Heart of Borneo

The Heart of Borneo Project’s Murung Raya Expedition was one of the largest, most innovative expeditions of recent years – 2 months exploring, researching and documenting unstudied rainforest in the very centre of the island of Borneo – 400km from the coast, one of the most remote areas of the planet.

We were working inside the Heart of Borneo rainforest, the single largest stretch of rainforest left standing in South East Asia, and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth. This unique habitat is under immediate threat from logging and mining activity, so our work there is extremely important for its future conservation.

Thanks to our generous sponsors, we were able to do so much more than simply collect vital data. We created an interactive expedition by filming and photographing everything, to upload on our website via satellite every few days, allowing people all over the world to follow us in real time, and ask us questions we could respond to. The aim was to help conserve this rainforest by combining science and media to discover, educate, and inspire.

We even took part in two live video links with audiences at London’s Natural History Museum – from the depths of completely unstudied rainforest on the other side of the world, so remote it had taken our team over 3 weeks to get to!

That same day we were joined at our camp by two guest researchers from Germany. Our team were kitted out in Páramo clothing ready for the event when Jan and Carsten arrived. We’d been wearing this kit day in, day out for over 2 months by that point, but it still felt like we were putting on our ‘smarts’ for the camera! One of the first things the two new guys said was how well kept we seemed after such a long time living and working in the field!

The rainforest is an extremely testing environment, one of the toughest in the world to work in. You needn’t worry too much about venomous snakes and poisonous spiders – the rainforest breaks you down, slowly, constantly. It’s a war of attrition that you are destined to lose, and your only line of defence apart from strict personal hygiene is your clothing.

Day in, day out, for 2 months in the field and 4 weeks either side, our team wore Páramo’s Directional Clothing. It had to withstand the rigours of soaring temperatures and UV rays, 100% humidity, torrential rainfall, not to mention the constant barrage of abuse from spiny lianas, tree climbing, river crossings, plus rivers and rivers of sweat!

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Now we’re back, my Páramo clothing has been washed and packed away, ready for our next expedition. For comfort, durability, and phenomenal fast drying ability, I wouldn’t risk taking anything else.

Martin Holland, Project leader

Click here for more information Find kit for jungle expeditions here.