Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD)’s Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (IBER), in collaboration with University of Oxford and Northern Arizona University, conducted a Connecting Landscapes (CoLa) Toolkit Workshop on 20th May 2024.
The collaborative workshop is one of many initiatives spearheaded by IBER to advance research and conservation of wildlife. By collaborating with international experts and local stakeholders, UBD is committed in contributing towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Attended by UBD staff and students, officers from the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Department, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), and representatives from non-government organisations (NGOs), the Biodiversity and Natural History Society (BruWILD) and Borneo Futures, the workshop conducted in IBER, UBD was aimed at enhancing wildlife conservation in Brunei Darussalam by introducing the participants to advance tools for quantifying wildlife connectivity.
The workshop was facilitated by Professor David MacDonald, Dr Dawn Burnham, Dr Andrew J Hearn from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford, England; Dr Patrick Jantz from School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University United States of America; and Dr Salwa Khalid from IBER, UBD. The workshop focuses on the distribution of wildlife in Brunei Darussalam and is part of an ongoing research collaboration between IBER and WildCRU.
Through lectures and hands-on practical exercises, the participants were trained in modelling techniques that integrate land use and land cover data from satellite imagery. This enabled the participants to develop multi-scale landscape models that would be useful for wildlife conservation. These activities were designed to ensure that participants could apply the acquired skills in their professional roles.
