about project

When you hear Borneo, most of us imagine an exotic island covered with untouched nature. The reality of the 21st century, however, is such that deforestation and the establishment of plantations present a growing threat to this natural jewel. By now, the lowland forests, unfortunately, almost do not exist any longer. Only fragments of them are left, where the last 1,000 dwarf elephants hide out. Currently there remain less than half of the original forests in Borneo and whereas palm oil areas span 33,000 km2, the orangutan population has declined by more than half in the last 50 years. Of the Sumatran Rhinoceros, only around 30 last specimens remain. Borneo is home to the world’s largest flower, rafflesie arnoldii, the largest orchid and the largest nocturnal butterfly. Tropical forests host more than half the world's species of plants and animals on a space only slightly larger than 5% of the total area of land. Borneo boasts 44 endemic species of mammals and 6000 species of endemic plants. Due to the alarming situation, we made a decision to document the amazing diversity of species that still survive there. This place of famous biodiversity has for long been our planned target and we had spent months by preparations. We focused on the two endangered endemic animal species - proboscis monkey and bornean orangutan, but also on the important habitats - mangroves and mountain rainforest. The motivation behind our project - to record the natural diversity of Borneo - took us to several different ecoregions in different parts of this large island. In the mangrove, we spent several weeks to acquire the trust of the group of bizarre proboscis and during low tide we documented the swampy world of "amphibious fish" - mudskippers, shell-dwelling hermit crabs and sky-blue fiddler crab. In the mountain rainforests, we were enchanted by the quantity of plant species, colorful birds of all sizes and huge amounts of insects. Day and night, we sweated on muddy paths in the middle of inaccessible jungle, searching for an orangutan and an elephant. Almost daily, we had to face mosquito swarms, wild forest bees, dangerous reptiles and lurking leeches. Here we would like to share with you the accomplishment of our effort: the seven-weeks of intensive photography and shooting across the island. Through these photographs we would like to highlight the beauty, which we have on this unique planet. Nature is not the property of mankind, we are only a part of it, and we have no right to destroy billions of years of development - a global heritage. If we don't stop growing pressure on the exploitation of natural resources, will lose it forever.