Forest & Habitat Restoration - De-vining Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo When MESCOT started its restoration efforts, the experts advised that  1m wide rows should be cut into the vine thicket on which trees were  to be planted. It took only 3 months and the planting lines were no  longer distinguishable - they had literally vanished - and the planted  trees were smothered by a ferocious entanglement of thorny vines,  climbing grasses and climbing bamboos. To counter this, MESCOT pioneered an blanket liberation treatment of  de-vining. The results were astounding, natural tree seed could finally  penetrate the liberated land, it could germinate and stand a chance of  surviving its first infant years. Studies showed that natural  regeneration in the newly liberated forest, exhibited more than 10  trees regenerating naturally for every 1 tree MESCOT planted.    De-vining and liberating the degraded forests from the explosion of vine species has resulted in widespread regeneration in areas where tree planting failed. These incredible results have far outstriped the tree planting efforts in total numbers and diversity of trees established, and is by far been the greatest help to the future regeneration of a climax rainforest. (KOPEL, 2009) * For more information, or to arrange a stay contact KOPEL Office  © created for KOPEL by CREST Sustainable Tourism Planning