MISSION
To organise projects and partnerships that provoke sustainable ecological co-existence amongst groups, communities in Malaysian Borneo. LEAP Spiral stands for Land Empowerment Animals People.
LEAP Spiral
Partner History
In 2006, LEAP Spiral’s founder, Cynthia Ong, travelled home to Sabah, Borneo. She set up LEAP after being asked to help link conservation groups in Sabah with like-minded people in the USA.
A series of meetings with colleagues and organisations in Sabah and the USA followed, which outlined how LEAP could help organisations in Borneo.
Partnership with WLT
LEAP submitted a proposal for land purchase to World Land Trust (WLT) in 2007. WLT then made a site visit to investigate the feasibility of land purchase in Borneo and to meet with other organisations and groups in the area, including HUTAN. This led to the creation of partnerships between WLT and both Malaysian organisations, Leap Spiral and HUTAN.
LEAP Spiral now works with HUTAN and WLT to protect a continuous habitat for Orang-utans and other wildlife, by creating corridors to connect one reserve area with another. The forests of Malaysian Borneo are severely threatened by the Oil Palm industry.
WLT FUNDED PROJECTS
COMPLETED
Bilit Elephant Corridor Project
Kretam Kulamba Corridor Project
Other projects and activities
- Organising a campaign project for green issues in Borneo, called Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Repower the Future). Success stories include preventing a coal power station being built in the area;
- Engaging with communities to allow them to sustainably manage the land and its resources through a project called MESCOT (Model for Environmentally Sustainable Community Tourism);
- Reforesting degraded habitat so it can support both wildlife and local communities;
- Developing Ecosystem Services projects to protect natural resources;
- Running specific species conservation projects for the Bornean Orang-utan, Sumatran rhino and Malayan Sun bear.