e-Bario

=Bario Radio= **Home page**: http://rogharris.org/
 * Main Country of Operation:** Malaysia
 * Other Countries of Operation:**
 * Contact:** Roger Harris

Bario Radio is a community radio initiative that extends the information services of the e-Bario community telecentre into broadcast radio. It will utilize the radio-in-a-box product, a compact, robust and low cost radio system that was designed and developed by the Asia Broadcasting Union with the support of UNESCO. It is a complete studio and transmission centre rolled into one. As a community radio station, Bario Radio will extend information services beyond the existing shared internet facilities at the already successful telecentre to additional services that will reach directly into the homes of the indigenous communities that it already serves.

Bario Radio will be located in the village of Bario in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. It will serve the remote and isolated highlands of north central Borneo, in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah and the adjacent Indonesian state of west Kalimantan. The project area spans the borders of Malaysia and Indonesia, and is known as the “Heart of Borneo” as it has gained international recognition through the ecological value of its forested area. This has lead to the establishment of a conservation effort by WWF as a prioritized area for biodiversity of global significance. Bario Radio will serve the indigenous peoples living in the Heart of Borneo, comprising the Kelabit, Penan, Lun Bawang, and Sa'ban ethnic groups. The projected broadcast area contains around 8,000 people living in 38 hamlets. The project will result in a locally-owned and operated community radio station broadcasting content of local interest to the Indigenous Peoples in the Heart of Borneo. This will empower them with opportunities for social inclusion, which will lead to; § Mitigation of their isolation and remoteness from public services and from each other; § More effective opposition to illegal logging and lobbying for wider protection of their forested environment; § Enrichment and preservation of the local indigenous cultures; particularly languages, music, history, song and verse; Reductions in poverty as greater levels of information are diffused throughout the isolated indigenous communities relating to economic, educational and health-related activities.