To begin engagement with the Batu Puteh community, a meeting was held with community-based organization KOPEL, as well as a fisherman from the village on May 24, 2013. We discussed the project and a parallel KOPEL initiative with a water quality monitoring and fishers catch logging iniative, the NAHIA Borneo Project (Nature and Human in Your Action). A discussion about the fishery and changes in catch species, size and fishing grounds also conducted. The outputs of the meeting with KOPEL are as follows:

• KOPEL is supportive of the project and are happy to collaborate;
  
• KOPEL will assist in the organization of a village gathering (involving the villages of Batu Puteh, Menggaris and Perpaduan) on June 16th, 2013 to present the project to the community and its leaders;
• The project will conduct a training for a team of KOPEL members to carry out the interview surveys in Batu Puteh in the month of June;

The project will work collaboratively with KOPEL in the design and implementation of activities for the efforts of both organizations to be complementary (e.g. assess and standardize data collection of water quality and fisher’s catch so that this information can be compared across villages/sampling areas).    

To begin engagement with the people in Abai village, several consultations with with CAP were held in the village on March 24th. The first meeting involved an informal presentation about the project, a discussion about the river and fishery related issues, and a lunch attended by the assistant JKKK and 10 CAP members. The outputs of the initial visit to Abai are as follows:

• CAP members are supportive of the project and wish for the Abai community to be involved in the activities of the project;
  
• CAP will assist in the organization of a village gathering where we will present and discuss the project with the Abai community and its leaders;
  
• The project will engage the help of KOCP to train 4 Abai community members to conduct the interview surveys in Abai in the month of June. 
  

Several conversations have been held with fishers in Sukau, Batu Puteh and Abai since mid-2012 to better understand the fishery and the issues that are faced by fishers. A trip on the river with a local fisherman to check his gill nets was conducted on the morning of March 23rd, 2013. We journeyed to Tenegang Besar, upstream from Sukau village. This river was formerly one of the 2 important tributaries for fishers, but is now flanked by large oil palm estates. Four nets were checked and the catch was dominated by the Amazon Sailfin catfish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis), an invasive aquarium armoured catfish species from South America. With no market value (or food value either), the fishes were tossed back into the river. Of the 10 species caught, 4 of them were not native and introduced.

The method of fishing with gill nets strung across the expanse of the tributary is a common method for fishing here, though potentially having a negative effect on the river ecosystem (preventing lateral movement of fish or other aquatic animals up and town the tributary). Consequently, one of the fisher’s nets had a very large hole ripped through it, courtesy of a passing crocodile. Further conversations with other fishers in the Lower Kinabatangan suggest that this method of net setting is not just a response to decline in catch but has long been practiced. 

A questionnaire for interview surveys (targeting the general riverine community) was developed over a period of a month and a half through consultations with KOCP members from Sukau (who are trained and experienced in interview development and implementation). Several group discussions were held between February 9 and March 15th, 2013 involving groups of 3 to 15 people, to draft the questionnaire. Prior to carrying out the interview survey, the village heads of Sukau and Menanggol villages were informed about the project and their permission obtained. The objective of this survey was to:

1.     Determine the value and use of the river to the local community;

2.     Identify perceived changes in fish populations;

3.     Identify perceived threats to the river and fish populations;

4.     Determine potential solutions.

This pilot surveys was also conducted to introduce the project to the broader community and test certain assumptions on which the project has been designed on a broader audience (e.g. that river health is closely linked to the health of fish populations; that the local riverine community perceives that there is a problem with their river and fish populations; that the local riverine community is willing to contribute to the conservation of their fish resources).

With the help of 14 staff from KOCP and 1 other person hired from the local community, 40 people in Sukau (roughly 5% of the adult population of the village) participated in the survey (30 male and 10 female) between the ages of 24 and 76 (average age 50) on March 16 and 17th. A boat was rented from KOCP for interviewers to access remote houses along the river.

The findings from the pilot are as follows:

• The river is still very important for the Sukau community, with a heavy dependence on the river for basic needs (drinking water, washing, bathing), food and income;
  
• The biggest perceived change noticed is the decline in water quality from pollution (45% of respondents), followed by the fact that people feel that the river water is no longer safe for drinking (although many still drink it) (35% of respondents), and an equal number of respondents felt that fish resources had been affected by pollution (35%);
  
• The biggest perceived threat is palm oil estates (pesticides and fertilizers) and processing plants (discharge into river);
  
• All respondents felt that the local community had a role to play in river and fish conservation. Cooperation between all stakeholders (e.g. local communities, estates, government) and awareness raising were common solutions suggested. 
  

The pilot interview survey has also allowed us to refine the questionnaire, to make it compact and clear. Through the pilot in Sukau, it was determined that interviewees should receive a non-monetary gift for their participation, as the average time to complete the survey is more than 30 minutes.

After months of discussions with various members of the local community, we had our first ‘formal’ project presentation. On February 9, 2013, 33 members of community-based project Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Programme (KOCP), all of whom are villagers from Sukau, gathered to hear about the project. Half a day of activities were conducted and participants shared the value of the river for themselves and their families. We also discussed the perceived threats that are impacting the village, focusing on the river and its related value. The afternoon was spent with a smaller group refining the draft of interview questions that were to be used by the project to gather the views of the broader Kinabatangan community. KOCP staff also voiced their support for the project and their willingness to collaborate. The morning activities came up with the following outputs:

• Value of the river: Twelve uses of the river were identified, with the 2 main uses being household use such as bathing, cooking, washing; and as a source of income;
  
• Threats to the river and fish populations: Fifteen threats were identified, with the main ones being pollution from oil palm plantations and destructive fishing practices;
• Proposed solutions: Thirteen solutions were suggested, with improved awareness being the most commonly mentioned suggestion.