Biodiversity responses to infrastructure expansion in the Heart of Borneo, Brunei Darussalam

Borneo is densely forested, with rich biodiversity and a high number of endemic species. Borneo has also been subjected to rapid deforestation, losing an estimated 30.2% forest cover between 1973 & 2010. By contrast Brunei Darussalam, a small nation on Borneo, has maintained a high level of forest cover, experiencing only 8.4% forest loss in the same period. These relatively pristine forests are understudied compared with other areas of Borneo and could provide an important refuge for endangered species, including charismatic mammals such as the clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), and Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica).
In 2020, the 30km long Temburong Bridge was completed and opened in Brunei. This bridge connects the more urbanised and densely populated western part of Brunei with the more remote Temburong district, with the aim of stimulating economic growth in Temburong. This is expected to lead to greater traffic use and infrastructure expansion in Temburong, with potential impacts for biodiversity as Temburong is densely forested.
Infrastructure development is often associated with negative impacts on biodiversity e.g., through forest fragmentation, increasing hunting and poaching by facilitating easier forest access. With the construction of 25million km of new roads forecasted by 2050, understanding the ecological impacts of infrastructure expansion and ensuring it is sustainable could prove crucial for the conservation of forests and their biodiversity. There is currently a geographic bias in research into the impacts of roads and vehicles on wildlife, and the impacts of roads on mammals in Southeast Asia have not been well-documented. As large-scale mammal extinctions are predicted to occur in Southeast Asia by 2100 this is an important research gap to fill. Brunei's high forest cover and low road density make it a potentially very valuable conservation area and interesting region in which to study the effects of infrastructure expansion on biodiversity.
Here I propose to research the potential benefits and ecological costs of the Temburong Bridge and associated infrastructure expansion, investigating how mammal biodiversity and forest structure in Temburong are affected by roads.
Objectives
1) Conduct a review of the scientific and grey literature to compile the best available information on ecological and socio-economic costs and benefits arising from infrastructure expansion projects in the humid tropics
2) Assess the abundance and diversity of mammal species in the forests of the Temburong district under "no impact" conditions
3) Assess the abundance and diversity of mammal species in the forests of the Temburong district along pressure gradients arising from the Temburong bridge & associated roads
4) Gain understanding of wellbeing and hunting behaviour in Temburong through conducting interviews, and investigate how these vary with proximity to new bridge and roads
5) Identify 'least environmental cost scenarios' for infrastructure expansion based on scenario models
I will quantify the current abundance and diversity of mammal species in Temburong using camera trapping. No systematic camera trapping studies have yet been carried out in this region of Brunei, so my project will fill an important research gap, furthering our understanding of mammal biodiversity in Brunei for which research is currently lacking.
Statistical models will be developed linking mammal abundance and diversity with infrastructure data, whilst accounting for hunting pressure and forest structure as confounding factors. These models will be used to analyse scenarios of future infrastructure expansion and identify outcomes with the 'least impact'. Remote sensing methods will be used to extrapolate forest structure and mammal abundance over larger areas. Maps will be created showing mammal biodiversity across the region, and predicted hotspots of biodiversity change identified by the scenario models.