Erik Meijaard
Managing Director
Phd, Msc, BSc
đź“Ť Brunei Darussalam, Greece
Erik Meijaard is the Managing Director of Borneo Futures Sdn Bhd, having set up Borneo Futures as a research initiative in 2010, together with Marc Ancrenaz, and turning it into a company in 2015. He now manages the company alongside co-owner, Rona Dennis. Erik splits his time between Brunei Darussalam and Europe, allowing him to engage with an international community of scientists and a range of projects, from citizen science initiatives deep in the Heart of Borneo, to sustainable oil crop research as part of the Oil Crops Task Force work.
Erik’s background lies in tropical ecology, having completed his MSc at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He later earned his PhD in Physical and Biological Anthropology at The Australian National University. His affinity for the tropics extends well beyond his academic training. Beginning his career in a national park in East Java, Erik has over 30 years of experience working across the biodiverse Southeast Asian region. Among his research highlights are the discovery of two distinct and now critically endangered species: the silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor) and the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis).
While his work has shifted away from site-based fieldwork involving days of trekking through primary rainforest, his passion for conservation science remains as strong as ever. He now focuses on outcome-oriented solutions, including Borneo Futures’ novel citizen science initiatives, and on interrogating widely held assumptions, such as those underpinning the highly polarised palm oil debate.
Professor Meijaard is an Honorary Professor at the Durrel Institute of Ecology and Conservation, University of Kent and a Visiting Researcher at John Moores Liverpool University. He has served as a chair and c-chair of the IUCN Oil Crops Task Force from 2017 to now, and has received numerous awards, including The Mahathir Science Award.
Countries I work in
Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Gabon, Liberia
Expertise
Tropical Ecology, Sustainability, Oil Crops, Citizen Science, Conservation Science, Science Communication
Blogs and Articles
30 November 2025. Seen but not forgotten: How citizen science helps document biodiversity in remote Borneo villages. The Conversation (with Emily Meijaard)
16 October 2025. Which cooking oil is best? Asking how they’re made could tell you more. (with Serge Wich)
Meijaard, E., Sheil, D., Unus, N., Descals, A., 2025. Rebuttal: Misinterpretation of Palm Oil Plantation Efficiency in Zachlod et al. (2025). Communications Earth and Environment.
Meijaard, E., Wafiy, M., Ni’Mattulah, S., Dennis, R., Hadisiswoyo, P., Sheil, D., Descals, A., Gaveau, D., Unus, N., KĂĽhl, H., Otto, F.E.L., Supriatna, J., Aldrian, E., Wich, S., 2025. Extreme Rainfall Event in Sumatra Caused Critical Habitat Loss and Lethal Impacts to the Critically Endangered Tapanuli Orangutan, In Preprints.
Publications
Meijaard, E. and Sheil, D. 2025. No Oil Crop Is Inherently Bad — But Our Thinking Might Be. Cell Reports Sustainability.
Meijaard, E., Wich, S.A., Ancrenaz, M., Dennis, R.A., Ni’mattulah, S., Sherman, J., 2025. Interpreting the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6 for the management of orangutans, p. 38. Borneo Futures, Brunei Darussalam Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
Descals, A., Sheil, D., Wich, S., Ozigis, M., Meijaard, E., 2025. Extensive unreported non-plantation oil palm in Africa. Environmental Research: Food Systems.
van Strien AJ, Meijaard E, Nardiyono, Suief S, Zaini S. 2025. Occupancy estimation of wild species in a palm oil plantation using unstructured data. PLOS ONE. bioRxiv:2025.2007.2011.664290.
Slavin, J., Meijaard, E., Sheil, D., 2025. Bringing some balance to fat bashing. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.