Forest Survey Complete Despite Deadly Snake Bite

In April, Borneo Project volunteers Joshua Taylor and Heather Macrellis ventured up the Palutan River to survey a tract community forest belonging to the Penan village of Long Lunyim. As their small longboat made it's way up narrow rapids through Borneo's rainforest interior, they were more concerned about how to complete their ambitious study than the dangers that lurked in the rainforest.

With guidance from Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), Joshua and Heather were asked to document the value of non-timber forest resources used by the Penan. This scientific study, commissioned by The Borneo Project, is part of a broader effort to help the people of Long Lunyim save a vital communal forest and water catchment area from loggers.

Like most Penan, the villagers of Long Lunyim rely almost entirely on the rainforest for food, medicines, tools, building materials, and spiritual inspiration. The destruction of their communal forest would severely impact quality of life in Long Lunyim and force a greater dependence upon the cash economy-a fate Penan in remote areas are ill prepared for.

The purpose of this initial study was to document the biological diversity maintained by traditional forest management practices of the Penan. In addition to the forest survey, a community survey was conducted to assess the economic value of the resources derived from the community forest. The goal of the study was to show just how much it would cost the Penan to replace the various materials they find and cultivate in their forest if it were cut down.

To collect data, Joshua, Heather, volunteers from the village and staff from SAM spent ten days identifying plant species along straight compass lines through 442 acres of rainforest. The work was painstaking. On average they found one useful plant species per meter. They also identified over 200 species of plants that are used by the Penan for food, medicine, tools, firewood, building materials, handicrafts and/or spiritual ceremonies. Extrapolated to the entire 442 acres, would mean more than 1.7 million plants used by the Penan.

It was along one of the many steep survey transects that Joshua reached up to grab a tree and felt a prick on the back on his arm. His initial thought was, "Oh, just another colony of biting ants." Yet when he looked down he noticed a small bright green coiled snake. His worst nightmare had come true. He was twenty-five minutes on foot from a village accessible only by boat and logging road, and he had been struck by a venomous pit viper.

Panicked he called over his guide, Johnnie, who's reaction indicated that this was no harmless snake. Immediately, Johnnie smeared the snake bite with saliva and pinched the venom out vigorously with his fingers. He then closed his eyes and mumble a "really long" prayer in Penan. Then he smeared the snake's brain on the wound to counteract the venom.

As they began walking quickly back to the village, Johnnie told Joshua that he had survived a similar snake bite as a child. If he was OK after 20 minutes, he would survive.

When they reached the village, people jumped to action. Joshua's arm was wrapped with two different snake bite plants and he was given three cups of plant juice to gulp down. He was in their hands and he had survived the initial 20 minutes.

After a days rest, Joshua joined the team of surveyors and returned to the spot of the bite to finish the transect. "In the end," he commented, "I didn't even get an aversion to the snake filled rainforests. Just every single twisted vine was a snake - or so I envisioned!" Joshua and Heather returned to Marudi town to compile data and write a report which is now available through The Borneo Project.

The report clearly shows that traditional forest management policies practiced by the Penan are sustainable over the long term provided that their forest stays intact. The report also concludes that it would cost the Penan of Long Lunyim $33,600 annually to replace the non-timber products they derive from the forest. Without a source of cash income, the loss of the forest will certainly lead to a severe decline in health, diet, and overall standard of living for the Penan.

Findings from the report will be presented to the Forest Department, the Land and Survey Department and other governmental bodies who control logging concessions on Penan lands. It is hoped that this survey will lead to policy changes recognizing the importance of to local economies and forest management systems.