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ASEAN REGIONAL CENTRE FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
VISIBILITY PROJECT - ASEAN/EU FUNDED

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BIODIVERSITY
Page 1

THE SHOOT
Page 2

VIGNETTES
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Environment
Shark
Sea Turtle
Rainforest
Extinction 1
Extinction 2
Gunung Mulu
Khao Yai Thai
Mt Kinabalu

In September 2004, SCUBAZOO were contracted to produce a series of films detailing the biodiversity of the ASEAN region and the role of the ARCBC in helping to preserve this important natural heritage.

Short notice and tight deadlines produced some interesting adventures for Simon Enderby, which began on 16 September when he flew to Manila, then drove south to the University of the Philippines and the ARCBC. Here he met with Dr. John MacKinnon and in less than 3 days edited together a 15 minute opening film for the re-launch of the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme, screened at Khao Yai National Park on September 21. Simon & Dr. John then flew on to Bangkok to meet with the rest of the SCUBAZOO staff members - Ian Jennings, who had flown in especially from Canada, and Chris Tan from Sabah, Malaysia.

Khao Yai is Thailand’s oldest National Park and is blessed with an incredible variety of life. This topside shoot meant a whole new set of challenges and skills for Scubazoo - filming the launch of the AHP programme, interviewing embassadors and ministers, early morning excursions to shoot white handed gibbons and late night spotlighting for civets, Asian wild dogs and Asian elephants. The camera team took over the Parks helicopter to film the entire area from the air - for an hour and half they flew over the dense jungle canopy, hovered over huge waterfalls and circled limestone cliff faces and caves. Simon was then able to spend the rest of the day with Tim Redford of WildAid, filming their anti poaching and outreach programme within the park itself and beyond.

With the close of the AHP launch, the SCUBAZOO crew then headed to Phang Nga. Here the team were able to document how mass tourism is managed alongside environmental protection. During this part of their adventure they hired 4-wheel drives, long-tail speedboats, canoes and Asian elephants in their quest to film this extraordinary region. The thrill of sitting astride a 45 year old tusker elephant whilst trying to film added a new dimension to the story!

On 28 September Ian and Chris had the unenviable task of climbing Sabah’s Mt. Kinabalu, Southeast Asia's highest mountain at 4,100m. Over the next few days, torrential rain, heavy cloud cover and freezing temperatures ruined most of the trip, but they managed to get the footage needed and returned to KK worn and weary.

Within 24 hours the team were once again airborne bound for Manila where they met with ARCBC staff researcher, Grace Villemore. Over the forthcoming weeks Grace’s invaluable help kept the whole project running smoothly. The crew headed down to Mindoro to film the Tamaraw, a dwarf wild buffalo indigenous to the Mindoro region, and now the largest endangered mammal in the world with only 260 wild individuals left. The next stage of the Philippines trip involved a visit to the Mount Iglit-Baco National Park. Unknown to the crew, the conservation rangers had decided to enter the park through a maximum-security prison, then use 5 prisoners with machetes as jungle guides! Peres, their leader, explained how he would soon gain parole at the age of 51 after serving 26 years for a crime no one dared to ask about… Still intact, and wearing prison-issue inmate t-shirts, the crew flew back to the ARCBC to film the highly endangered Philippine eagle at the Philippines Raptor Centre. This beautiful bird, with a wingspan of some 2-3 meters, is now highly endangered with only a couple of hundred individuals left in the wild.

The last stage of this filming marathon saw Simon, Ian, Dr. John and Grace travelling to Gunung Mulu National Park, a World Heritage Park in Sarawak. Its limestone pinnacles, lush rainforest, winding rivers and world renowned cave system proved to be a feast for the cameras. In a little under 6 days, the team trekked over 65 km of tracks and trails, swam and crawled through water and guano filled caves, and made the 3 day trek to the famous pinnacles. However, the highlight was the time spent with the local Penan tribes-people, who demonstrated their traditional weaving, handicraft and hunting skills as well dancing their age-old dances. The Penan have faced many challenges brought about by the development and progression of the 20th century but have managed to hang on to their traditions and way of life. The team could not have wished for a better climax to the whole filming assignment and headed back to KK for the last time with over 40 hours of footage.

Now the hard part began. Turning 40 hours of new stock and over 200 hours of library footage into a 30 minute TV documentary and 10 x 1 minute vignettes involved the entire SCUBAZOO staff script writing, storyboarding and editing, the voice-over talents of Agnes Agama, the musical skills of Brolly, from Brollyman Productions in the UK, and the editing skills of KB Lai from KL. After a lot of hard work, little sleep and just a few cups of coffee, SCUBAZOO is proud to release ‘Saving the ASEAN Dream’ and the various vignettes, and hopes that they will contribute to saving the magnificent biodiversity of the ASEAN region.

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