The Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (

Abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

: IBER; ms, Institut Penyelidikan Biodiversiti dan Alam Sekitar; Jawi: اينستيتوت ڤڽليديقن بيوديۏرسيتي دان عالم سکيتر) in

Brunei Darussalam Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by the ...

(

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

) is a research institute of

Universiti Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD; Jawi: ) is a national research university located in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. It was established in 1985 and has since become the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curricu ...

(UBD) dedicated to

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

s research and education. IBER's location within the northwest Borneo hotspot offers unique opportunities for long-term studies in both terrestrial and marine tropical ecosystems.

History

Biodiversity and environment have been the university's research strengths since its founding in 1985. This was further developed through the Brunei Rainforest Project, a collaborative project between UBD and the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(RGS) in the establishment of a permanent field research facility in the

Ulu Temburong National Park Ulu Temburong National Park is the first national park to be established in Brunei, protected since 1991. The park is in Temburong District in eastern Brunei, and covers about 40% of the district in the south at . It is within the Batu Apoi Fores ...

- the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre (KBFSC) where a 14-month scientific expedition was carried out in 1991–1992. Since then, KBFSC has gained local and international recognition as a centre for tropical rainforest research and education in Borneo. UBD has participated in and led several expeditions to forest areas within the

Heart of Borneo The Heart of Borneo is a conservation agreement initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature to protect a 220,000 km² forested region on Borneo island. The agreement was signed by the governments of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in Bali on 1 ...

(HoB) boundary including the

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

Forestry Department expeditions to Lanjak Entimau and Paya Maga, the UBD-led biodiversity surveys to Sungai Ingei Conservation Forest and the iCUBE Scientific Expedition to Bukit Pagon, Brunei Darussalam. Following these significant milestones achieved in the biodiversity and environment research frontier, IBER was established in 2013 to further develop and expand prospects and international collaborations in biodiversity explorations within Brunei Darussalam. The Institute's establishment was officially announced by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Chancellor of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, at UBD's 25th Convocation Ceremony on 12 September 2013.

Scope

IBER was set up as a focal agency within UBD that functions to coordinate, facilitate, support and execute research, education and outreach activities or programmes within the biodiversity and environmental scope (both terrestrial and marine). KBFSC, previously an independent research centre of UBD, is now managed as the premier international research and educational facility for IBER and remains as a core research focus of UBD.

Research

Brunei Darussalam is one of the top ten forested nations in the world, and is situated in the hyperdiverse northwest Borneo tropical forests and the edge of the Coral Triangle. Recognising Brunei's strengths and prominence in biodiversity, the university has biodiversity and environmental studies as one of its five key research areas. Biodiversity and environmental research at the institute is conducted through university- and government-funded research projects, as well as international. A major initiative of the institute is the establishment of the International Consortium of Universities for the study of Biodiversity and the Environment ( iCUBE). This group brings together a core group of research universities (

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, and

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

) united in a shared goal of research and education on biodiversity and the environment. The institute has a network of 1 ha permanent forest plots located throughout Brunei Darussalam. Set up in the early 1990s, five plots are located in lowland Mixed Dipterocarp Forests in the Belait and Tutong districts and at KBFSC, and two heath (Kerangas) forest plots are located in the Belait district. The institute also manages a series of nine 0.25 ha plots at three altitudinal ranges at KBFSC. In 2007, the University, in collaboration with the

Center for Tropical Forest Science The Center for Tropical Forest Science, or CTFS, was a consortium of forest researchers who pursued long-term research on tree populations using comparable census method. The work developed out of a study of 50 hectares of forest on Barro Colorado I ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, commenced the establishment of the 25 ha UBD-CTFS Plot at KBFSC.

Education and outreach

KBFSC is the core facility for educational activities organised by IBER. Since its inception, KBFSC has served as a venue for various education programmes, field courses and field based workshops participated by undergraduate and high school students. Themes encompass tropical rainforest biodiversity and ecology, emergent issues of biodiversity conservation, sustainability and climate change. ‘Friends of Belalong’ is an outreach programme embarked by KBFSC and is currently adopted by IBER. It is a volunteer programme aimed at promoting biodiversity and environmental awareness and instilling the values of conservation among the public. The programme welcomes local and international volunteers.

References

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External links

Universiti Brunei Darussalam official website

Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research official webpage
Scientific organizations established in 1985 Environmental research 1985 establishments in Brunei