Records of Bornean felids in and around Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

We photo-captured four of the five species of Bornean wild cats in Tabin Wildlife Reserve (Tabin WR) and in the nearby forest fragments located within a matrix habitat of mature oil palm plantation. The four species were Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi, Bornean bay cat Pardofelis badia, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata, and leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis. A fifth species, the flat headed cat Prionailurus planiceps, was photographed earlier in 2002 (Yasuda et al 2007), but was not detected during our study. The leopard cat was photographed from all sampling sites, but all other species were photographed only from the forest habitats of Tabin WR. Despite consisting mainly of regenerating secondary forest, Tabin WR may still constitute an important component for the preservation of the Bornean Wild cat species in Saba

Terrestrial mammal species richness and composition in three small forest patches within an oil palm landcape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Small and highly degraded forest patches are usually scattered across oil palm plantation landscapes and often exist as permanent features. By using a combination of camera-trapping and line-transect methods, we evaluated the usefulness of three such forest patches (< 30 ha) for terrestrial mammal species conservation in a mature oil palm plantation located near (< 1.7 km) a large continuous tract of logged forest in eastern Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Of the 29 terrestrial mammal species recorded in this study, 28 were found in the continuous logged forest habitat including six species that are either large-bodied, wide ranging, locally rare or are of high conservation concern. In comparison, 18 species were recorded across the three forest patches collectively; consisting mostly of species that are widespread, well-adapted to living in highly modified habitats and of low conservation concern. The presence of small forest patches within the oil palm habitat matrix seemed to be useful to some extent for some mammal species. However, many of the species were likely only transient in this habitat. The maintenance of large continuous tracts of natural forest is critical to the continued survival of many terrestrial mammal species on Borneo, particularly for species that are of high conservation value

Implications of zero-deforestation commitments: forest quality and hunting pressure limit mammal persistence in fragmented tropical landscapes

Zero-deforestation commitments seek to decouple agricultural production and forest loss to improve prospects for biodiversity. However, the effectiveness of methods designed to meet these commitments is poorly understood. In a highly-fragmented tropical landscape dominated by oil palm, we tested the capacity for the High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach to prioritise forest remnants that sustain mammal diversity. Patches afforded High Priority by HCS protocols (100 ha core area) provided important refuges for IUCN-threatened species and megafauna. However, patch-scale HCS area recommendations conserved only 35% of the mammal community. At least 3,000 ha would be required to retain intact mammal assemblages, with nearly ten times this area needed if hunting pressure was high. While current HCS protocols will safeguard patches capable of sustaining biodiversity, highly-fragmented tropical landscapes typical of zero-deforestation pledges will require thinking beyond the patch, towards strategically configured forest remnants at the landscape-level and enforcing strict controls on hunting

High carbon stock forests provide co-benefits for tropical biodiversity

1. Carbon-based policies provide powerful opportunities to unite tropical forest conservation with climate change mitigation. However, their effectiveness in delivering biodiversity co-benefits is dependent on high levels of biodiversity being found in high carbon areas. Previous studies have focussed solely on the co-benefits associated with Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) over large spatial scales, with few empirically testing carbon-biodiversity correlations at management unit scales appropriate to decision-makers. Yet, in development frontiers, where most biodiversity and carbon loss occurs, carbon-based policies are increasingly driven by commodity certification schemes, which are applied at the concession-level. 2. Working in a typical human-modified landscape in Southeast Asia, we examined the biodiversity value of land prioritised via application of REDD+ or the High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach, the emerging land-use planning tool for oil palm certification. Carbon stocks were estimated via low- and high-resolution datasets derived from global or local level biomass. Mammalian species richness was predicted using hierarchical Bayesian multi-species occupancy models of camera-trap data from forest and oil palm habitats. 3. At the community level, HCS forest supported comparable mammal diversity to control sites in continuous forest, while lower carbon strata exhibited reduced species occupancy. 4. No association was found between species richness and carbon when the latter was estimated using coarse-resolution data. However, when using high-resolution, field validated biomass data, diversity demonstrated positive relationships with carbon for threatened and disturbance-sensitive species, suggesting sensitivity of co-benefits to carbon data sources and the species considered. 5. Policy implications. Our work confirms the potential for environmental certification and REDD+ to work in tandem with conservation to mitigate agricultural impacts on tropical forest carbon stocks and biodiversity, especially if this directs development to low carbon, low biodiversity areas

Riparian buffers can help mitigate biodiversity declines in oil palm agriculture

Agricultural expansion drives biodiversity decline in forested tropical regions. Consequently, it is important to understand the conservation value of remnant forest in production landscapes. In a tropical landscape dominated by oil palm we characterized faunal communities across eight taxa occurring within riparian forest buffers, which are legally protected alongside rivers, and compared them to nearby recovering logged forest. Buffer width was the main predictor of species richness and abundance, with widths of 40-100 m on each side of the river supporting broadly equivalent levels of biodiversity to logged forest. However, width responses varied markedly among taxa, and buffers often lacked forest-dependent species. Much wider buffers than are currently mandated are needed to safeguard most species. The largest biodiversity gains are achieved by increasing relatively narrow buffers. To provide optimal conservation outcomes in tropical production landscapes we encourage policymakers to prescribe width requirements for key taxa and different landscape contexts.Newton-Ungku Omar Fund (grants 216433953, 537134717) – delivered by the British Council and funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology – as well as the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/K016407/1, NE/K016261/1; https://lombok.nerc-hmtf.info/). MJS was supported by a Research Leadership Award from the Leverhulme Trust

Socio-ecological factors shape the distribution of a cultural keystone species in Malaysian Borneo

