Lowland Borneo has a stable climate, with monthly rainfall exceeding 8 inches throughout the year and a temperature range of more than 18 °C. smithsonianmag.com
But in the last century, the world’s third-largest island (shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) has lost a significant portion of its forests to fire, illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil and pulpwood plantations. When the logging happens, it opens up the canopy, and then shrub grows as well. “If left alone to grow back, big old trees pull carbon out of the atmosphere, so there is huge potential for Malaysian Borneo to play a major role in mitigating climate change,” says Shearman.Travel across the border to Brunei and the contrast is extreme, as 54% of the forests are untouched by logging.“It really is quite a difference,” Shearman told RTCC. Most of the carbon in the forests is stored in the trees, while collateral damage to other trees and disturbances to the soil also release carbon into the atmosphere.This can lead to complete clearances of certain areas, leaving it dry and susceptible to fire, which also releases a large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. “Almost the entire extent of Malaysian Borneo is covered by a dense pattern of logging roads and logging skid trails, but just across the border in Brunei most of the forests remain intact.”This may be less due a heightened interest in conservation and more because the economy in Brunei is dependent upon oil and gas. The estimations of loss are shocking, as they reveal that the Amazon rainforest is disappearing at an unbelievable rate of 20,000 square miles a year. They've declined 50 percent over the past 60 years, The scale of Borneo's problem might stand out, but the problem, unfortunately, continues to plague most tropical rainforests around the world.
Borneo, the third largest island in the world, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, was once covered by dense tropical and subtropical rainforests. Among these are some 2,000 Deforestation in Borneo has taken place on an industrial scale since the 1960s. Its deforestation rate is accelerating faster than in any other tropical country, and between 1990 and 2010, it lost 8.6%, or 1,920,000ha of its forest cover.Logging on this scale releases vast amount of carbon into the atmosphere, both directly and indirectly. Borneo’s rainforests are under more threat than previously thought, researchers say, destroying a valuable carbon sink in the Malaysian part of the island. (Photo: Louise Murray/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis)
The rainforest in Borneo is one of the oldest in the world and is estimated to be about 130 million years old. Logging, oil palm plantations and forest fires are the three biggest culprits behind the rapid deforestation, they found.
It is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals, and the rainforest is one of the few remaining natural habitats for the endangered Bornean orangutan.
The lowlands of Borneo are home to the richest rainforest in the world. She is a freelance science writer based in Brooklyn. It has so many amazing plant. At the scientists write, "between 1980 and 2000 more round wood was harvested from Borneo than from Africa and the Amazon combined."
Around 1,500 orangutans live on Borneo, though their populations, too, have been drastically impacted due to human development.
But in the last century, the world’s third-largest island (shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) has lost a significant portion of its forests to fire, illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil and pulpwood plantations. When the logging happens, it opens up the canopy, and then shrub grows as well. “If left alone to grow back, big old trees pull carbon out of the atmosphere, so there is huge potential for Malaysian Borneo to play a major role in mitigating climate change,” says Shearman.Travel across the border to Brunei and the contrast is extreme, as 54% of the forests are untouched by logging.“It really is quite a difference,” Shearman told RTCC. Most of the carbon in the forests is stored in the trees, while collateral damage to other trees and disturbances to the soil also release carbon into the atmosphere.This can lead to complete clearances of certain areas, leaving it dry and susceptible to fire, which also releases a large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. “Almost the entire extent of Malaysian Borneo is covered by a dense pattern of logging roads and logging skid trails, but just across the border in Brunei most of the forests remain intact.”This may be less due a heightened interest in conservation and more because the economy in Brunei is dependent upon oil and gas. The estimations of loss are shocking, as they reveal that the Amazon rainforest is disappearing at an unbelievable rate of 20,000 square miles a year. They've declined 50 percent over the past 60 years, The scale of Borneo's problem might stand out, but the problem, unfortunately, continues to plague most tropical rainforests around the world.
Borneo, the third largest island in the world, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, was once covered by dense tropical and subtropical rainforests. Among these are some 2,000 Deforestation in Borneo has taken place on an industrial scale since the 1960s. Its deforestation rate is accelerating faster than in any other tropical country, and between 1990 and 2010, it lost 8.6%, or 1,920,000ha of its forest cover.Logging on this scale releases vast amount of carbon into the atmosphere, both directly and indirectly. Borneo’s rainforests are under more threat than previously thought, researchers say, destroying a valuable carbon sink in the Malaysian part of the island. (Photo: Louise Murray/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis)
The rainforest in Borneo is one of the oldest in the world and is estimated to be about 130 million years old. Logging, oil palm plantations and forest fires are the three biggest culprits behind the rapid deforestation, they found.
It is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals, and the rainforest is one of the few remaining natural habitats for the endangered Bornean orangutan.
The lowlands of Borneo are home to the richest rainforest in the world. She is a freelance science writer based in Brooklyn. It has so many amazing plant. At the scientists write, "between 1980 and 2000 more round wood was harvested from Borneo than from Africa and the Amazon combined."
Around 1,500 orangutans live on Borneo, though their populations, too, have been drastically impacted due to human development.