loud, unmistakable roar of a sun bear, metres behind us. We waited, listening, but the next roar came from much further away so we decided to move on.

Both groups failed to spot any herp9les that morning. It was agreed that early morning transects were beder for spoing 9ny dwarf Lider frogs and rep9les that tend to bask in the warmth, whilst the evening transects were beder for sigh9ng tree frogs and larger mammals. This would be useful informa9on for any future expedi9ons coming to Bawan to study amphibians and rep9les. In the evening, the team on U2 saw a Colled’s Tree Frog, two Black Banded Skinks and, whilst siing at the end of the transect, a mouse deer that ran right past them. The team on U1 saw a Brown Marsh Frog, Lesser Swamp Frog, several Colled’s Tree Frogs, a Four-‐lined Tree Frog, White-‐ lipped Frog, Bent-‐toed Gecko, skink, a juvenile Bornean Keeled Green Pit Viper and a large Angle-‐ Headed Lizard. They also encountered a very large, dense colony of ﬁre ants across 50m of transect on their way back to camp. Ensuring that their socks were tucked into their trousers and preparing themselves for the sprint, they made it across the swarm safely. Unfortunately, everyone sustained at least one very painful ﬁre ant s9ng.

White-‐lipped frog © Alice Rosen

26th August 2015 We checked all the pimall traps, but didn't ﬁnd anything in them. On our way back from checking the pimall traps in the disturbed region we almost stepped on a small snake. The Blue-‐Necked Water Snake was found on the sand road near camp, which seemed uncharacteris9c since the environment was very dry. The rest of the day was spent geing to know the volunteers, upda9ng our ID records and maintaining camp.

27th August 2015 At 4am we were woken by the pounding of very heavy rain on the corrugated metal roof of our pondok. By the 9me we lep for the transect walks, the rain had stopped. The team on transect U2 saw two dwarf Lider frogs and a small snake on a log in the river. Later, they came across the same pit viper seen a week before, in almost exactly the same place. The team on U1 saw a Lesser Swamp Frog and a dwarf Lider Frog. Another heavy downpour greeted the second group of BNF volunteers as they arrived. The group opening the disturbed pimall traps in the evening found a Brown Marsh Frog and a small dwarf Lider species near the traps, a very unusual sigh9ng considering the environment but likely to be a result of the rain. The transect team on U4 found a frog at 100m, but then it started to rain too heavily to see properly so returned to camp. Within minutes we were completely soaked, but managed to keep our cameras and equipment dry in zip-‐lock bags. The transect team on U3 saw a Colled’s Tree Frog, an uniden9ﬁed snake and a crab before the heavy rain started. When the rain died down we ventured back down to the river near camp and found many amphibians and rep9les, including a Lesser Swamp Frog, an Aqua9c Swamp Toad, three White-‐ lipped Frogs and another small snake, the same species seen on U2 in the morning.

43 © Louise Bienfait

28th August 2015 We were woken by heavy rain again in the morning. There were no amphibians or rep9les in the pimall traps but they also weren’t ﬂooded, which was a good sign as we didn’t want to risk drowning anything in the traps. Aper res9ng in the day, we prac9ced Indonesian phrases with Iwan, determined to improve by the end of the expedi9on. We then resumed iden9fying frogs from our photographs and descrip9ons.

29th August 2015 The U4 team found a red dwarf Lider Frog and saw an orb weaver spider. On transect U3, our team spoded two frogs but they jumped into the river before they could be caught or iden9ﬁed. We also heard the loud, echoing roar of a sun bear about 100m away, a truly unforgedable sound. A couple of the BNF volunteers joined us on our night walk as they had an interest in amphibians. The team on U2 saw a Colled's Tree Frog, a Black Eyed Frog and a Lowland Lider Frog, among other species. The team on U1 found a Kinabalu Tree Frog, several Colled's Tree Frogs, a Seep Frog, a Yellow-‐bellied Puddle Frog, a Kinabalu Bent-‐toed Gecko, White-‐lipped Frog, a Four-‐lined Tree Frog, a Bornean Angle-‐headed Lizard, a Lesser Swamp Frog and a Dark-‐eared Tree Frog.

30th August 2015 The pimall traps were empty yet again. Louise and Rhodri joined the BNF volunteers on their orang-‐utan nest survey. We discussed removing the pimalls due to lack of success with the method. We would inform any future expedi9on teams that the method did not work in these par9cular environments. We talked to Iwan and Hanapi about the technique and they men9oned that in previous pimall experiments, they had focussed on catching amphibians and therefore could tailor the traps to adract them i.e. shallow holes ﬁlled with water. We also had a mee9ng about travel arrangements and equipment.

31st August 2015 In the morning, neither team saw any amphibians or rep9les. The volunteers lep just aper lunch. We found a skink swimming in the mandi bucket which was caught and released. In the evening, the team on U4 found a Brown Marsh Frog, a White Lipped Frog, a Brown Torrent Frog, an uniden9ﬁed frog and a Bent-‐toed Gecko. The team on U3 found two Brown Marsh Frogs. We discussed that although transect U3 does not have a high diversity or number of frogs, there have been many mammal traces/sigh9ngs so it would be a useful transect for camera traps.

45 © Alice Rosen

1st September 2015 We spent the day catching up with iden9fying and compiling photo lists. We decided to remove the pimall traps on the 2nd of September. Our schedule also needed to be altered as we found out we would be leaving Bawan a day earlier than planned due to transport availability.

2nd September 2015 Neither group found amphibians or rep9les in the morning. Both groups dug up pimall traps aper their transect walk, and ﬁlled in the holes lep behind. On the evening transect walks, the U2 team found a gecko and six frogs, including Colled's tree frogs. The team on U1 found four Colled’s Tree Frogs and three snakes: a Rough-‐backed Lider Snake, a Muller Blind Snake and an uniden9ﬁed snake.

3rd September 2015 The morning was spent iden9fying species and sor9ng through photos. It then rained heavily in the middle of the day, which improved our chances of finding amphibians on the next transect walk. We all gathered under the shelter of the pondok, watching the rain water flow across the ground below us. In the evening, Hanapi saw a flying frog in a tree near camp.

Muller’s blind snake © Louise Bienfait

Fringed lizard © Alice Rosen

4th September 2015 In the morning, the team on transect U1 saw a flying lizard gliding onto a tree at 800m. It was later iden9fied as a fringed flying lizard. The other team on U2 saw a flying squirrel and parrots. In the evening, the team on U3 found a Lesser Swamp Frog and a Black-‐eyed Streak Skink. The team on U4 found many Colled's Tree Frogs with a huge diversity in size and coloura9on, as well as a Brown Marsh Frog and dwarf Lider Frog. Fringed lizard © Louise Bienfait

5th September 2015 On the morning walks, the team on U3 found an unrecognisable amphibian species (possibly a dwarf toad), but its descrip9on didn’t match any of those in the book. The team on U4 didn’t manage to ﬁnd any amphibians. The team on U2 in the evening heard an orang-‐utan, found a Fringed lizard and a Colled’s Tree Frog with interes9ng coloura9on. The U1 team found many Colled’s Tree Frogs, White Lipped Frogs and a Peat Swamp Frog.

