Executive Summary: Environmental Status of Borneo 2016
Posted on June, 02 2017
Borneo has long been recognized by WWF as a globally significant biodiversity ‘hotspot’. Representing just 1% of the earth’s terrestrial surface, the island is home to an estimated 6% of the world’s flora and fauna, including WWF flagship species, orangutan, elephant and endemic species, such as proboscis monkey and countless birds and plants.
A paradise of biological wonder. Described by Charles Darwin as: “One great luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself.”But, all is not well in paradise!
Borneo’s forests and ecosystems are succumbing to the economic and social pressures of life in the 21 st century. Many of these pressures are familiar: unsustainable logging, clearance for industrial agriculture and mining - as countries strive to develop their natural resource base.
With the completion of WWF’s latest Environmental Status of Borneo 2016 report, the effect of these pressures is brought into sharp contrast, revealing dire trends and grave consequences for a ‘Business As Usual’ (BAU) approach to economic development on the island.
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 - both national and regional - of Brunei Darussalam, the Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
The Executive Summary Environmental Status Report of Borneo 2016
© WWF-HoB Programme
The Executive Summary Environmental Status Report of Borneo 2016
© WWF-HoB Programme