Although Malaysia has relatively low poverty levels, wealth and investment is very unevenly distributed across the country and rural areas suffer the most. Currently one third of rural communities in Borneo live in poverty, with a lack of access to education. In rural Cambodia, the situation is even worse, with as many as half the population living in absolute poverty. 

 

Our projects in Borneo aim to unite isolated communities and improve early childhood education by developing community centres and kindergartens. In Cambodia, our projects are delivering basic life-saving services such as housing, clean water, sanitation and food, as well as supporting two local schools. 

 

Borneo is one of the world’s most mega biodiverse areas and approximately half of the region of Sabah is rainforest. However, more than 20 per cent has been lost in the last 20 years due to unregulated deforestation for timber, palm oil, pulp, rubber and minerals. Increase in these activities is being matched by a huge growth in the illegal wildlife trade, particularly affecting orangutans and pangolins. Our reforestation programmes in Asia aim to protect critical biodiversity whilst at the same time, provide sustainable cash crops that can be harvested by local communities.