Colled’s tree frog © Alice Rosen

Diversity of Colled's tree frog coloura9on © Sophie Hedges and © Alice Rosen

6th September 2015 Sophie and Louise went out early in the morning to follow gibbon calls and were lucky enough to sight gibbons and red langur. A barbeque was set up for lunch by Hanapi, Lis and Pak Musel. In the apernoon we ﬁlmed a short thank you video for our sponsors and took group photographs together.

Gibbon © Alice Rosen

7th September 2015 We decided to follow gibbon calls along the main transect, as we only had a few days lep in Bawan and it was an opportunity not to be missed. The calls grew louder and louder un9l, at about 700m from camp, we found ourselves in the midst of a large group of gibbons swinging through the trees above and intermidently stopping to stare at us below. A red langur was also spoded nearby, the two species calling back and forth. It was an incredible sight and unforgedable moment. Back on the transect, we found a dwarf lider frog species and a black bird with red around its eyes that bobbed its head up and down. We also took pictures of the many skinks at camp. In the evening, the team on transect U3 found a Brown Marsh Frog and ﬁve dwarf Lider Frogs. We also saw wet footprints from a clouded leopard that had recently crossed the stream. The transect group on U4 found four White-‐lipped Frogs, two Brown Marsh Frogs, a Dark-‐eared Tree Frog and six Colled's Tree Frogs.

Chestnut-‐bellied Malkoha © Alice Rosen

51 Chestnut-‐bellied Malkoha © Alice Rosen

8th September 2015 Everyone went out early in the morning to ﬁnd gibbons. We waited for them to begin calling, but aper an hour or so we gave up and made our way back to camp. On the way we saw a squirrel above us, and tree movement most likely caused by a red langur. A Striped Skink was also seen back in camp. Lis showed us how to make the food we had enjoyed so much during our stay.

9th September 2015 In the morning of our final full day in Bawan, the U3 transect group saw more gibbons on the way to the transect, but they weren’t calling, possibly due to the smog caused by distant forest fires. Unfortunately the group didn’t see any amphibians but they did spot possible monitor lizard claw marks on a tree. In the evening we made a bonfire on the sand and toasted corn on the cob. There were hundreds of different kinds of moths by the lights and we also saw a Rhinoceros Beetle! On the last evening transect walk, the group on U1 found a Spoded Lesser Swamp Frog and a Seep Frog. The group on U2 found many frogs including a dwarf lider, an uniden9fied frog species, and a gecko.

52 Rhinoceros beetle © Sophie Hedges

Last night at Bawan © Alice Rosen

53 Last night at Bawan © Alice Rosen

Expedition Findings 54 Colled’s tree frog © Alice Rosen

Orangutan © Louise Bienfait

Previous Research The Borneo rainforest is one of the oldest in the world at 140 million years old, and being the third largest island globally it plays host to many wonderful endemic species (Iskander & Erdelen 2006). But many species are data deficient and effec9ve conserva9on strategies cannot be implemented without a prior understanding of the baseline diversity. Herpetofauna species are already threatened by ex9nc9on due to habitat loss, climate change and disease (Alford, 2011; Beebee & Griffiths,2005; Gillespie, Ahmad, Elahan et al., 2012; Hof, Araújo, Jetz, et al., 2011). These rainforests are unique; the water and nutrients are only provided by rainfall. The acidity of the waterlogged peat (pH 3) reduces microbial ac9vity and creates a challenging environment for many species of flora and fauna (Wosten et al. 2008; Posa et al 2011). This mainly unexplored landscape provides a great diverse area for research and conserva9on. Current research largely focuses on large mammals and primates. Knowledge of herpetofauna in the area is very minimal, and is based on data from neighbouring provinces. Current studies es9mate the habitat will be totally destroyed by 2030 (Mieinen, Shi & Liew, 2011), as from 1999 to 2010 Peatland rainforest cover fell from 76% to 36%. Central Kalimantan is reported to lose 2.5% of its peatland rainforest annually. This dras9c decline is caused by increased human ac9vi9es such as logging, mining and rubber/palm oil planta9ons. These not only destroy the unique habitats but also dry the peat, meaning fires spread quicker, more violently and release a lot more carbon into the atmosphere. By es9ma9ng herpetological diversity in Bawan forest we hope to provide a star9ng point for future biodiversity surveys in the area, and to support the need for conserva9on and protec9on of this vulnerable habitat.

Introduction The biodiversity of Bawan Forest is very poorly studied. The only previous biodiversity survey conducted in Bawan in 2010 described the region as an area of high biodiversity in need of further research (Harrison, Boonman, Cheyne, et al., 2012). Together with the fact that at the current rate of deforesta9on the region will likely be devoid of rainforest habitat by 2030 (Mieinen, Shi & Liew, 2011), further biodiversity surveys in Bawan showed poten9al for having a posi9ve impact on future conserva9on efforts. Herp9les are known to be very vola9le to even the slightest changes in the environment and play a significant role in ecosystem stability, and so would be the main focus of our expedi9on. We chose to base our study on herpetofauna as many species are under serious threat due do habitat loss, climate change, disease and more (Alford, 2011; Beebee & Griffiths, 2005; Gillespie, Ahmad, Elahan, et al., 2012; Hof, Araújo, Jetz, et al., 2011). There is also currently very limited data on herpetofauna in the region, so our aim was to produce an es9mate of herpetological diversity within the forest to act as a baseline for future studies. We found high abundance and diversity of herpetofauna in Bawan, far more so than at BNF's main research sta9on in Sabangau, ranging from 9ny lider frogs to large toads, snakes and horned lizards. Specifically in the Colled’s Tree Frog (Polypedates colle7), there was also a huge amount of within-‐species phenotypic diversity.

56 © Sophie Hedges

Methodologies Visual Encounter Surveys Four 1km transects were cut and GPS tagged in what was classed as undisturbed forest. Three of these were restored from BNF’s previous transects whilst one was newly cut for this inves9ga9on. On alternate days transects were walked in teams of three, two in the morning and two in the evening. Every individual found was caught where appropriate, recorded and had measurements taken. Morning and evening walks were equally alternated between transects, meaning a dataset for all transects was collected every four days. On each transect walk: -  One team member scanned the ground and low foliage. -  One team member scanned eye-‐level and higher. -  One team member scanned everywhere. -  Guides scanned everywhere and disturbed the leaf lider on the transect. -  Head-‐torches were used on night walks for scanning.

