In the case of South East Asia, the forests are essential for the survival of the rich diversity of plants and animals, including such special species as elephants, rhinos and orang-utans. Equally important, they are of critical importance for the goods and services they provide for the local people.

For the conservation of natural forests to have any chance of success, it requires the maintenance of very large blocks of inter-connected forest.

There is only one place on the planet where sufficiently large areas of the Indo-Malay forests of Southeast Asia could be conserved on such a scale. It straddles the trans-boundary highlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, and reaches through the foothills into adjacent lowlands and to parts of Brunei.

There is still time to protect and manage this area as one of the last bastions of the Southeast Asian rainforest.

I am very encouraged to know that WWF is seeking to engage the governments of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in making plans to protect the existing forests in the area, and to achieve the sustainable use of the forests and the vital water-catchment areas with these unique forests.

This is a major initiative, and to succeed, WWF will need to establish technical and financial partnerships in the international community, including NGOs, multilateral and bilateral agencies.

This is a last chance initiative, and it simply has to succeed.