| Azlan Othman |
BORNEO is in danger of losing its major ecosystems and the valuable eco-services they provide which are critical to the long-term survival of local communities and the economies, according to a report.
WWF Malaysia and WWF Indonesia, in an executive summary of their upcoming publication titled ‘The Environmental Status of Borneo 2016’, stated that the danger is faced at both national and regional levels of Brunei Darussalam, the Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
The summary provides an overview of the status and emerging environmental issues in Borneo and is widely shared to raise awareness and gain collective support in the ongoing efforts to save Borneo’s forests.
Based on the report, the original 74 million hectares of overall forest cover had declined to 55 per cent in 2015 and within the forested areas, fragmentation is widespread with deforestation on the rise.
Under a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, by 2020, Borneo could lose 75 per cent of its forest.
According to projections in the report, if the 2005-2015 deforestation rates continue, under a BAU scenario, a further six million hectares of forest may be deforested over the next five-year period from 2015 and 2020.
Despite some challenges presented, the report provides good news on some ecosystem fronts. The area known as the Heart of Borneo (HoB), a conservation initiative by Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Indonesia, has indeed fared far better than the lowlands and coastal areas.
Highlighting the wisdom, forethought and relative success of the three Borneo member countries’ 2007 historic declaration to conserve HoB, considerable work has been carried out under the HoB banner by the three member countries and its local and international supporters, not the least being WWF.
“This World Environment Day is a good opportunity to draw attention to the state of the environment that we are passing onto the generations to come. We need to act now and act fast to save Borneo’s forests,” said Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma, Executive Director/CEO of WWF Malaysia.
“Together, we can help make one of the world’s last remaining expanses of forest in Borneo a better place to live in, both for us human as well as the biodiversity that thrives in this unique tropical rainforest island,” he added.
“The HoB initiative has been ongoing for 10 years now and has gained increasing support from all of our major stakeholders,” said Benja V Mambai, Acting CEO of WWF Indonesia.
“It is important to have a clear and comprehensive overview of the current and previous environmental status of Borneo including HoB, to see where major changes of the ecological conditions are occurring.
This would help monitor and help us in better planning of our future endeavours in the island.
As this report presents as such, we hope that the result of this regular environmental analysis would guide the authorities and our stakeholders to take effective steps to address the declining state of the environment,” he added.
WWF’s Environmental Status of Borneo 2016 is due to be released by end of the month.
It is the third edition of the report which details the environmental health of critical ecosystems and biological plant and animal indicators.
The purpose of this status report is to use these indicators in assessing the changing landscape and decline of forest cover by making reference to historical extent, and then in three, five-year intervals, from 2005 to 2015.
The post Borneo could lose 75pc of its forest by 2020 appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.