When an individual was found and caught they were placed in a clean transparent plas9c bag for measurement, ID and photographing. The measurements taken included: -  Weight, using hanging scales of 1g, 10g and 100g capaci9es -  Snout-‐Vent Length, using 20cm calipers -  Snout-‐Tail Length (if a lizard), using 20cm calipers -  Hind leg length, using 20cm calipers -  Species iden9ﬁca9on -  Posi9on on transect in rela9on to GPS tags -  Photographs for ID conﬁrma9on

Points of interest: §  We had planned to restore more transects but Lme constraints dictated that we started data collecLon as soon as possible. §  Transects had also been planned in the disturbed region neighbouring our camp opposite the forest, however, the nature of the disturbed region we found once we arrived made this fuLle as it was too dense to conduct eﬀecLve surveys. §  Future comparaLve studies will need to leave ample Lme to cut wide transects in this disturbed area. For snakes only posiLon, species and rough length were measured as they were too dangerous for us to handle.

58 © Louise Bienfait

59 © Sophie Hedges

PiSall Traps Six pimall traps were set up in total: three in the disturbed forest region and three in undisturbed rainforest. A hole was dug into the ground to house a central bucket, placed up to its neck in the ground, with a perforated bodom to allow for water drainage. Three further buckets were also place in holes 3 metres away from the central bucket in three separate direc9ons as close to 120o different from one another as the terrain allowed. The central bucket was connected to each of the outer buckets by 3m long, 1m high drip nets, in this case opaque tarpaulin. The bodom of the tarpaulin was placed in a 10cm deep trench to avoid burying under the drip nets. Lids were lep on the buckets during the day so that animals would not be trapped in the heat and sun, and taken off at night to begin trapping. The traps were opened on alternate days before night-‐9me transect walks. The traps were checked at 10am the following morning. Measurements taken from trapped herp9les: -  Weight, using hanging scales of 1g, 10g and 100g capaci9es -  Snout-‐Vent Length, using 20cm calipers -  Snout-‐Tail Length (if a lizard), using 20cm calipers -  Hind leg length, using 20cm calipers -  Species -  Posi9on on transect -  Photographs for ID confirma9on

Points of interest: §  This piSall trapping technique was almost enLrely unsuccessful and was ceased aUer 14 days. §  This lack of success was not limited to either habitat and the reason behind this was unclear as similar techniques have been used successfully in other tropical habitats (Ribeiro-‐Júnior et al. 2011) and the traps were successfully capturing a variety of other taxa. §  Given more Lme a future study could develop and test completely new methods. §  Local guides provided anecdotal evidence of past piSall techniques which had been successful in BNF’s 2010 survey. §  Given that density was unknown, longer driU lines may have been a preferable opLon rather than smaller traps.

Species Lists and Results

61 © Louise Bienfait

Tables 1 and 2 list the amphibian and rep9le species successfully iden9fied from our visual encounter surveys and other sigh9ngs. In total, we iden9fied at least 12 different amphibian species, across 4 families, and 13 rep9le species across 10 families. However, we hope to confirm the IDs of many more amphibian and rep9le species with the help of experts in herpetology. We therefore an9cipate that this total will increase over the coming months.

26%

Transect U1

36%

Transect U2 Transect U3

14%

Transect U4 24%

Figure 2. Propor9on of sigh9ngs along each transect.

Approximately 36% of sigh9ngs of amphibians and rep9les were along Transect U1, situated second closest to camp, and to the river. Transects U2 and U3 accounted for 24% and 14% of sigh9ngs, respec9vely. The transect running along the river (U4) accounted for 26% of sigh9ngs (Figure 2). Many of the species iden9ﬁed were newly described in Kalimantan, and were open found great distances from their previously known locali9es. 1km Main T

Transect U3

t ransec

1km

Transect U2

1km

Transect U1

River

U4 sect n a r T

Forest edge Bawan Camp Figure 1. Approximate posi9oning of the transects in rela9on to Bawan camp and the forest edge.

Amphibia All species were encountered on transect walks, with the excep9on of Bufo divergens which was spoded in camp, close to the forest edge. The majority of dwarf lider species (IDs not yet confirmed) were found where streams or marshy areas intersected the transect. Some of the species iden9fied have been classified as a conserva9on concern, according to the IUCN Red List. Four frogs are currently listed as Near Threatened (NT), and one species, Rhacophorus angulirostris, is listed as Endangered (EN) and was found outside its current known locali9es (Malaysian Borneo and Sumatra). The most commonly observed amphibian was Polypedates colle7, with a total of 46 sigh9ng across the four weeks of transect walks.

Dis9nc9ve hourglass padern of Polypedates colle7 © Alice Rosen

Uniden9ﬁed juvenile toad © Alice Rosen

Table 1: Amphibian species iden9fied in Bawan Forest during the 2015 expedi9on. *Indicates iden9fica9on requires confirma9on.

RepLlia The majority of rep9les iden9fied below were spoded during forest walks, open close to streams and rivers or marshy areas, as is typical of their species. However, a chance sigh9ng of Macropisthodon rhodomelas, typically found in low-‐lying wet areas, occurred along the dry sand road running through the burned forest region close to camp. No rep9lian species observed were of significant conserva9on concern, with the excep9on of the Asian leaf turtle, Cyclemys dentata, which is classified as Near Threatened (NT). We hope to expand this species list as we confirm IDs in the near future.

Table 2: Rep9le species iden9ﬁed in Bawan Forest during the 2015 expedi9on.

Aves Although bird species are frequently heard in the rainforests of Borneo, they are diﬃcult to spot. The species list below details the birds we were lucky enough to catch sigh9ngs of. Of the 5 species, spanning 4 families, both Phaenicophaeus sumatranus and Harpactes diardii are classiﬁed as Near Threatened (NT). An analysis of bird song recordings would have greatly extended this list.

Table 3: Avian species iden9ﬁed in Bawan Forest during the 2015 expedi9on.

Mammalia The mammal species iden9ﬁed below are a result of either direct observa9on, or of hearing calls unique to that species. Some species are endemic to Borneo, and several are globally threatened (classiﬁed as Vulnerable or Endangered by the IUCN). Bawan forest is suggested to be suppor9ng globally important popula9ons of Bornean orangutans and gibbons, as well as the endemic red langur, Presby@s rubicunda (Harrison, 2012).

Table 4: Mammal species iden9ﬁed in Bawan Forest during the 2015 expedi9on.

Discussion It is evident that Bawan Forest supports a high diversity of fauna, including popula9ons of globally threatened and endemic species (found only in Borneo). Although our species lists are preliminary at this stage, it is clear that Bawan Forest is an important site for the conserva9on of amphibians and rep9les, as well as birds and mammals. Transects were mostly heterogeneous in their habitat type, consis9ng of variable vegeta9on type and density, interspersed with streams and low-‐lying marshy areas. Sigh9ngs of herps therefore tended to be concentrated around these areas. Overall, a greater propor9on of amphibian species were found along transects closer to the river than on transects further away from the river, with the excep9on of the river transect (U4), which held the second highest total. On a few occasions we made the decision to end transect walks along U4 earlier than an9cipated (due to the presence of armed hunters and poten9ally dangerous hun9ng dogs) which may have skewed the overall expected trend. As the most abundant amphibian sighted on visual encounter surveys, the distribu9on of the Collet’s tree frog, Polypedates colle7, was also consistent with this padern. This species also displayed extensive varia9on in coloura9on, padern and size that would be worth inves9ga9ng in the future.

