Making tracks: how linking patches of wilderness is saving Borneo’s wildlife

Palm oil plantations have fragmented Sabah's rainforest but land corridors let pygmy elephants and orangutans roam again

In 2011, the German conservationist Robert Risch was hiking along the banks of a river at the northern limits of Tabin wildlife reserve, home to pygmy elephants, orangutans and the Bornean banteng, an endangered species of wild cattle. Risch was expecting to see long stretches of wilderness but instead saw a swathe of palm oil plantations and electric fences.

I found elephant tracks coming from Tabin following the river to the north until they reached the electric fence. Then the tracks turned around back to Tabin," says Risch. No choice."