Project 2010: Borneo
"Borneo" is actually made up of three countries.
For the Fall of 2010, Jungle to Jungle turns to the East.
Crossing the date line, the intrepid educators will land in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on September 23rd.
The curriculum has now been solidified and tailored to Kihei Charter’s Middle School science classes. This year, the project will be focusing on biodiversity, natural selection, and human impact on the environment.
J to J is again planning on connecting with biologists and research institutes. This year, it’s especially exciting: We are getting to meet up with the Universiti of Malaysia Sabah’s Institute for Tropical Biology & Conservation, the Rainforest Discovery Centre, and even the World Wildlife Fund in Sarawak. At each of these places, we will get to meet a scientist or researcher, and ask them questions directly from our students!
Also very exciting is the chance to meet up with multiple classrooms in the Northwest part of Borneo and connect them to our students in Kihei! Thanks to the Borneo Child Aid Society, there are now schools in the remote oil palm plantations where kids would go without education otherwise. The students from Maui will get to exchange questions and answers with children in Borneo! We also build in a presentation on Hawaii’s amazing geography, geology, flora and fauna to share with that class.
The twisted jungles of the Heart of Borneo
This fall, J2J and its students here on Maui are going to be carrying out a scientific experiment over 6000 miles. For this reason, J2J is officially bringing rugged portable satellite Internet (HNS 9201) and solar power modules to take with us on the road..er.. rivers so that our explorations and findings can be transmitted to the kids.
We are a non-profit in the State of Hawaii, continuing to donate the program to students and classrooms here. If you would like more information about how you can contribute to the project, please contact us at info@jungletojungle.org.
And stay tuned: Lots more to come!
A little more about Borneo:
Borneo is an extremely special place and perfect candidate for our investigations: Throughout the 1990′s and into the present, over 50% of its primary forests have been leveled for timber and then oil palm plantations. One of the goals of the project is to bring about sustainability through increased awareness.
But! Do not lose hope! The World Wildlife Foundation has successfully created a network of conservation areas on the island of Borneo. It’s called the Heart of Borneo Project. Plus, there’s people like Wille Smits out there and more like him!
J to J believes that if we can show young people (and regular-aged people too) just how amazing these places are, what incredible discoveries have been made, and the potential for so many more, that they will naturally fall in love and most likely contribute to solutions: both locally and globally.