One of the key aims of the expedi9on was to trial a variety of herpetological sampling methods. Although we had mixed success with survey techniques we were s9ll able to confirm the presence of popula9ons of threatened and endangered species. However, issues with acous9c recording equipment meant that we were restricted in the types of species we were able to observe and ID. This meant we failed to account for canopy frogs, which were severely underrepresented in our survey. To our knowledge, only one previous biodiversity survey of Bawan has been conducted (Harrison, 2012), and this was the only herpetological survey of the area, to date. Many of the species encountered are likely the first recorded sigh9ngs of these species in Kalimantan. Although some species’ ranges have already been described in Kalimantan, all sigh9ngs in Bawan Forest are likely the first. Considering this, further herpetological studies of the region have poten9al value in establishing a case for the protec9on of the forest for conserva9on purposes, and are highly recommended.

The team in Bawan forest

Expedition Conclusion This expedi9on was a testament to the hard work, enthusiasm and dedica9on of the en9re project team, overcoming inexperience and numerous setbacks to successfully conduct the first expedi9on of its kind to Bawan Forest. This expedi9on’s key achievement must be seen as the doors which it has opened to future research in Bawan Forest. Bawan is a very different habitat from BNF's base of opera9ons at Sabangau, and it therefore provides a plethora of different research opportuni9es. This expedi9on confirmed that the herpetological diversity of Bawan is vastly different to that of Sabangau and also served to highlight the massive impact human interference can have on a habitat, so dras9c that it was actually impossible to carry out transect surveys effec9vely in disturbed areas. We would hope that future teams will be inspired by the findings of this expedi9on to return to Bawan and begin to build a complete picture of the diversity of herpetofauna in and around the forest. Alongside providing a baseline for future herpetological studies in the region, Project Bawan also provided BNF with assistance in producing a second field site for primate research, having last visited the forest in 2009. The same range of primate species are present in Bawan as in Sabangau, so the new field site which we helped to set up could provide BNF with an exci9ng opportunity to contrast these two superficially similar, but actually very different, environments.

Unfortunately the opportuni9es which this project helped to develop have been severely affected by the devasta9ng forest fires which began ravaging Kalimantan as our team lep in September of 2015. These fires led to it being unfeasible to take another expedi9on to the forest in 2016 and also served to hinder BNF's expansion plans as their base of opera9ons in Sabangau was hit very hard by the fires. The tragic loss of Suwido Limin, who was instrumental in organising Project Bawan, will further hinder future ventures into the region. Nonetheless, we are hopeful that the high diversity which we have uncovered here will lead to con9nued inves9ga9ons in Bawan in the future, and poten9ally halt the illegal logging of the forest which could see it gone by 2030. The shortcomings in the methodology of this project are a key feature we would hope future expedi9ons to the region would be able to address. We would urge any future expedi9on to make contact with others who have carried out successful surveys in similar environments and collaborate with them to produce methodologies and con9ngency plans well before arriving in the field, whilst also seeking out the exper9se of local guides with previous experience with more effec9ve pimall techniques. Most importantly, future teams should also set aside more 9me to carry out effec9ve pilot inves9ga9ons so as to allow thorough planning and setup when actually in the field. Any team looking to run a follow up expedi9on should also apply for Indonesian Research Visas as early as possible prior to leaving for the field. Confusion over whether they were necessary led to us not receiving them in 9me, which was a massive hindrance when producing methodologies and has made it very difficult to effec9vely disseminate the expedi9on’s findings. Project Bawan was a massive achievement, having effec9vely been organised, fundraised, and carried out over the course of 9 months. Every member of the team can be massively proud of their contribu9on and what was achieved here aper countless setbacks. This expedi9on serves as a testament that where there is a will, there is a way, and we hope that it serves as an inspira9on to con9nue work to conserve the unique peatland habitats which we were so lucky to find ourselves working in.

Appendix 1: Bibliography Alford, R. A. (2011). Ecology: Bleak future for amphibians. Nature, 480(7378), 461-‐462. Beebee, T. J., & Griffiths, R. A. (2005). The amphibian decline crisis: a watershed for conserva9on biology?. Biological Conserva@on, 125(3), 271-‐285. Doan, T. M. (2003). Which methods are most effec9ve for surveying rain forest herpetofauna?. Journal of herpetology, 37(1), 72-‐81. Fitzherbert, E. B., Struebig, M. J., Morel, A., Danielsen, F., Brühl, C. A., Donald, P. F., & Phalan, B. (2008). How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity?. Trends in ecology & evolu@on, 23(10), 538-‐545. Gillespie, G. R., Ahmad, E., Elahan, B., Evans, A., Ancrenaz, M., Goossens, B., & Scroggie, M. P. (2012). Conserva9on of amphibians in Borneo: rela9ve value of secondary tropical forest and non-‐forest habitats. Biological Conserva@on, 152, 136-‐144. Harrison, M. E., Cheyne, S. M., Husson, S. J., Jeffers, K. A., Smallcombe, J. V., & Ehlers Smith, D. A. (2012). Preliminary Assessment of the Biodiversity and Conserva9on Value of the Bawan Forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project Report. Palangka Raya, Indonesia. Hof, C., Araújo, M. B., Jetz, W., & Rahbek, C. (2011). Addi9ve threats from pathogens, climate and land-‐ use change for global amphibian diversity. Nature, 480(7378), 516-‐519.

Iskandar, D. T., & Erdelen, W. R. (2006). Conserva9on of amphibians and rep9les in Indonesia: issues and problems. Amphibian and Rep@le Conserva@on, 4(1), 60-‐87. Mieinen, J., Shi, C., & Liew, S. C. (2011). Deforesta9on rates in insular Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2010. Global Change Biology, 17(7), 2261-‐2270. Mieinen, J., Shi, C., & Liew, S. C. (2011). Two decades of destruc9on in Southeast Asia's peat swamp forests. Fron@ers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(3), 124-‐128. O'Dea, N., Watson, J. E., & Whidaker, R. J. (2004). Rapid assessment in conserva9on research: a cri9que of avifaunal assessment techniques illustrated by Ecuadorian and Madagascan case study data. Diversity and Distribu@ons, 10(1), 55-‐63. Royle, J. A. (2004). Modeling abundance index data from anuran calling surveys. Conserva@on Biology, 18(5), 1378-‐1385. Sutherland, W. J. (Ed.). (2006). Ecological census techniques: a handbook. Cambridge University Press. Yule, C. M. (2010). Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem func9oning in Indo-‐Malayan peat swamp forests. Biodiversity and Conserva@on, 19(2), 393-‐409. Van Berkel, T. B. T., Rogers, L. D., Kilburn, H. J., Munir, M., Mor9boys, D., Goodchild, R (2012) Murang Raya Expedi9on Science Report.

