Episode 4 Expedition Borneo

Hidden in the heart of Borneo is a lost world of jungles,

mountains and ravines.

This rainforest is home to thousands of endangered animals,

but it's disappearing fast.

For the past four weeks, some of the world's most experienced scientists,

mountaineers and filmmakers have been charting this great unknown wilderness.

In the first phase, the expedition explored the virgin forests

of Imbak Canyon and discovered some extraordinary animals.

-Stunning!

-Oh, what's that on the wall? Oh, look at that!

Now it's splitting into two teams

to venture even further into the mountains.

To find your way through this impenetrable jungle, it helps to take to the air.

Climber Steve Backshall is on an aerial recce for his next mission.

I tell you what - getting anywhere through this scenery is going to take forever! It looks brutal.

Really sharp limestone pinnacles through almost impenetrable jungle.

Steve's plan is to lead a team to an unexplored part of the Mulu mountains.

What's that?

Can you just head a little bit east?

It looks like there's a massive sink hole.

It's an underground cave where the roof collapses and just forms a vertical hole straight down.

It's exactly what we've been looking for -

a whole environment totally shut off from the rest of the world, we've got to get in there!

Steve's goal - to explore the forest in the depths of this giant sinkhole.

Expedition Borneo's second team is heading south,

led by environmental scientist Dr Tara Shine.

So maybe you can show me where we're going to go?

She's heading to an area, not yet protected,

-but apparently rich in wildlife.

-Here is Bungalun.

Her ultimate destination - an extraordinary cave

in the Marang mountains, home to an ancient culture.

To reach her goal, Tara will travel for three days up the Bungalun river.

A chance to assess the state of the forest in this area.

-Yeah.

-Fish eagle.

-Yeah.

There's proboscis monkeys just in here behind the big tree trunk.

Oh, they're amazing jumpers!

They can jump clear across rivers if they want to.

Oh, it's launched! Wow! SHE LAUGHS

All seems well, but as Tara rounds a bend in the river, everything changes.

Much of the forest has been destroyed.

These whitened tree trunks are the scorched remains

of the biggest forest fires the world has ever seen.

This is amazing up here, all these skeleton trees.

This forest would have been burnt out in the last big fires of '97

and then at the lower level they're kind of... The bushes have started to grow back.

Over the last two decades fires have ravaged this region.

As the flames died down, gangs moved in to plunder the remaining trees.

It's a free for all.

These are the illegal loggers that operate in the area, they stick mainly to the rivers.

So they go into the forest, cut down timber illegally

and then they float it down the river behind these boats.

It's a bit like a camel caravan - they just tie all the boats together

and then link them together with all of the wood that they've collected.

This is ironwood, one of the most valuable and most tough woods

that grows in Borneo, and here they've actually milled the wood into planks.

As the timber is floated downstream to the markets of the world,

the river itself is thick and brown with the soil washed out from the jungle.

All over Borneo, the remaining forest is under threat.

But now at the 11th hour there's a plan to save it.

The ambitious goal is to join together a patchwork of reserves

to create one giant protected forest,

the Heart of Borneo.

This sinkhole is in Mulu - one of the protected areas.

It's here that Steve Backshall and climbing camerawoman Justine Evans are headed.

They'll journey through a wilderness of mountains and caves.

The team make camp at the foot of the mountain.

While climbing specialist Tim Fogg prepares the equipment,

Justine and Steve will spend a day exploring nearby caves for wildlife.

I'm not into furry, cuddly stuff, I'm more into the kind of things that most people hate.

If it's slimy, or has loads of legs, I'm happy!

And I think there's lots of that sort of stuff around, so for me this place is paradise.

Steve heads off in search of his favourite animals - snakes.

Justine has a personal goal, to film one of Borneo's greatest wildlife spectacles.

She's heading for one of the biggest caves in the world.

Wow! It's huge!

Absolutely huge!

That is so much bigger than I thought it was going to be.

This whole mountain is like a Swiss cheese, it's just full of holes.

And these passages just lead into...

Well, no-one really knows where they lead, but they all connect up

in this incredible labyrinth that goes throughout the mountain.

This cave is 100 metres high and two kilometres long.

Wow, there's an absolutely amazing view!

And it's also home to over three million bats.

At dusk, Justine's hoping to capture their mass exodus on film.

But they'll only fly if the weather's right.

We've actually got some blue sky as well, this is a real treat.

We'd better get this camera set up quite quickly and then...

And then we'll film the bats, hopefully, as they come out.

Steve's exploring a nearby cave with Mutan - his tribe have lived in this forest for generations.

He's looking for snakes.

Oh, wow! Oh, crumbs, I wasn't expecting that!

So these are very obviously ironwood coffins, traditional coffins.

These pots were for water, for cooking and for food.

I presume it's like an offering, either to the spirits or to the ancestors themselves.

The reason everything's broken is because animals have smelt the remains of the dead people

and they've come up here and smashed into the vases to feed on the remains.

