U.K-born tropical biologist John Payne has resided in Malaysia and Indonesia since 1975, including 25,000 hours living within tropical rain forest. He headed the nature conservation NGO WWF in Sabah from 1982 to 1998. Now, as head of a small, specialist NGO, Borneo Rhino Alliance (www.bringingbackourrareanimals.org), his aim is to highlight that knowledge of and actions to enhance demography, spatial distribution and reproductive performance are the vital parameters required to prevent extinctions. His current work involves the application of simple methods to increase carrying capacity of forest-plantation landscapes for endangered large mammals.