Appendix 2: Environmental and Social Impacts Social eLqueè Before the expedi9on, the team researched the Indonesian culture and social e9quede to ensure we were able to show respect and gra9tude for the local hospitality. Some of the important aspects to consider when staying in Indonesia were everyday interac9ons, which could be perceived as disrespecmul: -  Only shake hands and receive money with the right hand. -  Don’t touch people on the head. -  Don’t point. -  Ask permission before taking photographs of other people. -  Take shoes and hats off before entering houses. -  Don’t engage in affec9onate behaviour with acquaintances. The team adempted to learn basic Indonesian during the expedi9on and made an effort to speak it with locals rather than resor9ng to English. This prac9ce was appreciated by them and was important in building our rela9onship with the local villagers and guides. At Bawan camp, of our two field guides, one spoke intermediate English and the other spoke very lidle English. It was therefore more crucial to make an effort to learn phrases and species names in order to have discussions with them.

We hired a local camp manager to facilitate interac9ons with the Bawan locals and to buy our food supplies. This was par9cularly crucial in Bawan village as they spoke a different form of the Indonesian language-‐ ‘Dayak’. The BNF staff were also in regular contact, so we were able to use them to help overcome any language barriers. It was important for us to allow the field guides 9me off as they were working longer hours and harder than normal. We also gave them the op9on to leave, when the camp was working efficiently, if they missed their families or wanted to con9nue work put on hold at Sabangau.

Environmental Impact The Bawan village Chief of Police spoke to us before we entered the camp, giving advice on respec9ng the forest and safety aspects. We were mindful of this by re-‐cuing old transects to reduce the intrusion of more paths. The field guides were also helpful in showing us how to approach wildlife with minimal disrup9on. Other ways we tried to reduce our impact on the forest included using biodegradable or bio friendly sanitary products and non-‐DEET insect spray (DEET can affect the health of amphibians). We also burnt any rubbish, other than metal objects such as baderies, to prevent pollu9on and harmful affects on wildlife. During transect walks, we took care not to handle any herp9les for a long period of 9me and we lep each transect for a minimum of 24 hours between walks to minimise disturbance.

Appendix 3: Local Aatudes

During our stay at Bawan Camp we spent a lot of 9me with our Indonesian team: Iwan and Hanapi, our BNF guides; Lis, our Cook; and Pak Musel, our Camp Manager from Bawan village. This allowed us to find out more about local customs and the history of the Dayak people in Kalimantan but also their views on the major issues currently facing Indonesia and other countries in South-‐east Asia. HunLng – Pak Musel told us that the people in Bawan village only hunt deer and bearded pig in the Bawan forest. They understand the importance of hun9ng sustainably and only hunt for food. The main issue here is people from villages nearby or further afield that come to Bawan forest to hunt. They come for two days or up to a week at a 9me, camping in the forest. They do not hunt sustainably, bringing dogs and guns to kill animals, such as the endangered Sunda pangolin, and sell the meat and skins abroad. According to Iwan, they used to be able to catch up to 10 pangolins in a single night using dogs to sniff out their burrows. With these levels of hun9ng, it is no wonder pangolins are endangered. Logging – Whilst in Bawan, we heard chainsaws most days and a lot of the logging done is by locals. We did not know if this was for commercial use or just for local building, but the effects were no9ceable nonetheless. It is a difficult situa9on that is observed across the world; the local people need wood for building, cooking etc. but it is having a detrimental effect on primary forests. BNF have a good working rela9onship with locals and have allowed people from Kereng to log a certain number of trees in Sabangau so that it keeps them happy and does not impact too much on conserva9on. But Iwan explained that the Indonesian government banned any logging within Na9onal Parks to protect the forest. He said that the government then let logging companies come in and log for a share of the profits, demonstra9ng the corrup9on in Indonesia that is impeding conserva9on. ConservaLon – The people in Bawan are aware of the need to conserve the forest and try to use it sustainably (however, more could be done). Pak Musel said they do not hunt orangutans or hornbills, which are seen as na9onal icons, and get angry if they find outsiders hun9ng them in their forest. Hun9ng of hornbills is a par9cular problem in West and Central Kalimantan because of the high prices of their incredible beaks. When asked whether Bawan would want to play a more ac9ve role in conserva9on if given the opportunity, Pak Musel said they definitely would and would welcome employment to conserve the forest. Understanding the needs and views of the local people is crucial to the success of conserva9on projects and the Bawan people are keen to work more closely with BNF, bringing hope that the future of Bawan forest is a posi9ve one.

Appendix 4: DesLnaLon Area La9tude/Longitude: S 1° 42' 0.00" E 113° 55' 0.01”

Bawan forest is a peatland forest located in Central Kalimantan. Nearby villages are Bawan, Pahawan and Hanua. Currently, Bawan forest is designated as a produc9on forest and, overall, peatland forests in Borneo have seen unprecedented rates of deforesta9on in the last two decades. Peatland rainforests are a unique habitat. The environment is hos9le, acidic and difficult to navigate, but increasingly there is a wealth of scien9fic evidence demonstra9ng that these forests play host to a wonderful array of threatened endemics including Orangutans, and Sunda clouded leopards. Water and nutrients are provided only by rainfall, and the acidic waterlogged peat (pH3) reduces microbial ac9vity, crea9ng a challenging environment for many species of flora and fauna (Wösten et al. 2008; Posa et al. 2011). Addi9onally, the peatland acts as a vital ecosystem service, regula9ng water flow and storing up to 90 gigatons of carbon. Human ac9vi9es, such as the seing of fires for clearing, further dries the peat, causing the on-‐going burning of forests and the release of an immense amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of our total CO2 emissions for 2006 (Fitzherbert, Struebig, Morel, et al., Pitcher plant © Alice Rosen

2008; Mieinen, Shi & Liew, 2011; Yule, 2008).

Our camp was based at the edge of the Bawan forest, approximately 200m away from the main transect. The area around it was covered in ferns and difficult to navigate through when not s9cking to an exis9ng path. We were told by Iwan, one of our field guides, that around 15 years ago, large parts of the forest were lost by logging or fires. The fact that ferns were s9ll dominant in these areas showed how long it takes for the forest to grow back, if given the chance. Aper a few days in camp we were told that a bulldozer would come to make a road from our camp to the nearest villages. Only aper the bulldozer had done its work did we realise what a big impact this would make on the environment and the wildlife. Not only was the path very big, but also a lot of unnecessary plots had been cut down. The Bawan campsite had been made available to us by BNF, who had built a similar camp five years before. It was a newly built ‘pondok’ with kitchen, dining area and 4 sleeping areas. To the side of the pondok were 4 cabins ac9ng as 2 showers (mandis) and 2 toilets. About 200 meters from camp into the forest was a small river. A water pump was connected from the river up to the pondok. Due to the acidity of the water, there was a low risk of bacterial infec9on so it was suitable for cooking, drinking and washing. During our stay, Lis, the camp cook, made a vegetable garden with several plants bought from the local market, which can be used during future expedi9ons and projects.

