EXPEDITION SUMMARY
An ecological expedition aiming to assess the impacts of tourist development on the abundance and distribution of Herpetofauna species on the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia. Despite the rapid development of tourism on the islands, no attention has been paid to the impacts of this on the surrounding environment. Working with the local community, our research will help boost the local economy by revealing the ecotourism potential of the terrestrial wildlife, thus ensuring ongoing conservation efforts.
When: 26th June - 8th August 2016
Where: The Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
Who: Students from the University of Exeter and Falmouth University
Status: Planning
Photo credit: Joshua Gray
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
Our scientific objectives are to carry out a thorough assessment of the herpetofauna of Pulau Perhentian Besar, with reference to the wider context of tourist development across South-East Asian islands. This will be achieved via completing transects, carrying out visual encounter surveys, both in the day and at night, and using camera traps to investigate the reported presence of Civets and Mouse Deer on the island.
We plan to add to an existing database of the herpetofauna on the island created by the Coral Cay expedition and build up our own database of all herpetological sightings. The islands are also home to the Sunda Colugo, a severely understudied species of flying lemur. We plan to compare the effectiveness of existing and new observation-only population survey methods for the Sunda Flying lemur on Pulau Perhentian Besar.
Photo credit: Joshua Gray
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Scientifically, our research will offer unique interventions into island biogeography at a critical time in Malaysia's economic development. With the global growth of tourism only increasing, tourism on the Perhentian Island's looks set to continue to boom. No attention has been paid to the impacts of this development on the surrounding environment, and this is research that we will provide. With nations throughout South-East Asia beginning to develop islands as both conventional tourism sites and ecotourism sites, our research will have significant regional implications.
This project will contribute to conservation as the data we collect can help us better understand the species on these islands. Additionally, as the islands are geographically isolated from the mainland, there will have been divergence in the species here and this could lead to endemics and possbily even new species on the islands. If this is the case, a strong argument could be formualted for protection of these species and by extension, the habitat.
THE TEAM
Billy Burton - Expedition Leader
Joshua Gray - Director of Social Media and Photographer
Alfie Sheridan - Director of Mammal Research
Ollie Bateman - Director of Herptile Research
Megan Francis - Head of Fundraising
Ellie Ryder - Head of Photography and Health and Safety Officer
Lizzy Salkus - Support Officer and Fundraising Campaigner
Photo credit: Joshua Gray
Please support our project and help protect the terrestrial life of the Perhentian Islands!
Every donation will be thanked publicly via our twitter account.