Biophysical and socio-cultural factors have jointly shaped the distribution of global biodiversity, yet relatively few studies have quantitatively assessed the influence of social and ecological landscapes on wildlife distributions. We sought to determine whether social and ecological covariates shape the distribution of a cultural keystone species, the bearded pig (Sus barbatus). Drawing on a dataset of 295 total camera trap locations and 25,755 trap days across 18 field sites and three years in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, we fitted occupancy models that incorporated socio-cultural covariates and ecological covariates hypothesized to influence bearded pig occupancy. We found that all competitive occupancy models included both socio-cultural and ecological covariates. Moreover, we found quantitative evidence supporting Indigenous pig hunting rights: predicted pig occupancy was positively associated with predicted high levels of Indigenous pig-hunting groups in low-accessibility areas, and predicted pig occupancy was positively associated with predicted medium and low levels of Indigenous pig-hunting groups in high-accessibility areas. These results suggest that bearded pig populations in Malaysian Borneo should be managed with context-specific strategies, promoting Indigenous pig hunting rights. We also provide important baseline information on bearded pig occupancy levels prior to the 2020–2021 outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), which caused social and ecological concerns after mass dieoffs of bearded pigs in Borneo. The abstract provided in Malay is in the Supplementary file

Socio-ecological factors shape the distribution of a cultural keystone species in Malaysian Borneo

Biophysical and socio-cultural factors have jointly shaped the distribution of global biodiversity, yet relatively few studies have quantitatively assessed the influence of social and ecological landscapes on wildlife distributions. We sought to determine whether social and ecological covariates shape the distribution of a cultural keystone species, the bearded pig (Sus barbatus). Drawing on a dataset of 295 total camera trap locations and 25,755 trap days across 18 field sites and three years in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, we fitted occupancy models that incorporated socio-cultural covariates and ecological covariates hypothesized to influence bearded pig occupancy. We found that all competitive occupancy models included both socio-cultural and ecological covariates. Moreover, we found quantitative evidence supporting Indigenous pig hunting rights: predicted pig occupancy was positively associated with predicted high levels of Indigenous pig-hunting groups in low-accessibility areas, and predicted pig occupancy was positively associated with predicted medium and low levels of Indigenous pig-hunting groups in high-accessibility areas. These results suggest that bearded pig populations in Malaysian Borneo should be managed with context-specific strategies, promoting Indigenous pig hunting rights. We also provide important baseline information on bearded pig occupancy levels prior to the 2020–2021 outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), which caused social and ecological concerns after mass dieoffs of bearded pigs in Borneo. The abstract provided in Malay is in the Supplementary file

Animal use of rehabilitated formerly fire damaged peat-swamp forest in western Sabah, Malaysia

Peat-swamp forests harbour diverse animal communities, but they are also highly prone to forest fires. Between January 2017–February 2018, we carried out a camera trapping survey of animals in a mixed peatswamp forest partly affected by El Niño driven forest fires in 1998. This survey was conducted in the Klias Forest Reserve (KFR), of western Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. In addition to natural regeneration, the burnt areas in this peat forest have undergone active forest rehabilitation since 2006, including enrichment planting with indigenous tree species. We identified 22 animal species (16 mammals and six birds) in the surveyed areas including common and rarer species of high conservation value. The richness of animal species detected in the rehabilitated (formerly burnt forest) and the nearby intact (unburnt) forest areas was generally comparable. The similarity of detected animal species composition in each forest condition was also high (74% for all animal species combined; 86% for mammal species). Additionally, six of the seven most frequently photographed species did not show any significant difference in daytime and nighttime activity patterns in the rehabilitated as compared to intact forest. Interestingly, mousedeer species (Tragulus napu and T. kanchil) were found to be significantly more active during the daytime in intact (unburnt) forest compared to the rehabilitated. However, we suspect higher daytime mousedeer activity in intact areas is a behavioural adaptation to increased hunting pressure at night in this forest rather than a result of the local habitat conditions. Overall, our findings suggest that the rehabilitated mixed peat-swamp forest burnt 20 years ago, acts as an important functional extension to the intact forest of the KFR ecosystem and provides useful additional habitat for animal conservation

Animal use of rehabilitated formerly fire damaged peat-swamp forest in western Sabah, Malaysia

Peat-swamp forests harbour diverse animal communities, but they are also highly prone to forest fires. Between January 2017–February 2018, we carried out a camera trapping survey of animals in a mixed peatswamp forest partly affected by El Niño driven forest fires in 1998. This survey was conducted in the Klias Forest Reserve (KFR), of western Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. In addition to natural regeneration, the burnt areas in this peat forest have undergone active forest rehabilitation since 2006, including enrichment planting with indigenous tree species. We identified 22 animal species (16 mammals and six birds) in the surveyed areas including common and rarer species of high conservation value. The richness of animal species detected in the rehabilitated (formerly burnt forest) and the nearby intact (unburnt) forest areas was generally comparable. The similarity of detected animal species composition in each forest condition was also high (74% for all animal species combined; 86% for mammal species). Additionally, six of the seven most frequently photographed species did not show any significant difference in daytime and nighttime activity patterns in the rehabilitated as compared to intact forest. Interestingly, mousedeer species (Tragulus napu and T. kanchil) were found to be significantly more active during the daytime in intact (unburnt) forest compared to the rehabilitated. However, we suspect higher daytime mousedeer activity in intact areas is a behavioural adaptation to increased hunting pressure at night in this forest rather than a result of the local habitat conditions. Overall, our findings suggest that the rehabilitated mixed peat-swamp forest burnt 20 years ago, acts as an important functional extension to the intact forest of the KFR ecosystem and provides useful additional habitat for animal conservatio