A path was bulldozed through an area of recovering forest consis9ng of ferns, for access to Bawan Camp.

Figure 3. Map showing the loca9on of Bawan forest study site (as highlighted by the red box). (Harrison et al. 2012)

Appendix 5: Travel and Transport London to Palangka Raya For the outward journey, we all made our own way to London Heathrow Airport and flew out on the 30th July 2015. We stopped over in Doha, Qatar before con9nuing on to Jakarta, Indonesia. We spent a night there at the POP! Hotel and then flew to Palangka Raya on the 1st August. We were met at the airport by Berni Ripoll, Field Director at BNF, and then drove to BNF's office and bunkhouse. Whilst in Palangka Raya, we used taxis (the vans were easily iden9fied by their bright orange colour and are locally known as ‘bemos’) to travel to the market and restaurants. For the more specific tasks of buying equipment for the expedi9on, we were able to use BNF's own driver, Supian. VisiLng Sabangau On August 4th we headed to BNF's base camp in Sabangau. We were driven by BNF staff to the river, where we got three small engine-‐powered canoes called ‘klodoks’ and weaved upriver to a small wooden dock. From there, we could see a plain leading to the forest edge and running from the dock to the forest was an old logging railway that seemed to be perilously balanced on s9lts. The tram took us safely into the Sabangau camp near the forest edge.

Palangka Raya to Bawan On August 13th, we were finally ready to travel to our expedi9on site at Bawan. Bawan village was a two and a half hour drive north-‐west of Palangka Raya. The team, accompanied by BNF staff, as well as all the scien9fic and camp equipment were transported in two 4x4s and a truck that had been hired locally. A sand road ran from Bawan village to the edge of the forest, near the camp. The road had been eroded by rain meaning that the vehicles tended to become stuck, requiring us to get out and push on several occasions. One of the cars became stuck in thick mud aper accidentally driving into a shallow ditch. Aper half an hour the car was dislodged by liping the back wheels using logs and placing s9cks underneath to provide trac9on. Eventually, we could go no further by car and walked the rest of the way to camp whilst the locals transported the equipment on motorbikes (known as ‘ojeks’).

Geang home At the end of our expedi9on there were huge forest fires in the Central Kalimantan area, crea9ng a thick fog. This made the driving condi9ons back to Palangka Raya a lidle difficult but we made it there safely. However, once in Palangka Raya we realised the true extent of the fires, such that Palangka Raya airport was closed. We had to make last minute arrangements to hire two cars to take us to Banjarmasin Airport, five hours south of Palangka Raya. We managed to fly back to Jakarta from Banjarmasin, then onto Doha and finally to London.

Appendix 6: Food and AccommodaLon Palangka Raya During the 9me we spent in the city of Palangka Raya we were invited to stay in the houses owned by BNF and CIMPTROP, allowing us to get to know members of the organisa9on beder. We had to get our own food here which came out of our personal funds. A popular Indonesian dish of fried noodles (mie goreng) could be bought for as lidle as 19p. Sabangau BNF’s basecamp in Sabangau forest is a field sta9on that is comprised of accommoda9on buildings, kitchen and dining areas, an office, laboratory, washing area, toilets and bathrooms. Electricity is supplied from a generator and solar panels, and then camp is well-‐stocked with food and clean drinking water. The food here was very rou9ne as BNF have live-‐in cooks on the premises that cater for the BNF staff and volunteers. Breakfast (0700) usually consisted of rice, eggs and vegetables. Lunch (1200) was similar, with the addi9on of meat such as chicken or fish. In the evening, dinner (1800) was varied. In our short stay we were treated to potato, cheese cakes, fried chicken, noodles and watermelon. At Sabangau one of our team celebrated her birthday. Lis, one of BNF’s cooks, amazed us with specially prepared pancakes, doughnuts and fruit drinks for the occasion.

Bawan Prior to our arrival in Bawan, the pondok that had been built for BNF’s expedi9on in 2010 was rebuilt and expanded. The new pondok consisted of two upstairs bedrooms for ourselves and the BNF volunteers when they visited, a downstairs bedroom for the Indonesian members of our team, a kitchen area and washing area. A water pump was purchased to transport drinkable water into camp from the river 100m away. This provided all the water needed for washing clothes and dishes, and for the two mandis (bucket showers) and two toilets. As Bawan is a peatland rainforest the water has a low pH in which parasites are unable to survive. This means we were able to drink the water directly without the need for ﬁltra9on.

BNF’s resident cook at Sabangau, Lis, stayed with us in Bawan for the dura9on of our expedi9on. Lis cooked a variety of meals that we all thoroughly enjoyed, and we were open impressed by what he was able to achieve with a simple camping stove and cooking equipment. In addi9on to rice, noodles, eggs, chicken, potato cakes and freshly caught ﬁsh, Lis was able to make western dishes adapted to the ingredients available. For example, we enjoyed pizza and spaghei and were open treated with fresh fruit, fried banana and pineapple, cake balls and doughnuts.

Appendix 7: Materials and InformaLon Sources Field guides and iNaturalist.org Two primary field guides were used for species iden9fica9on in the field: Inger, R. F., & Stuebing, R. B. (1997). A field guide to the frogs of Borneo. Natural History Publica9ons; and Ingraneil, D. (2011). Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Rep@les of Borneo. New holland. In addi9on, photographs of species that could not be confidently iden9fied were uploaded to an online database on iNaturalist: hdp://www.inaturalist.org/projects/global-‐amphibian-‐bioblitz. This online community was able to assist in species iden9fica9ons and the data will be used in larger conserva9on efforts through the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Open access data sharing enables the development of management strategies and global conserva9on planning, and so is highly recommended to future expedi9on teams. Forest navigaLon GPS maps had been created by BNF in their ini9al biodiversity survey of the area in 2010. These were used to locate pre-‐exis9ng and open overgrown transect paths through the forest, which were assessed for their suitability in our surveys. Three GPS units borrowed from the University of Exeter were used to tag 25m interval points along each transect, up to 1km. The GPS maps will be made available to future expedi9on teams. Advisors Academic guidance was provided by Dr Frank Van Veen at the University of Exeter. (See ‘Planning and Prepara9on’ pages 21-‐22). Simon Husson, founding director of BNF, was able to give us advice on the logis9cs of the expedi9on, from visas, to transport and local knowledge of Bawan. Simon put us in contact with Bernat Ripoll and other BNF staff whose input into the expedi9on was invaluable. Pak Suwido Limin, head of CIMTROP at the University of Palangka Raya, was able to advise us on the ecology of the area and the importance of conduc9ng research there.

Appendix 8: Permissions and Permits We were issued Social-‐Cultural Visas just before flying out to Borneo, allowing us to carry out field surveys in Bawan, with permission from the head of CIMTROP, Pak Suwido Limin, at the University of Palangka Raya. In order to conduct research in Indonesia and publish data in a scien9fic journal, each team member must apply for a foreign research permit through RISTEK, from the State Minister for Research and Technology. Although we applied for research permits, our applica9on was postponed by RISTEK just before we were due to commence our fieldwork. We were unable to obtain research permits in 9me for the start of our stay in Bawan. However, with permission from CIMTROP, we were able to commence with our fieldwork, tes9ng a variety of methods for surveying amphibians and rep9les. In future, we recommend star9ng the applica9on for permits around 6 months prior to the start of the expedi9on, as it is a 9me-‐consuming process that open presents many difficul9es.

