Sarawak and Sabah vacation, tailor made

Planet

On this Borneo vacation you will visit both Semenggoh Wildlife Centre and Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre.

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is located in Semenggoh Nature Reserve, which is home to a community of orangutans and other wildlife which have been found injured, orphaned or kept illegally as pets. The Centre works hard to educate the local and international community on the importance of preserving the regions indigenous wildlife but also to rehabilitate the animals back into their natural environments. The Centre has had such an amazing success rate and is now working in conjunction with Matang Wildlife Centre, in Kubah National Park, to coordinate the wider release of the animals. This important work is done with the help of donations and entrance fees to the center paid on your behalf by our local agents.

Sepilok was founded in 1964, Sepilok was established to rehabilitate orphaned and often injured orangutans and rehabilitate them back into the wild. Located on the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve, the facility provides medical care for orangutans and other wildlife species including gibbons, Sumatran rhinos and the occasional injured elephant. The Centre works like a halfway house for the orangutans: it provides a semi-wild haven in the protected reserve outside the confines of the Centre but twice a day meals are provided for those animals who feel the need for it. Entrance to the Centre for these feedings is chargeable and all funds go back to the Centre to help fund the important work they are doing here. The Centre is also an important education tool for visitors to learn about the orangutans and the Centre’s work and help promote it to possible future visitors.

YTL Hotels, owner of Gaya Island Resort, operates an in-depth sustainable development policy at the resort. In 2012, Gaya Island Resort began working with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Sabah to put together a program to work with a group of small-scale local fishermen committed to line fishing which reduces the damage to marine life, contributes to the conservation of healthy oceans and improves the livelihood of local fishing communities. As a result, the resort now serves “The Catch of the Day” on its menu at Fisherman’s Cove Restaurant, highlighting their efforts in supporting the sustainable fishing industry and creating awareness for hotel guests.

Many lights in public areas on Gaya Island Resort have been retrofitted with motion sensors so that they are automatically switched on only when needed and incandescent and halogen bulbs have been replaced with lower wattage bulbs to reduce energy consumption. Heat exchange equipment and heat recovery hot water tanks are used to help conserve energy and reduce electricity used by air conditioners. The heat produced by the air conditioning unit compressors is captured to heat water for the use of resort guests.

As Gaya Island lacks a viable natural source of freshwater, the resort uses a reverse osmosis technique to produce clean water safe for consumption. This system was put into place prior to the opening of the resort to avoid the use of water barges, an unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly method of supplying water to guests. The reverse osmosis plant also treats wastewater from guest villas, producing grey water which is used to water the resort gardens. At a cost of RM2.5 million, the desalination system has been fully functioning since May 2012, supplying the whole resort with clean water safe for drinking.

Gaya Island Resort is located in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park and the resort has established a Turtle Rescue Centre and Marine Sanctuary in an effort to create awareness about the marine life and how they can help sustain and promote healthy sea life. The Sanctuary cares for and protects the reefs, marine biodiversity and is the first Turtle Rescue Centre in Malaysia. In the wild, the number of injured or ill turtles has increased significantly over the years. Sadly, the waters around the globe are strewn with rubbish often mistaken for food by animals. Turtles eat jellyfish as a main source of protein often leading to them ingesting plastic bags by mistake. As the turtles’ food source is depleting, turtles may resort to eating garbage which can lead to serious illness or death.

As the safety of the turtles inhabiting the area is a pressing issue, GIRMC gets involved through the rescue of injured or ill sea turtles. The major highlight of GIRMC is the turtle holding tank where injured turtles that are discovered within the seas around Gaya Island are placed. These turtles are studied, and the cause of injury or illness is determined. They are then treated, nursed back to good health and monitored. After the turtle’s recovery and stabilisation, the turtles will be released back into the wild.

People

Our local Borneo ground agents employ only local guides and drivers thereby keeping all moneys paid to staff in the local community. Where possible, food served to guests at all the lodges is sourced locally thereby providing a further income to local residents.

Abai Jungle Lodge is located next to Abai village en-route from the Sulu Sea to Sukau. In conjunction with the Abai villagers, the Abai Jungle Restaurant was built with food sourced from Abai village and their fishermen. A donation is made for each diner towards the Abai Homestay Development Fund to go towards the upgrading of village facilities with the provision of household goods, school uniforms, seeds etc.

Abai Jungle Lodge came later and was built behind the restaurant. The lodge uses many environmentally friendly practices including the use of biodegradable and environmentally friendly shampoo and soaps in guestrooms, rainwater collection and a reverse osmosis water treatment system which purifies the water in an energy efficient and cost effective way. The lodge also introduced their ‘tree planting and lunch with the villagers’ programme where for every person who partakes in this activity, a donation is made to the village as well as the tree itself which helps generate an extra income for the village. Over the years the lodge owners have donated useful items such as motor and fibreglass boats to the villagers.

Handmade baskets produced by the indigenous Penan community are sold in Gaya Island Resort’s gift shop to shows support for the Penan community, contributing to their income and also keeping local handicraft skills alive.

In conjunction with Orangutan Appeal UK and the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre, for every booking to Borneo we adopt our chosen Sepilok orangutan, Gelison, in your names for a year. Orangutan Appeal UK works to support the orangutans of Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre. Funds from the adoption costs go towards funding the Centre’s work providing food, medical care and a safe refuge for the orangutans as well as being an important educational tool for visitors.