Geography and Ecology

The Dayak or Dyak, are the indigenous people of the island Borneo; the third largest island in the world. This island is split up into three different states: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Borneo is surrounded by the South China Sea. The Dayak people has historically lived along the major water ways such as the Kapuas river system (made up of the Mahakam, Barito, and Rajang rivers); living near large water sources is very common for tribes that have not industrialized and live off the land. Living on the river banks has multi-fold advantages. Some of these advantages include the accessibility of fresh water for both drinking and irrigation, the ability to take advantage of natural food sources (fishing), water-based transport for both trading and travel, and personal hygiene (bathing). Below is a map of the river system that runs though the island.

 

Borneo is made up of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (Borneo peat swamp forests), tropical moist forests (Kerangas forests), rain forests (Borneo montane rain forests), freshwater swamp forests, and mangroves (Sunda Shelf mangroves). The rainforests found in Borneo are around 130 million years old, making it one of the old rain forests in the world. Its is home to more than 15,000 different species of flowering plants, 300 species of trees, 221 species of mammals, and 420 species of birds.  There is also 440 species of freshwater fish. On top of that there are over 15 species of primate, including the endangered Sumatran orangutans. "Borneo and Sumatra are the only places on Earth where tigers, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants live together." (WWF)

List of References

• MacKinnon, K et al. (1998). The Ecology of Kalimantan. London: Oxford University Press.
• Nguyen, T.T.T., and S. S. De Silva (2006). "Freshwater Finfish Biodiversity and Conservation: An Asian Perspective", Biodiversity & Conservation 15(11): 3543-3568)
• http://worldwildlife.org