Kota Kinabalu, June 3, 2021 – Asian Ecotourism Network announced today that Timothy Teo, a Borneo Eco Tours and Sukau Rainforest Lodge director, has been appointed to the organisation’s board. Timothy Teo hopes that this prestigious appointment will continue to place Borneo Eco Tours and Sukau Rainforest Lodge at the forefront of shaping ecotourism globally while also ensuring a global standard here in Borneo. It is our hope that the success of ecotourism here in Borneo will inspire other like-minded individuals and organisations to pursue a part of sustainability, caring for the people and our planet while developing tourism.

Established in June 2015 in Bangkok, AEN is a network organisation that connects stakeholders in Asia comprising communities, public sectors, private tourism and hospitality sectors, NGOS and academia for knowledge transfer, consulting, marketing, and business development to achieve sustainability at a regional scale.

After 6 fruitful years since AEN’s founding, Albert Teo will be stepping down as Vice Chair. Albert has been in the tourism industry for the last forty-three years and believes that the time is right for him to pass the baton on to other leaders. He founded the Borneo Eco Tours 30 years ago and the Sukau Rainforest Lodge 25 years ago, both winning numerous international awards including 2019 Asia’s Most Eco-Friendly Boutique Hotel Awards, Asia’s Leading Green Hotel, Wild Asia Responsible Award, PATA Tourism Inspire Award, Tourism Malaysia Best 3 Stars Hotel Award and MATTA Best Inbound Tour (Eco) Award.

He is the founder of the non-profit Borneo Ecotourism Solutions and Technologies (BEST) which received the UNWTO Ulysses Award for excellence and innovation in tourism. Albert served as an adjunct lecturer of the Edith Cowan University and was made a Fellow at the ECU as well as served as Adjunct Professor of University  Malaysia Sabah.

He has also served in various capacity in the tourism industry including Sabah Chapter Chairman of Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents; Chairman of the Sabah Tourist Association; Board of Advisors to Global Ecotourism network; and Marketing Committee of the Sabah Tourism Board. Albert received the Special Minister’s award in 2019 at the Sabah Tourism Award Night. He is a keen photographer and a prolific writer and author with ten published books including the best-selling "Sabah-Land of the Sacred Mountain", "Journey through Borneo", "Saving Paradise-The Story of Sukau Rainforest Lodge" co-authored with Carol Patterson, and his latest book "A Souvenir of Sabah Malaysian Borneo".

Kinabatangan River is an essential source of life and livelihood for all its inhabitants. The river provides the wildlife and birdlife with food and water, whereas for the villagers living along the river, they depend on it to get around by boat and carry out their day to day activities. These activities includes fishing, catching crabs and also prawns for their own consumption or as part of their income. Kinabatangan is also known as a hotspot for wildlife tourism, which makes it all the more crucial to protect and conserve.

Wildlife watching at Kinabatangan River

Sadly, this does not prevent the Kinabatangan River from being a victim of pollution and rubbish dumping. Which is why Sukau Rainforest Lodge is doing what we can on our part to show that we care for our waterways.

Besides collecting recyclable items for recycling, we conduct a weekly river clean-up along the Kinabatangan River. All the rubbish waste from the lodge and from the river clean-up will be sent out to the closest landfill which is located 50km from Sukau Rainforest Lodge. 

Other efforts to reduce the river pollution in our area also includes eliminating single-use plastic straws and bottles here at the lodge. Drinking water in all guest rooms are currently being served in glass bottles, and bamboo straws have taken the place of plastic ones.

Rubbish from the lodge is sent to a nearby landfill located some 50km away

The lodge team have been going out once a week to collect rubbish that are found floating on the river and rubbish that are trapped on the riverbanks. And since January 2019, the team have collected a total of 423kg of rubbish from their weekly river clean-up! The most collected items are plastic bottles, plastic bags and used household items, amongst many others.

The River Warriors of Sukau and their catch

River clean-up

The weekly river clean-up is organised by the lodge’s very own Sustainability Committee, which are made up of representatives from the different departments. And those participating in the river clean-up like to call themselves the River Warriors. Besides getting the rest of the lodge team involved, Sukau Rainforest Lodge also welcome guests who are interested to participate in the activity with them. So occasionally, our guests themselves would volunteer to be part of the weekly river clean-up too, which is truly awesome!

This upcoming World Rivers Day which falls on 29 September 2019, we will be organising a river clean-up and are inviting all guests who will be around that time to participate in the activity. Besides that, we will also be holding a Duck Race as a way to raise awareness on our river pollution issue as well as to show our support for protecting the Kinabatangan River.

Come join us and be part of something special on World Rivers Day!