The Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre was set up by Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) deep in the country's unspoiled jungle as an international focus for research into the threatened rainforests of Borneo. It is also a teaching and training resource for schools, institutes of higher education in Brunei Darussalam and overseas, and government personnel working on the environment.

It is not an area for ecotourism or a recreation site. People who are allowed to visit the Centre are:

• Research scientists with approved short or long term projects/programmes.
• Students who follow one of the educational programmes run by the Centre.
• Students with approved study proposals.
• Approved research assistants.
• Government officers with approved environmental programmes.
• Government officers and others involved with the future development of the Centre.

history

Set up in early 1991, the Centre quickly established its international credentials as the headquarters of a 15-month joint UBD-Royal Geographical Society expedition. Some 50 scientists from eight countries took part in more than 33 short-term and nine long-term projects designed to gather background data for the development of the Centre as an important research facility. The vast range of projects included studies of ants, termites, bats, birds, beetles, frogs, woodlice, ferns, rattans and the ethnobotany of forest plants. The project ended in March 1992 with most of the results incorporated into a computerized information system which includes a sophisticated mapping capability.

facilities

Five wooden buildings linked by walkways have been built at the river's edge. These comprise two accommodation blocks for up to 35 visitors, a laboratory, a dining hall and kitchen, and a meeting hall. There is a filtered water supply, electricity from a diesel generator and a sewerage system.

The Centre has a canopy access system provided by portable scaffolding and climbing gear, environmental monitoring programs, research plots and a Geographical Information Sytem (GIS).

location & surroundings

The Centre is located in the Temburong District of Brunei Darussalam in the Ulu Temburong National Park. It lies on the west bank of the Belalong River nestling in the 'V' of a steep-sided, heavily forested valley about five kilometres upstream from the roadhead at Batang Duri.

The Centre is surrounded by lowland and ridge Dipterocarp forest with small areas of riverine and heath forest which have never been logged. The terrain is difficult to work in, characterised by steep-sided valleys and sharp ridges. Hunting has been minimal in the area which supports substantial populations of large mammals including Borneon gibbons, langurs, macaques, civets and sun bears. The Centre is 50 metres above sea level but the highest point within the National Park is Gunong Pagon (1850 metres). The upper reaches of the peak support montane forest but there are some montane plant species closer to the Centre on the upper slopes of Bukit Belalong (995 metres).