The Lower Kinabatangan in Malaysian Borneo is a tropical mix of lush forests, mangroves and oxbow lakes and home to the Bornean elephant, the world's smallest as well as roundest and cutest elephant, in the opinion of Dr Farina Othman. She and her team are building a protected corridor in partnership with oil palm plantations for the 250 elephants that remain locally. Ninety percent of their original habitat has been converted to oil palm, now the main source of income for local people who feel the elephant “belongs to the scientists, the NGOs, the government…" and not them, she tells Kate and Edward. Her nonprofit Seratu Aatai is helping build the skills to coexist with elephants and to "walk this journey with them,” Farina explains. Her plan is to put Kinabatangan on the map as a conservation model that can be replicated across other landscapes. 

How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup 

Find out more and watch Farina’s film https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Othman 

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For more on the elephant’s closest relative, the manatee, listen to our episode with Dr Aristide Kamla from Cameroon https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Kamla 

Executive producer: Sarah Treanor

Illustrations by Emily Faccini

Photo credit: Cede Prudente

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