Amongst the pottery lie the disturbing remnants of Mutan's ancestors.

SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE

OK, so all this stuff was here before his father and his grandfather

so it's been here for you know a couple of generations.

So we're talk...

THEY CONVERSE IN LOCAL LANGUAGE

..So certainly over a hundred years. It's all been here.

These remains are one of the few signs

that tribal people have for centuries lived and died in these forests.

500 kilometres away, the effect of modern humans is all too apparent.

Look at the size of these big logs here, waiting to be taken away with those strings on them.

On the river bank, shantytowns have built up around the illegal logging trade.

This is one of those frontier towns, that's just all about logging.

So it sprung up after the big fires that hit Kalimantan in 1997

and really completely destroyed this area,

which meant then that illegal loggers could move in

and more easily pick their way through what was left of the forest,

take out big trees to sell illegally downstream, so it's a bit of a Wild West town.

CHICKEN CLUCKS

There are a still a few people that knew this place when it was pristine rainforest.

Semen and Busa have lived in this valley all their lives.

When I was coming in here I noticed that,

compared to the other forests I've seen in Borneo,

there aren't very many big trees here, was it always like that?

INTERPRETER:

Here do you still find many sambar deer and barking deer and wild boar?

So could tell me what kind of animals I could expect to see in this area?

There's one particular animal that used to be common in this forest.

When Semen was younger, animals were plentiful

and he made his living from the forest as a hunter-gatherer.

But living close to nature had its dangers.

So crocodiles have eaten his mother

and they also attacked his brother and his brother subsequently died.

If you did find a crocodile what's the best weapon to use?

TARA: Could I see his blowpipe?

Felt like a very strange thing to say to a man - can I see your blowpipe?!

Woooah!

-What noise do I have to make again?

-Puff!

All right. Can I have a go? Watch out, the whole village!

Did I get it further than he got it? Oh, I got further than you!

Ah, he's...

Well, even if he's being reluctant with the praise, she says I did a good shot.

Back in Mulu, Steve ventures deeper into his cave in search of snakes.

It's a world of strange creatures adapted to life in complete darkness.

This is the biggest spider I've seen on this trip.

It's a huntsman

and, a lot of spider venoms

have what are known as necrotising enzymes in them.

Which means they literally liquefy or rot living flesh

and nobody wants a bite like that.

So I think I'll leave him well alone.

Steve pushes even further into the bowels of the Earth in pursuit of snakes.

You get loads of different kinds of snakes coming into caves,

and the reason for that is bats.

I think bats are just a fantastic prey for snakes.

Bingo!

There's our first snake, look at that!

This is a cave racer snake.

The way that you most often see snakes catching bats in caves

is they'll coil themselves in an alcove

and will quickly straighten and snatch the bat from the sky.

Oh, and here's another one, and the one that's up here,

is at the absolute perfect height. It's right on the flight path.

You see the tongue flicking in and out tasting the air,

and the way that he's sitting he is in the perfect position for hunting.

This one is looking for a meal.

And do you know, he is poised, so today could be the day.

Justine's still waiting patiently to film her bats

in a cave that reeks of their guano.

But there's no sign of them.

Apparently there are three million bats in here. And I've seen one.

Wow, we've got some luck, they're starting to come out!

I was just packing up, and then we heard...

the vocalisation of them in the cave.

And now they've started pouring out,

they're right at the top of the entrance here.

That's great, it's good to see them.

In just one night, these bats can travel 40 kilometres

and eat ten tonnes of insects.

There's a ball of them just headed off.

A splinter group, just gone off down there!

Three million bats!

Unbelievable!

This number of bats is a clear sign of the health of this protected forest.

The next morning, the other team continues towards the Marang mountains.

The further Tara goes, the stranger this place becomes.

After so much deforestation,

it's encouraging to see there's still wildlife.

See here?

It's a huge big monitor lizard, that's two-and-a-half metres long, huge big guy, big powerful jaws.

Oh, it's gonna take off - they're real skittish.

They're entering a forbidding landscape riddled with caves.

Even here there are signs of people.

It's not timber that's brought them here.

They're searching for an even more valuable treasure that lies deep within these mountains.

This cave is defended like a fortress.

This is what they're protecting - swiftlet nests.

For centuries they've been collected to make birds' nest soup.

This nest is worth as much as £20.

Wow! Look at this - Fort Knox.

For this business to be successful,

there has to be a healthy population of swiftlets.

It's like living in a cathedral.

Slightly smelly cathedral though, cos the flooring is pure bat excrement.

These men guard the cave 24 hours a day.

Do they also collect the nests,

or are there other people to collect the nests?

No wonder he's all muscles!

Imis shows Tara the tools of his trade.

What's he getting? Oh, this is his climbing bamboo.

The job of a bird's nest collector is a dangerous one.

Broken limbs are all too common.

My God, what a technique!

It must be slippy over there, it's quite wet, isn't it?

Maybe he's got superglue feet.

The nests are in the highest part of the cave.