Appendix 9: CommunicaLons In the ini9al planning stages of the expedi9on, email correspondence between one or two team members and our contacts in Indonesia (Simon Husson, Bernat Ripoll) was the most prac9cal method of communica9on. In the last few weeks before ﬂying, all team members had been introduced via email to our sponsors in Indonesia. Phone calls were also made to address urgent queries regarding visas and transport prior to our arrival. In country, we used a dual-‐SIM phone with a local Indonesian SIM card to contact BNF members and RISTEK (issuer of foreign research permits), as well as family and friends back home. However, this was only possible in Jakarta and in the town of Palangka Raya. In Sabangua camp and Bawan camp phone signal was extremely poor and open non-‐existent. WiFi was also inaccessible. Keeping a thorough record of events in the form of diary entries or blog posts is recommended.

In the ﬁeld, we had two portable radios (Kenwood) with extendable antennas that allowed the two groups to communicate their progress on a transect walk, or report important informa9on and incidents. This was especially useful in warning each other about the presence of ﬁre ants, par9cularly at night-‐9me, and of other poten9al dangers, such as suspected hunters and hun9ng dogs. Leaf-‐mimicking insect © Alice Rosen

Appendix 10: Insurance We were advised by a previous expedi9on team at the University of Exeter to use ‘Banner Insurance’ for our expedi9on which covered ourselves and personal belongings within reason. Luckily the expedi9on went without fault and we did not need to make any claims from the insurance.

Appendix 11: Fundraising Our main fundraising outputs were from grant applica9ons and crowd funding. We applied for grants from large charitable trusts and organisa9ons, including those situated in the hometowns of our team members, such as Devon charitable trusts. Our benefactors for the expedi9on aper applica9ons were: -  The University of Exeter Scien9ﬁc Expedi9on fund and Les Halpin Expedi9on Fund -  The Whitley Wildlife Conserva9on Trust -  The Rotary Club of Axminster -  Axminster and District Lions Club

Another significant contributor to fundraising was the Indiegogo crowd funding site. A dedicated page was created on the site, where the goals of the expedi9on and a descrip9on of the project were offered alongside gip packages for various dona9on amounts. This crowd funding page was mostly u9lised by friends and family members; however, a small number of dona9ons were also made separately directly to team members. We hosted a few small but successful fundraising events including cake sales, pub quizzes, a coffee morning and a fun run.

Appendix 12: Medical Arrangements Those individuals trained in first aid prior to departure were Health and Safety Officer Daniel Maskrey and Louise Bienfait. These two also provided basic training to the rest of the team prior to departure and provided them with photocopies of a wilderness first aid handbook. Many of the BNF staff members who aided the team were also trained in first aid. Each team member brought basic first aid equipment as follows: Ibuprofen 400 mg; Rehydra9on salts (dioralyte); Paracetamol 500mg; Plasters-‐ various; An9histamine Tablets; Blister Plaster pack; Water Purifica9on Tablets; An9fungal Foot Powder; Ponchos; Loperamide (if wanted); Insect Repellent Spray (Non-‐deet); Sun Cream; Prescrip9on Medica9ons; Broad Spectrum An9bio9cs (if wanted); Toothpaste; An9histamine Cream; An9sep9c Cream; Eye Drops (if wanted); Toiletries (bio-‐friendly); Toilet roll. In addi9on, a group first aid kit was split evenly between field teams carrying out transect walks and base-‐camp when on site: Triangle bandage x10; Pressure bandage x6; Sam splint x2; Dressing with bandage (18cmx18cm) x2; Dressing with bandage (12cmx12cm) x2; An9sep9c wipes pack x20, x3; Hand sani9ser 75 ml x5; An9histamine cream x3; Bivi bag x2-‐ Zoe x2, Safety matches pack x4; Dextrose energy tablets pack x6; Digital thermometer x1; Hydrocor9sone cream 1% (15g) x1; Resusciade x3; Safety Pin x50; Zinc oxide tape 1.25 cm x5m; Micropore tape 1.25cm x3m; An9sep9c cream 15g x3; Co-‐codamol 500mg x32; Masking tape x50m; Duct tape x10m; Cling film x15m; Codon buds x60; Cys99s relief x3; Ankle support x1; Knee support x1; Wrist support x1; Tourniquet x1; Expedi9on First Aid handbook x1, x5 photocopies; Nitrile Gloves x10 pairs; Safety scissors x1; Quikclot sponge x1; Tweezers x1; Lighters x10 (for tweezer sterilisa9on); Lemsip x16; Monitoring card photocopy x12; Conforming Bandage 5cm x4m; Reliburn gel 125 ml x1; Burn Dressing x3; Cold Pack x4-‐ £9.20; An9sep9c wash 100ml x1; Plasters (assorted) x4; Paracetamol x32; Ibuprofen x16.

In the event of a medical emergency, the injured party would be evacuated by bike to Bawan village and then transferred to a car to take them to Palangka Raya. Depending on the severity of the medical emergency, the individual could be admided to a hospital in Palangka Raya, or another local hospital if beder equipped to deal with the situa9on. In more severe cases or where specialist doctors or resources are required for treatment, the eﬀected individual would be admided to an expat hospital, with which BNF are aﬃliated, in prepara9on for evacua9on to a hospital in Singapore. The team’s evacua9on plan was largely iden9cal to BNF's own, as it would be carried out in conjunc9on with them. All team members had the appropriate inocula9ons before leaving the UK. Team members also took the an9-‐malarial medica9on ‘malarone’ (or similar) for the full dura9on of their 9me in Borneo and used DEET-‐free insect repellants to deter bi9ng insects. Whilst the area is not a malarial hotspot, dengue fever is prevalent in the urban areas of Palangka Raya.

Appendix 13: Risks and Hazards All risks were assessed prior to leaving the UK, in agreement with contacts at BNF. Two major unforeseen risks were discovered upon arrival. One further major hazard threatened to derail our departure plans at the tail end of the expedi9on. The difficulty of the forest floor terrain presented a much greater risk than previously an9cipated. The majority of transect paths were either roughly cut or were severely overgrown from BNF’s previous expedi9on to the area. As such, we had to move slowly and carefully through the forest in order to avoid branches, vines, tree roots and streams that obstructed our path. Our guides were able to help us navigate the tricky terrain and keep us on the most efficient paths through the forest. Another unforeseen risk was the prevalence of dengue fever in the region at the 9me of our expedi9on. Two BNF members had recently contracted the disease shortly before our arrival. This discovery made our mosquito nets and insect repellent sprays all the more essen9al. We were also on the lookout for telltale symptoms to ensure early detec9on of the virus. Shortly before our scheduled departure from Palangka Raya we were forced to rearrange our travel plans to allow us to leave a day early from Banjarmasin airport. All flights from Palangka Raya had been cancelled due to smoke caused by the extensive forest fires set throughout the region. Luckily we were able to depart from Banjarmasin just before the situa9on turned cri9cal as the Cen9pede © Alice Rosen

whole of the region was engulfed.

