A group of young Bermudians gained first-hand biodiversity experience during a trip to Southeast Asia.

The 23 Bermuda Zoological Society junior volunteers, who were accompanied by the junior staff of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, completed a two-week conservation expedition to Borneo, an island known globally for its rich biodiversity.

The trip to Borneo — an island shared between Malaysia and Indonesia — provided the students with hands-on exposure to wildlife rehabilitation, marine conservation and community engagement in one of the world’s most striking natural settings, on land and underwater.

The trip, which happened on the Malaysian side of the Borneo, began at the Matang Wildlife Centre where volunteers worked directly alongside husbandry staff, caring for orang-utans, sun bears and other rescued species.

Their days included enclosure cleaning, diet preparation and enrichment activities as well as hands-on project work.

Duties at the centre included building a new sun bear platform from the ground up, renovating a false gharial pond to host terrapins and various painting jobs.

They assisted a centre running on limited resources after Covid-19 and a drop in tourism.

During their week at Matang, the group also took part in day trips to Bako National Park and a waterfall hike near the Bengoh Dam, encountering proboscis monkeys, silver leaf monkeys, crocodiles, flying lemurs and other native wildlife along the way.

Alex Amat, the BZS ocean education lead and Borneo trip leader, said: “The Matang staff were truly impressed by the dedication and the hard work the group demonstrated during their stay.

“They shared it is not often they get to meet young people who truly want to make a difference.”

Dr Amat added: “They showcased and applied the skills learnt at BAMZ during the year and represented Bermuda with pride.”

At Matang, the group left behind a little piece of Bermuda with a mural featuring a Bermuda moongate.

From the jungles at Matang, the group travelled to Mabul Island for four days of diving and snorkelling, including two full days at the renowned Sipadan Island, ranked among the world's top dive sites.

In addition to exploring a vertical reef wall, the group encountered a diversity of marine life.

Dr Amat, an oceanographer with specialised experience in coral reefs, said: “These waters are part of the world centre for marine biodiversity that is dubbed the Coral Triangle.

“Yes, it is amazing to swim with sea turtles, rays, sharks, bumphead parrotfish or witness a barracuda tornado, but for me, it is the coral world — the one that does not move and may seem less colourful and less attractive at first sight — more than its inhabitants.”

Dr Amat said ten junior volunteers were dive-certified for the trip and completed their first dives outside of Bermuda on the expedition.

The final leg of the trip brought the group to the Kinabatang River, following a stop at Gomantong Caves, where the junior volunteers learnt about the local swiftlet nest trade.

Wildlife sightings along the river included wild orang-utans, elephants, hornbills, snakes, crocodiles and monkeys, including the proboscis.

The trip's final full day included a visit to a local community centre where the students spent the afternoon with schoolchildren.

The expedition concluded with a visit to the Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary, home to a baby nursery and feeding platform for semiwild orang-utans.

Junior volunteer Mariah Matthews, of CedarBridge Academy, said: “The trip was an amazing experience and I am so grateful and honoured that I got the opportunity to be part of it.

“Not everyone gets a chance to travel somewhere like Borneo, Malaysia so I feel really lucky that I was able to experience it with the junior volunteer programme.”

Kaya Robinson Jr said the trip “broadened my scope of how much has to be done in order to restore the balance between humans and nature”.

Mark Lewis, a BAMZ junior staff member and former junior volunteer, said standout moments included witnessing wildlife at Bako National Park and working with the orang-utans at Matang.

Mr Lewis added: “My time as a junior volunteer will help me in the future because I want to go into marine biology and conservation.

“This experience of working with animals will be valuable in the future when I am applying to programmes and the connections I have made will be extremely helpful during my next steps into this field.”

Havi Hasselbring, another junior volunteer, said working with animals such as lemurs, birds and tortoises broadened her knowledge.

She said: “I also learnt how to communicate better which ensured that the cleaning, and working was done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“Overall I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to come on this amazing trip and be able to see all these incredible things with all my friends.”