Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
National Park in East Kalimantan, have been devastated by a combination of logging and
fires and are considered by scientists to be a 'total loss'. Malaysian Borneo is used as a
sales conduit for illegal timber logged in Kalimantan.
Visit the website of GRID-Arendal (
www.grida.no
)
, which collaborates with the UN
Environment Programme, and search for 'Borneo deforestation' to see maps tracing the
disappearance of the island's forest cover from 1950 to the present and on to 2020.
Oil-Palm Plantations
Alongside logging, the greatest single threat to Borneo's biodiversity comes from the vast
oil-palm plantations that are replacing tens of thousands of square kilometres of primary
and secondary forest in Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan - with the encouragement of the
governments of Malaysia and Indonesia, which together produce 85% of the world's palm
oil.
Originally brought from Africa in 1848, oil palms produce more edible oil per hectare
(about 5000kg, ie 6000L of crude oil) than any other crop, especially in Borneo's ideal
growing conditions. The oil is extracted from the orange-coloured fruit, which grows in
bunches just below the fronds. It is used primarily for cooking, although it can also be re-
fined into biodiesel, an alternative to fossil fuels.
For all the benefits, there have been huge environmental consequences to the creation
of vast plantations that have been replacing both previously logged forests and virgin
jungle. In Kalimantan, the area given over to oil palms has increased by 300% since 2000,
to 31,640 sq km (as of 2012); in Sabah, some 20% of the land - about 14,000 sq km - is
now carpeted with oil palms. To see what this means, just look out the window of any
aeroplane flying over Malaysian Borneo or check out Google Earth.
Palm-oil plantations may appear green - after all, they are covered with living plants -
but from an ecological point of view they are almost dead zones. Even forest land that has
been clear-cut can recover much of its biodiversity if allowed to grow back as secondary
forest, but palm-oil plantations convert land into a permanent monoculture (leases are usu-
ally for 99 years), reducing the number of plant species by 80% and resident mammal,
reptile and bird species by 80% to 90%. Oil palms require large quantities of herbicides
and pesticides that can seep into rivers, drainage may lower water tables and dry out
nearby peat forests, and the plantations fragment or destroy the natural habitats that are es-
pecially important to large mammals.
The Palm Oil Action Group (
www.palmoilaction.org.au
)
is an Australian pressure
group raising awareness about palm oil and the need to use alternatives. Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil tries to look at the issue from all sides while seeking to develop and
implement global standards. Proforest (
www.proforest.net
) has also been working with
