FRONTLINE CONSERVATION – A NEW NAME FOR A RENEWED VISION
When we formed we adopted the name Heart of Borneo Project in order to raise the profile of the Heart of Borneo as a distinct area of rainforest that should be on a a par with the Great Barrier Reef in terms of global public awareness and respect. We also hoped to contribute to and raise awareness of the Heart of Borneo Initiative.
The Heart of Borneo Initiative is a tri-governmental agreement to sustainably manage a transboundary area in the interior of the island of Borneo. To make matters a little more complicated, as the key facilitators of this Initiative, the WWF have a dedicated Heart of Borneo Program office and team.
As awareness of the Initiative has grown in Indonesia, and as the WWF HoB Program has grown, we have found that our name is causing confusion in local government offices where understanding of the HoB Initiative is limited, as well as confusion in villages and online with people mistaking us for the WWF.
At the same time we have also been revisiting our mission, goals, and strategy, and while we have no immediate intentions to begin working outside of Borneo, we do want to be able to use our model to help protect threatened and important ecosystems wherever they are, without the red tape of setting up new projects every time.
With these things in mind, we have chosen to adopt the new name: Frontline Conservation. It’s a bold name that is very much in line with the values of our team, and represents our original purpose to be working on the ground in those areas where it really counts.
We will continue to promote the Heart of Borneo through this website and our Heart of Borneo social media channels, but we will start to refer to our work in Borneo as Frontline Conservation projects. On the ground and in formal communications we will be Frontline Conservation. In time we’ll develop a new website and, of course, we’ll be looking for a new logo as well.
As one of the Co-Founders of this charity I am extremely excited by this change, as I know the rest of our team is. We’d love to know what you think. Leave us a comment below, or message us on Facebook, or on Twitter, to share your thoughts.
Davey Mills says:
January 5, 2016 at 12:10 pm -
Hi, first of all I have to say I really admire you all and appreciate the effort you are all making to protect Borneo and it’s rainforests and wildlife. But may I ask why the majority of Sarawak including the jungles to the south of Bintulu stretching west to Bako National Park, are not protected under your initiative?
I have Iban friends who live in the jungle to the south of Bintulu and I have experienced first hand the deforestation and destroyed rivers (which they can no longer fish and are forced to find industrial work in Bintulu).
Do you know of any initiatives in this area I could become involved with front line? I will be travelling to Borneo in July 16
Martin Holland says:
July 9, 2017 at 3:44 pm -
Hi Davey. You’ve actually highlighted exactly why we’re changing our name and approach slightly, since the Heart of Borneo Initiative which I think you are referring to, is entirely separate to us. We haven’t worked directly with any organisations on the ground in Sarawak so I couldn’t recommend any, but best of luck, and if you find anything worth sharing do please get in touch.