CIFOR began working in the Malinau Research Forest, in East Kalimantan, in 1996, when the Indonesian government designated 300,000 hectares of forest lands for long-term research into sustainable forest management. Since then, dozens of researchers from CIFOR and its partner institutions have put Malinau’s forests, and its mostly Dayak communities, under the microscope. Ecologists, ethno-botanists, economists, sociologists, soil scientists, anthropologists – all have come here to gather information. And the gathering of information has relied heavily on local people, so it would be scarcely surprising if they were beginning to suffer from research fatigue.

And indeed a survey carried out in it 2006 found that 30 per cent of those interviewed reckoned that the number of visits by CIFOR scientists was excessive. However, the survey findings also suggested that even those who found the number of visits excessive valued CIFOR’s presence in the area. 97 per cent of respondents – they included government officials and villagers – said it was important that CIFOR should continue working in Malinau. 80 per cent agreed that CIFOR’s research results were useful and had helped to improve their knowledge about forestry and environmental issues. The survey found that local people appreciated the way in which CIFOR fed the results of its research back to officials and villagers. While the former preferred to receive their information in the form of illustrated books, posters and calendars, government officials preferred books.