As Martin tells the story, Dius Tadong knows a great deal about the tropical forest in his country, Malaysia. After working for several years all over his native island, Borneo, for the Sabah State Forest Authority, he decided to return to his home village, part of the Dusun community. They live on the edge of the Kinabalu National Park, a large protected area of 753 square kilometres.

Tadong works with the villagers to collect and list plants. The project aims at providing better knowledge and use of plant species in protected regions by providing training and assistance. In Kinabalu Park, Martin writes, the first stage consists of drawing up an inventory of the rich flora, believed to include about 4,000 species, starting with plants that are useful to humanity.

Studies of medicinal, edible and decorative plants are planned. Dius Tadong continues to cultivate the land, just as the other five plant collectors still work in their villages. They concentrate on palm trees, including those used to make cane, which are of crucial importance to the local population.

The trees are used as food and in traditional medicine, as roofing material, to make rope, and in arts and crafts. Similar projects are underway elsewhere, in Bolivia, Cameroon, Mexico, Uganda and the Caribbean for instance, in the hope of building ecological awareness based on ancestral knowledge. These projects may turn out to be more rewarding than previous efforts because they are being conducted in cooperation with the local people who know the forest intimately.