A recently published study in Molecular Ecology found that male orangutan’s travel much longer distances than females, based on faecal samples collected a seven sites in Borneo. These findings are further proof that the orangutan needs high-quality natural forests and dispersal corridors, states Sabah Wildlife Department Director Dr Laurentius Ambu. Read more about how shrinking…
Updates
BBC Celebrates David Attenborough’s 60-year Career
In a three-part documentary, BBC will broadcast a series looking back over Sir David Attenborough’s 60-year broadcasting career, including a trip to the Borneo jungle, where he first encountered an orangutan in the wild in the 1950s. Attenborough returned to the Borneo jungle to shoot new footage at the place he was filmed previously with…
A New Study: Palm oil is a major driver of peatlands destruction in Indonesian Borneo
A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences states that developers in Indonesian Borneo are increasingly converting carbon-dense peatlands to oil palm plantations, driving deforestation and boosting greenhouse gas emissions. The research concludes that nearly all unprotected forests in Ketapang District in West Kalimantan, home to the most biodiverse forests on…
The Role of Tapirs in Seed Dispersal
Now that rhinoceros and elephant populations have been hunted from their ecological habitats due to demand for medicine, ivory, and deforestation, the role they filled in seed dispersal throughout the rain forest is now vacant. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated the understory of the forest has shown a dramatic reduction in fruit trees formerly dispersed by…
A Personal Account of Orangutan Encounters at Tanjung Puting National Park
Borneo’s Tanjung Puting National Park is one of the world’s best places to see the endangered orangutan in the wild, and sadly, it is becoming one of the only places where these great apes live in their natural habitat. With South Asia’s tropical forests rapidly disappearing, the orangutan population is shrinking. Read a family’s personal…
Palm Oil Industry Lobbies EPA to Overturn Palm Oil Biofuel Report
Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil processor and trader, is placing lobbying pressure on the EPA to overturn its finding that biofuels produced from palm oil do not offer substantial emissions savings relative to conventional gasoline. The EPA stated that palm oil fuel does not meet greenhouse gas emissions standards under America’s Renewable Fuels…
Palm Oil Plantations Expand Into Indonesia’s Shrinking Forests
Due to massive deforestation starting in the 1990′s and rapid expansion of palm oil in Indonesia, the country ranks right behind the United States and China in the lineup of the world’s top 10 greenhouse gas emitters. Read below about a recent study where researchers found two-thirds of land outside of protected areas in the…
Swiss authorities confirm money-laundering investigation against UBS
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has confirmed that Switzerland has given legal assistance to Hong Kong in a money-laundering case against Musa Aman, Chief Minister of the Malaysian State of Sabah on Borneo. Musa Aman is responsible for granting illegal concessions to log tropical hardwoods in the Borneo rainforest. He is the…
The Story of REDD: A real solution to deforestation?
Watch a new animated film about REDD below! The film was launched at the annual meeting of the Forest Movement Europe in Portugal and it attempts to explain issues of over-consumption that drive global deforestation in a simple way. For more information on forest and climate policy in Borneo, please visit: http://borneoproject.org/our-work/ongoing-campaigns/redd-and-international-policy *************** http://www.redd-monitor.org/2012/05/01/the-story-of-redd-a-real-solution-to-deforestation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Redd-monitor+%28REDD-Monitor%29 The…