Medically, within our own team the expedi9on saw no major incident. A couple of incidences of light-‐headedness were treated appropriately and on our final day in the field a minor illness meant holding back our departure for Palangka Raya for a couple of hours whilst treatment was administered. The dangers of the forest, however, did become clear when, prior to our departure to the Bawan field-‐site, two BNF staff members were dry-‐biden by a juvenile pit viper. This event certainly added to our own cau9on when conduc9ng field work in the forest. The full risk assessment is adached to this report.

Appendix 14: ILnerary 1st August Arrived in Jakarta and stayed at an airport hotel. 1st -‐5th August Flew from Jakarta to Palangka Raya where we met our in-‐country contact from BNF, met with the CIMTROP director and organised visas. 4th -‐9th August Travelled to Sabangau BNF base camp for first aid and naviga9on prac9ce. The team also discussed camp set up, staff and equipment with the BNF staff. 9th-‐12th August Travelled back to Palangka Raya to buy equipment and organise camp staff. Camp supplies included pimall equipment, water pump, electric pump and food supplies. 13th August-‐10th September Travelled to and resided at Bawan camp (coordinates: 1° 36'S, 113° 59'E) 10th-‐12th September Travelled back to Palangka Raya, wrote reports for CIMTROP and planned alterna9ve return flight due to flight cancella9ons resul9ng from forest fires.

Appendix 15: Income and Expenditure All team members made a personal financial contribu9on towards the expedi9on, totalling £6,372.61 out of approx. £11,000. The remaining expedi9on costs were mostly funded by grants, fundraising events and dona9ons through a crowd-‐funding campaign. As a six-‐person expedi9on team made up of undergraduate students we could not afford a costly expedi9on and aimed to avoid shelling out for fundraising shormalls. Having successfully conducted an expedi9on for approx. £11,000 we have demonstrated that you can organise an ambi9ous expedi9on on a reasonable budget. We believe that with more careful planning this total could be further reduced given the knowledge and insight we have now. In country we dealt with many unforeseen or higher than an9cipated costs, including: accommoda9on with BNF during training and prepara9on periods; towing and repair of a hired vehicle; employment of BNF staff and a camp manager from Bawan village. These addi9onal costs exceeded our con9ngency, meaning that some members of the team were forced to cover the costs using their personal spending money. In retrospect, we would have liked to hold many more fundraising events and applied for more grants throughout the year leading up to the expedi9on. We will be able to pass this knowledge onto any future expedi9on teams so that they are more prepared to cover the inevitable unexpected costs.

Appendix 16: Suitability of Equipment ScienLfic Equipment The vernier calipers and spring scales that we used were appropriate for measuring amphibians and rep9les, although a waterproof digital version may have been beder suited, par9cularly for the very small dwarf species. The GPSs that we borrowed from the University of Exeter were useful but basic. We were unable to transfer BNF's previous GPS transect maps of Bawan onto them and so had to borrow a GPS from BNF. The field guides we used enabled us to iden9fy most of the species we found, but the descrip9ons were not detailed enough to allow posi9ve iden9fica9on of certain species. However, more comprehensive field guides for amphibians in Central Kalimantan are lacking.

We had originally planned to use a sound recorder to monitor and iden9fy amphibian calls. Unfortunately, the sound recorder we had was not sensi9ve enough and a beder quality acous9c recorder exceeded our budget. Therefore, our surveys failed to account for the presence of canopy species. In addi9on, the pimall traps failed to capture any herp9les. We propose that this is partly due to the suitability of the buckets and tarpaulin we opted for, which is something that could be further inves9gated in future expedi9ons. Other Equipment There were no signiﬁcant issues with the camp equipment such as the water pump and generator that we purchased in Palangka Raya. The aerial booster for one of our radios was broken several weeks into the expedi9on, which reduced the signal range, although this did not impact the usability of radio communica9on. Finally, the First Aid kit we brought with us contained everything we needed and was adequate for a forest expedi9on.

Appendix 17: Risk Assessment

Environment-‐ Storms/Rain-‐ Lightning, Falls, Mudslides, Sop ground, Roof fall, Floods, Hypothermia; Mist/fog/low cloud-‐ Low visibility, Geing lost; Sun/Heat-‐ UV exposure, Sunburn, High temperatures, Heat exhaus9on, Heat Stroke, Oxygen deficient / Poisonous atmospheres-‐ Poisoning; Rivers-‐ Drowning, Flash Floods; Peat Bogs-‐ Sludge pits; Forest-‐Fire, Geing lost, Falls, Falling Branches; Sedlements-‐ Roads and Railways, Trains, Planes, Cars, Electricity. Flora and Fauna-‐ Dangerous-‐ Plants, Fungi, Rep9les, Arthropods, Insects (Bites & S9ngs), Mammals, Arachnids. Microbiological-‐ Weil's Disease, Tetanus, Malaria, Cholera, Typhoid, Lyme Disease, Escherichia (E) coli, Campylobacter, Food borne illness, Water-‐borne infec9on, Diges9ve tract infec9on, Wound infec9on, Rabies, Japanese Encephali9s, Dengue, Diptheria, Hepa99s A, Hepa99s B, Tuberculosis, HIV. Living Arrangements-‐ Generators/Portable Electrical Equipment-‐ Shock, Fire, Exposed circuits, Differing safety standards, old equipment; Gas Cooking / Hea9ng-‐ CO poisoning, Fire, Burns; Accommoda9on-‐ Suitability, Sanita9on. Human AcLvity-‐ Industrial Ac9vity/Forestry-‐ Water pollu9on, Harmful chemicals, Toxic/flammable gases, Industrial Machinery, Felling, Sta9c and mobile machinery, Explosions, Waste, Hazardous materials; Hun9ng/Shoo9ng-‐ Firearms Research-‐ Equipment-‐ Entanglement, trapping, crushing. Vehicles-‐ Collision, Fuel fires, Loose loads, Hazardous terrain. Local Area-‐ Crime-‐ Thep, Violence, Rape, Fraud, Sexual harassment; Local customs/Laws/Sense of humour-‐ Offence, Restric9ons, differing expecta9ons, Permits for research, Language/ communica9on problems; Sabangau-‐ isola9on, remoteness; Poli9cal situa9on-‐ Civil Unrest, Interna9onal Tension, Armed conflict, Terrorist ac9vity. Group-‐ Lack of family/peer support-‐ Stress, trauma; Health/workload-‐ Pre-‐exis9ng condi9ons, Food intolerance/allergy, Injuries, Lack of fitness, exhaus9on, Group dynamics, Rela9onships