birding-aus

Camera fees in Malaysia

To: Denise Goodfellow <>
Subject: Camera fees in Malaysia
From: Carl Clifford <>
Date: Thu, 22 May 2014 21:31:02 +1000
And the Sepilok-Kabilli reserve is very un-birded and seldom visited. It has 
great birding potential. Access is not the easiest, either a 8km or so walk or 
by hiring a Forestry Dept launch and you will have to self cater, but you will 
have several thousand hectares of mainly primary forest pretty much, if not 
totally, to yourself.

Carl Clifford

> On 22 May 2014, at 20:37, Denise Goodfellow <> wrote:
> 
> I visited Sepilok as a speaker at the Borneo Bird Festival a few years ago, 
> and can heartily recommend the place.  The wildlife, the scenery and the 
> people were all terrific.  Nowhere was I made to feel as I have in Bali and 
> other places, like a tourist and therefore a “milch cow” as Carl mentioned.  
> 
> Denise Lawungkurr  Goodfellow
> PO Box 71
> Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
> 
> PhD candidate
> Vice-chair Wildlife Tourism Australia  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On 22 May 2014, at 7:42 pm, Carl Clifford <> wrote:
>> 
>> Geoff,
>> 
>> Unfortunately, Yayasan Sabah is a private company, whose main activities are 
>> timber and palm oil production. They control massive swathes of Sabah. They 
>> have strong links to the Sabah Chief Minister and his family and basically 
>> can do what they like. Good luck with with trying to get that demand for the 
>> fee rescinded.
>> 
>> There are plenty of other places in Sabah where you can get excellent bird 
>> photographs without being viewed as a milch cow. I would suggest spending a 
>> week at the Rainforest Discovery Centre and the Sepilok-Kabilli Reserve at 
>> Sepilok. Same species as Danum and much cheaper accom etc. also at the RDC 
>> and Kabilli, you have a good chance of seeing wild Orangs as they go to and 
>> from the Orang Sanctuary for a free feed. If you want any info on the RDC, 
>> Sepilok-Kabilli contact me off line.
>> 
>> Carl Clifford
>> 
>>> On 22 May 2014, at 17:48, "Geoffrey Allan Jones" <> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Good Evening everyone.
>>> 
>>> I have been reading with interest the thread about charges for using your
>>> camera in National Parks and I have come across 2 experiences in Australia,
>>> One at Lawn Hill were I was walking along a path beside the river carrying
>>> my 500 lens & camera and was asked by the ranger if I was a professional
>>> photographer which I answered no and moved on. The other time was down here
>>> in my home patch at Pound Bend Reserve Warrandyte. When a couple of rangers
>>> asked me was I a professional Photographer because of the size of the lens
>>> that I was using, and again I said no. In both cases it was assumed that
>>> because I was using a large lens I must be a professional photographer. What
>>> is the reason for this? I believe that it goes back to a time when some
>>> commercial filmmakers rope off certain areas in Nat Parks to shoot wildlife
>>> docs and so it was for that reason the need for a permit is needed, but it
>>> should not be for someone walking along a track and not interfering with
>>> animals or people walking along the track. So there is always a presumption
>>> that because you own a large lens and have a website you must be a
>>> professional, a fine example of this is an email that was sent to my Travel
>>> Agent from Borneo Rainforest Lodge last week, below is the email
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> We understand that Mr Geoffrey Jones is a professional wildlife photographer
>>> and wants to photograph birds at Borneo Rainforest Lodge/ Danum Valley. He
>>> also has his own website with photographs that he has taken throughout his
>>> travels. Please inform him that as a professional photographer he has to pay
>>> a photography fee of RM500 per camera to do photography in the Danum Valley
>>> Conservation Area (DVCA). This fee is not imposed by us, but by the Danum
>>> Valley Management Committee (DVMC) under Yayasan Sabah. It will go towards
>>> the conservation fund of the DVCA. He can pay this fee directly at our Lahad
>>> Datu office, or the Danum Valley Field Centre office in Lahad Datu town
>>> (just next door to BNT LDU office). Please inform Mr Jones of this fee. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Once again I have contacted them to let them know that I would love to make
>>> money out of my photographs but the cold hard reality is I would be owed
>>> about $300,000 dolllars for the trips that I have done to secure my library
>>> of photos that are on my website. So if you are heading overseas beware!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> So I am off to Bali next week for a wedding and I have a couple of days to
>>> spare for birding and would appreciate some advice from my fellow brethren
>>> and then too Borneo for 3 weeks chasing the Pittas of Danum Valley and the
>>> Hornbills at Sukau Lodge
>>> 
>>> Kindest Regards
>>> 
>>> Geoff Jones
>>> 
>>> Barraimaging
>>> 
>>> Your Non Professional Photographer
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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