Blog Archives

Kemena-Jelalong river: Ethno-linguistic view of an ecosystem in transformation　[Nathan Badenoch]

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Kemena-Jelalong river: Ethno-linguistic view of an ecosystem in transformation Nathan Badenoch（CSEAS, Kyoto University） 　The profound changes underway in the landscape mosaic of the Kemena-Jelalong watershed are representative of the fast-paced, resource-intensive development trajectory of Sarawak. The upper watershed areas (ulu) are being opened up to new forces of change, as logging roads are constructed to facilitate the movement of natural resources. Improved access means that industrial plantations (acacia, oilpalm) and new forms of market-oriented smallholder agricultural production (oilpalm, pepper) are securing a place in the landscape as well. The rapid pace of change has implications for both the natural and human diversity of these landscapes. Although transportation and communications have […]

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Feedback on Preliminary Research in Sarawak, Malaysia [Yucho Sadamichi]

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Feedback on Preliminary Research in Sarawak, Malaysia Yucho Sadamichi (The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) 　I have been working on environmental assessment, called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and in particular on the analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions resulting from the use of biofuels. LCA is based on a cradle-to-grave approach, covering land preparation, cultivation, transportation, biomass-to-energy conversion, distribution and consumption in the case of biofuels. 　In the past couple of years, I have visited factories and plantations in Southeast Asia to conduct LCA analyses for enterprises and governments, mainly focusing on how to reduce GHG emissions induced by their activities. This year I joined this […]

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General flowering and fruiting in Kemena and Tatau River areas [Hiromitsu Samejima]

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General flowering and fruiting in Kemena and Tatau River areas Hiromitsu Samejima (CSEAS, Kyoto University) 　Most lowland and hill areas of Borneo are covered by Mixed Dipterocarp Forest (MDF), in which large Dipterocarpaceae trees (ex. Shorea, Dipterocarpus and Dryobalanops spp.) dominate the canopy layer. In these forests, trees don’t flower and fruit every year. Once every one to five years, various taxa of trees synchronously blossom and fructify. These phenomena are called “general flowering” and “general fruiting” (Sakai et al., 1999). During the period of general flowering, a swarm of giant honey bees (Apis dorsta) appears, followed by a pack of wild boars in the time of general fruiting. Both […]

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Preliminary joint research in Kemena/Tatau riverine area, Sarawak, Malaysia [Noboru Ishikawa / Ryoji Soda]

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Preliminary joint research in Kemena/Tatau riverine area, Sarawak, Malaysia Noboru Ishikawa (CSEAS, Kyoto University) / Ryoji Soda (Osaka University) 　 It is easy to claim that this project integrates the humanities and science. However, the phrases “academic integration” or “cross-disciplinary field study” are used too often and now they have become somewhat clichéd. With this in mind, we planned our researches with much discussion. But soon it became clear that deskbound discussions were leading us nowhere. What should we do? 　So, for better or worse, we decided to hit the road. As members of this project, we ate and drank together; bathed together in rivers keeping our eyes open for […]

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Characteristics of our research region

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Characteristics of our research region 　For our project we selected areas along the Kemena and Tatau rivers in the Bintulu district of Sarawak, Malaysia. 　In these areas, we can observe natural forests, logged forests, secondary forests, shifting cultivation fields, and pepper fields all of which are common in many regions of Sarawak. But our research regions have, in addition to that, large-scale oil palm plantations and planted forests of acacia. Today, oil palm is largely cultivated among the small farmers in this area. 　This region provides a wide variety of vegetation on a watershed scale and it is truly remarkable from the aspect of landscape ecology. This region’s heterogeneous landscape […]

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