Linear infrastructure development threatens elephant movement and our forest elders’ search for sustenance. Yet, tending to changing forest landscapes can uplift livelihoods and local economies. In this Valley Immersion, we traverse the districts of Tongod, Beluran and Kinabatangan to grapple with the realities of smallholder palm oil communities, and in Telupid, engage with data monitoring efforts to learn the faces and places of elephant kin as we seek reconciliation between a fragmented landscape, endangered wildlife and smallholder aspirations.