Brunei

Asia

199

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Brunei is a small country on the northern coast of Borneo that keeps a far higher proportion of primary rainforest than its neighbours, around two thirds of its territory, in good measure because its economy has been based on oil and not on timber or oil palm. Ulu Temburong park, reachable only by river, protects intact dipterocarp rainforest and has a steel walkway that climbs to the canopy, more than forty metres above the ground, for the study of life in the trees. Brunei bay and the Temburong estuary keep extensive mangroves and flooded forest where proboscis monkeys are easily watched. The country is one of the three signatories of the transboundary initiative to protect the Heart of Borneo.

The nature of Brunei

National animal: No official national animal; the proboscis monkey is the country's emblematic species

Did you know?

The proboscis monkey, found only on Borneo, has in the males a pendulous nose that can exceed ten centimetres and that acts as a sounding box to amplify their calls and attract females. It is also the best swimmer of all the primates: it has partially webbed digits and crosses the rivers by swimming or by leaping from the trees, sometimes to escape crocodiles.

Biodiversity profile

Sudeste Asiatico (isla de Borneo)La cobertura de areas marinas protegidas es de solo 0,2%, una de las mas bajas del sudeste asiatico

Climate

•Ecuatorial humedo (Af), calido y humedo todo el año

Main biomes

•Selva tropical siempreverde (gran parte del territorio permanece boscoso gracias a la baja densidad poblacional y los ingresos petroleros que han limitado la conversion agricola)
•Manglares y turberas costeras
•Selva de dipterocarpáceas
•Manglar estuarino
•Bosque pantanoso de turba
•Bosque ribereño
•Bosque de brezal kerangas
•Litoral del mar de China Meridional

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Arrecifes de coral costeros
•Posible sitio Ramsar transfronterizo con Malasia en la Bahia de Brunei, aun no formalizado

Flagship wildlife

•Orangutan de Borneo (poblaciones en zonas fronterizas)
•Elefante pigmeo de Borneo
•Calao rinoceronte
•Nasico o mono narigudo (endemico de Borneo)
•Mono narigudo
•Gibón de Müller
•Oso malayo
•Varano acuático
•Cocodrilo marino
•Colugo de Sunda
•Pangolín de Java
•Macaco de cola de cerdo
•Tortuga verde

Notable endemic species

•Aprox. 15.000 especies de plantas vasculares y 2.000 tipos de arboles registrados en un territorio muy reducido, reflejo de la alta diversidad de la isla de Borneo compartida con Malasia e Indonesia
•Mono narigudo
•Gibón de Müller

Notable threatened species

•Especies de Borneo compartidas con Malasia e Indonesia (orangutan, elefante pigmeo) enfrentan las mismas presiones regionales de fragmentacion de habitat

Notable protected areas

•Extension propuesta del Area Protegida de Bukit Teraja
•Parque Nacional de Ulu Temburong
•Bosque de Andulau
•Reserva de Selirong
•Bahía de Brunéi
•Bosque de Sungai Ingei
•Corazón de Borneo

Main conservation threats

•Desarrollo de infraestructura y expansion agricola, que ha generado fragmentacion de habitat pese a la relativamente alta cobertura forestal del pais
•Contaminacion
•Especies invasoras
•Cambio climatico

Conservation

Brunei maintains one of the lowest deforestation rates in Southeast Asia and has committed a good part of its territory to the Heart of Borneo initiative, together with Malaysia and Indonesia, to maintain a continuous transboundary block of forest.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Temburong estuary at dusk by boat for proboscis monkeys. Ulu Temburong at dawn from the canopy walkway. The Selirong mangroves for coastal birds and monitor lizards.

Sources: ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity - ASEAN Biodiversity | Wikipedia - Protected areas of Brunei | sunwayuniversity.edu.my - Marine Protected Area Southeast Asia working paper

Rainforest Ocean