MIRI: We are used to hearing calls to support initiatives to preserve the environment such as protecting the earth, preventing ocean pollution and deforestation.
In reality, taking the initiatives and physically protesting against environmental destruction often met with various challenges.
To Andreas Bussinger, an environmental activist and avid runner, he strongly believes it could actually be much simpler and being there to physically support the initiative is the most direct way to show how much one loves Mother Earth.
Two months ago, Andreas or fondly known as Andi, embarked on a running journey, Trans Borneo Run (TBR), that begins from the Tip of Borneo, Kudat with his supporting team of four members.
“People often ask me, why run. Well, I have travelled to many countries like Kazakhstan, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, to name a few, with my wife and two toddlers. During my travel, I have seen a lot including the good people who are passionate about helping people and the bad things such as severe pollution that happens almost everywhere.
“When I came to Borneo, the beauty of this place captured my heart but at the same time it breaks my heart to see deforestation as the result of uncontrolled timber logging activity, open burning and haze among other things,” he told The Borneo Post when he arrived in Miri last week.
Thus, Andi embarked on the run, and set himself the almost impossible task of running over 1,500km through Borneo. After kicking off from Kudat, Andi passed through Sabah to Kota Kinabalu before entering Lawas, Limbang, Brunei and Miri covering an estimated distance of 650km.
After Miri, the TBR team continued their journey, heading south to Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching before finally stopping in Pontianak.
The Trans Borneo Run, Andi confessed, wasn’t an easy one as he tried to keep up with the local temperature, humidity, the steep mountain trails and the annoying mosquitoes.
Giving up his comfortable life as a civil engineer in Nurmberg, Germany, to travel the world before the TBR along with his South Korean wife and two toddlers, the eye-opening experience had taught Andi that more effort should be done to help the people understand the importance of environmental protection.
“Germany is a country where we have been taught since young not to do open burning, and 3R concept was already being embedded into our lives. But it is not like that at countries I have visited.
“Whenever I try to tell people in countries, like Laos and Cambodia, to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottle or plastic wrap, they have no qualm about continuing their old way of life, which is very worrying.
“It made me realise that it is not about who to blame, but the whole system that is causing the current situation. While the government has been called to impose stricter law on the ban on plastic, the main cause of the environmental problem is due to consumerism.
“There is demand for plastic, therefore the supply of plastic will continue. Once the ban is imposed at manufacturing level, it will eventually push consumers to look for alternative to replace plastic with more environment-friendly material.”
During the TBR run, Andi revealed how the locals were supportive towards the cause he was promoting.
“We try to do a few activities during the way, such as cleaning beaches at every stop if possible.”
Running, he emphasised, tends to be one of the ways to get people’s attention.
“The best part of our TBR journey is meeting the people. People I have met are equally passionate about helping people like me and my team. While a lot of them are also avid runners who came out to run with me, the experience for them and my team has been fun and fruitful.”
Andi further shared on the projects and the works he had initiated and accomplished, including building a plastic recycling machine, reforesting project, ‘Orang Asli’ project, Orang Utan Sanctuary project in Sintang, West Kalimantan and ocean conservation project.
“Plastic recycling machine was inspired by Precious Plastic, a project that is trying to boost plastic recycling worldwide. A Dutch company has been trying to promote a self-build plastic recycling machine in Kota Kinabalu and it really should be easily built at a very low cost, so that it could be made by anyone.”
Andi, who is very supportive of the effort to protest deforestation, says that the reforestation project and Orang Asli project focuses on the effort to re-grow the forest and making sure that the rural residents are well aware of their rights when it comes to protecting their native land.
“The reforestation project in Sabah was initiated by an NGO who basically raised fund, buying forest land and handing it over to the relevant agency for forest protection.
“Meanwhile, on the Orang Asli projects, one of them we took part in by providing support either in the form of food, money and emotional support. The project is actually the action of blockade against logging and preventing developing company from entering the native land. Whilst in another Orang Asli project we support them by raising funds and helping them identify their native land with the help of the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. In this way, they will know and prevent any intrusion by private company.”
Running through Borneo might not be easy, but Andi realises that creating awareness of saving the environment is a tougher task.
“Whether it is the timber logging, deforestation, open burning or ocean pollution, all these are contributing to the changes that are happening to the earth now. The planet is changing. If we continue to be ignorant like nothing is happening, the earth will no longer be able to cater for the younger generation.
“By the next 50 years, there will be a lot of problems. So, instead of us waiting for someone to initiate something, everybody has a role to play in this.
“The ocean and the aquamarine lives are slowly drowned by plastic waste. We, as the resident of this earth, must do something really quick to prevent this from persevering. Saying no to disposable plastic and building more recycling plastic facilities are the possible initiative that could really help earth.”
Source: Borneo Post Online
