Dr Farina Othman, Season 2 Episode 3
The Lower Kinabatangan in Malaysian Borneo is a tropical mix of lush forests, mangroves and oxbow lakes and home to the Bornean elephant, the world’s smallest as well as roundest and cutest elephant, in the opinion of Dr Farina Othman. She and her team are building a protected corridor in partnership with oil palm plantations for the 250 elephants that remain locally.
Ninety percent of their original habitat has been converted to oil palm, now the main source of income for local people who feel the elephant “belongs to the scientists, the NGOs, the government…” and not them, she tells Kate Humble and Edward Whitley.
Her nonprofit Seratu Aatai is helping build the skills to coexist with elephants and to “walk this journey with them,” Farina explains. Her plan is to put Kinabatangan on the map as a conservation model that can be replicated across other landscapes.
Read the transcript here.
NEWS FROM FARINA
Since winning her award in April, Farina has conducted a census of the elephants locally which she plans to publish in early 2026. Lower Kinabatangan is one of three strongholds for the elephant which had a total population of 1,000, according to the most recent IUCN update on the species which classified the Bornean elephant as Endangered. Farina’s team has conducted a workshop with seven plantations and is working on producing a pocketbook on good agricultural practices that combines both practical and sustainable approaches.
“We hope that operations staff will understand that sustainability can be integrated into their daily work and that operational efficiency and sustainable practices can go hand in hand,” she says.
Farina and Seratu Aatai won the distinguished Biji Alam Award 2025.
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