It's dangerous work, but good money - for some.

They get 13,000 US a year.

13,000 US dollars a year? That's a lot of money.

I mean these guys don't get to keep all that money, it's his boss who's getting the big profit.

Exactly.

It's big business.

Here there are no quotas, and the nests are over-collected.

This old man worked these caves years ago.

How much bird's nest was he collecting?

Be interesting just to see if it was more or less than is available now.

And now Imis is only getting half a kilo in the same period?

Since the old man's time, two thirds of the birds have gone.

At this rate, the birds and the livelihood could soon disappear.

Mountains and caves straddle the backbone of Borneo.

Some have been exploited, some lie totally unexplored.

No-one knows what's hidden at the bottom of this hole.

Justine and Steve have begun their gruelling ascent in the stifling heat.

The terrain is treacherous - steep and very slippery.

The rocks - razor sharp.

Don't be kicking any of that down on my head!

-But after a punishing climb, they make it to the edge.

-Oh, my God!

That is a big hole!

That is a very, very long way down.

They stand on just a thin overhang of soil and roots.

It's a 160-metre drop below.

-Be careful, Justine, that edge there is very, very dicey,

-There's nothing there, really.

No, this is all overhung as well, that just drops straight down beneath our feet.

It's too late to begin the descent, so they make camp on the edge of the hole.

Tomorrow, they will venture into the void.

Tara is nearing her goal in the Marang mountains.

Halfway up the cliff is this amazing cave -

home to an ancient culture.

It looks very steep. Such a dramatic bit of rock, isn't it?

This is Tara's ultimate destination.

I have no idea what's ahead of me.

Team member Luc-Henri Fage, an expert on these caves,

helps Tara negotiate the cliff face.

There's nothing to hold on to.

I'm holding to anything that...

-Right, so I'm going up here.

-Yeah. OK?

Very good, very good!

Only recently discovered by this bird's nest collector,

this cave contains one of the most incredible examples

of prehistoric rock art in the world.

Oh, wow - look up here!

These hands were painted by forest people 10,000 years ago.

The paintings are extraordinary.

-You can see 200 hand prints.

-There's 200 hand prints in here?!

On that...on that level.

Do you paint over your hand or, how do you do it?

They put their hand on the wall and they spray colour,

probably it was in the mouth.

Like this.

The meanings behind these pictures are as unknown as the artists that painted them.

But they're proof that people have lived in this forest for millennia.

And they left nothing behind but their art.

Isn't that incredible to think they've existed here so long?

Why? Why here?

Why they did that is still a mystery.

Tara and the team have made camp on the edge of the cave,

named Gua Tewet after the man that discovered it.

What's his impressions of these paintings?

What does he think they're all about?

INTERPRETER ASKS QUESTION

And what about the hands, then?

Yeah.

It's dawn in the Marang mountains.

Most of the team is sound asleep in the cave.

But Tara has woken to a forest under siege.

SOUND OF CHAINSAW

I woke up this morning in this beautiful cave,

to the distant sounds of chainsaws.

Now, gradually, the trees are starting to emerge from the mist.

BIRDS AND ANIMALS CALL

And the gibbons have started up over here somewhere,

there's a pair duetting over there - it's lovely to listen to.

To the right - forest.

To the left - deforestation.

This cave was once in deep jungle.

Now, it's on the frontline.

I was just thinking about... it doesn't seem right

to be listening to chainsaws and gibbons at the same time.

I mean, this is such a beautiful serene landscape

and the bird noises and the gibbon sounds and the macaques over here,

that all fits into what you would expect.

But the roaring chainsaw's a backdrop to all of that.

Makes you worried that this area could really be decimated.

Conservationists have proposed this area as a World Heritage Site.

But the danger is, it may be destroyed before it can be protected.

On the rim of the giant chasm, the tension is mounting.

The kit is checked

and checked again.

There's no room for error.

With the help of climbing specialist Tim Fogg, they prepare for their daring descent.

There's a 160 metres of rope hanging down there, and that's heavy.

That's going to make your descent slow. You have to lift and it can be hard work.

Below them lies a forest cut off from the rest of the world.

No-one knows what life exists there.

Steve pushes through the tangled vegetation...

and over the edge.

Only when he clears the overhang can he see the true scale of this collapsed cave.

The under hang here is just immense!

-OK, Justine!

-God!

If you're feeling brave, give it a go!

Feeling VERY brave!

Oh, my God!

Steve, it's amazing!

Are you getting vertigo? Cos I am!

My heart is still right up in my throat though, I've gotta say.

-Have you ever been exposed like this on a rope before?

-No.

I just want to hold on to something, you know?

But as they abseil into the chasm,

the weather suddenly takes a turn for the worse.

A tropical storm is blowing in.

Any minute now it will be directly over them.

Justine don't...don't come down here just yet.

Stay where you are for a second.

THUNDER CRASHES

They must decide - do they struggle back up the rain-soaked ropes?

Or continue down into the unknown?

This is terrifying!