Deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra | Charlie Weng

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Deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra By Charlie Weng

Submitted 8:46am, 28th March 2016.

Deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra | Charlie Weng

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Table of Contents Deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra ................................................................................................................1

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................3

Body .................................................................................................................................................................3

Deforestations Impact on other Spheres and Scale .........................................................................................3

Biophysical Processes ....................................................................................................................................4

Erosion .....................................................................................................................................................4

The Water Cycle ......................................................................................................................................5

Human Impact ..............................................................................................................................................6

Unsustainable Agriculture .........................................................................................................................6

Logging ....................................................................................................................................................7

Stakeholder (WWF) .....................................................................................................................................9

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 12

References ...................................................................................................................................................... 13

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Introduction

Deforestation is the 'act or result of cutting down or burning all the trees in an area' thus

being a process in which is both a biophysical process and a human impact. With this

knowledge, deforestation is a major dilemma in the Borneo and Sumatra rainforests which

span across Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Biophysical processes erosion and the water

cycle are related to deforestation as it is a global issue. The Rainforest has many

stakeholders attempting to resolve this issue, such as the World Wildlife Fund through

its several campaigns and initiatives such as the ‘Heart of Borneo’ and ‘Roundtable of

Sustainable Palm Oil’. The ‘Heart of Borneo’ will be evaluated in their sustainable

management strategy with the criteria of its ecological sustainability of their solution

which means the ability to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising

the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Body Deforestations Impact on other Spheres and Scale Deforestation is a major issue in the world that relates to several spheres including the

atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Deforestation affects the atmosphere

through the amount of water is in the atmosphere and on the land. Plants and trees

photosynthesise which also transports carbon dioxide and other harmful gases which

could be released if they are cut down by deforestation. Deforestation impacts the

hydrosphere through the trees and plants that perform a key role in keeping the balance

between water on the land and water in the atmosphere so that if the balanced is disturbed

it results in changes in precipitation and river flow. It also affects the lithosphere as the

land is now more susceptible to floods and landslides due to the weakened topsoil. Finally,

the biosphere is influenced by deforestation as many animals lose their habitats along with

many native and endangered species of fauna that are destroyed during the process of

deforestation such as the Tigers of Sumatra and the Rafflesia parasitic plant. Deforestation

is a biophysical component of mainly the biosphere that doesn’t only occur in the

Rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra but also the rest of the world. As seen in the Global

Index Map below, deforestation occurs throughout the world with countries of extreme

risk including Brazil, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea. Because of this, deforestation is an

issue that has a global effect.

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Severity of Deforestation around the World. Global Index Map (http://static.businessinsider.com/image/4edf7250ecad04967f000030/image.jpg)

Biophysical Processes

Erosion Erosion is a biophysical process that is heavily related to deforestation. Erosion is the

movement of rock particles from one place to another. With the lack of support from the

rainforest, soil erosion is very likely to occur and thus place Borneo and Sumatra in a more

critical zone with less biodiversity, more vulnerable to winds, rains and floods. This is

caused by the soil that is held together by tree roots and how they maintain water in an

ecosystem that consequently could cause for habitats to be destroyed by deforestation and

the erosion that follows. The topsoil is now weakened which in turn causes a worsened

effect of floods, rainfall induced landslides and etc. The type of water erosion that has the

most impact is sheet erosion which is when water moves thin layers of topsoil through

raindrop impact and shallow surface flow. The effects of this are the increased likelihood

of landslides and floods, heavier rainfall and stronger winds. Erosion has affected Borneo

and Sumatra in many cases such as the landslides of 2013 in Borneo. The landslide was

caused by the heavy rainfall that resulted in a landslide that killed 16 people and left 9

people missing. The landslide covered 15 houses and ended the month of continuous

heavy rains and floods consequently 32 deaths in the capital Jakarta and forcing 46000

people to leave their homes for protection. (Borneo Post online, 2013)

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Landslide in Borneo 2013. Shows how deforestation and palm oil plantations have caused for landslides to occur.

Types of Water Erosion

The Water Cycle The water cycle is also related to deforestation as the rainforests are a vital step in the

process of the water cycle. Water is moved around through the energy from the sun

through various stages. The key stages include condensation which is the process where

water changes from a gaseous state back into a liquid state, evapotranspiration which is

the process where water transforms from liquid to gas, evaporation is the physical process

where moisture is directly lost to the atmosphere from a body of water due to the sun's

heat or the effects of air movements, transpiration a biological in which water is lost from

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pores of the leaves of plants, precipitation results when large mass of moist air are cooled

rapidly cooled below dew point. All these stages are heavily influenced by deforestation as

trees and plants play a huge part in the water cycle because they are responsible for

extracting groundwater from the soil and returning it the atmosphere, so when trees are

cut down the water isn't released into the atmosphere and the balance of the water cycle

is disturbed. The effect of this includes desertification, loss of biodiversity due to change

in climate and increased severity of natural disasters. This can be seen in Central Java, 5

February 2016 where a landslide occurred induced by heavy rain and as a result killed 5

people.

The Water Cycle (http://www.blueplanet.nsw.edu.au/biophysical-interactions/.aspx)

Human Impact

Unsustainable Agriculture Unsustainable Agriculture is one of the many human impacts that have affected the

rainforests of the world. Specifically seen in Borneo and Sumatra are the palm oil

agriculture industries which have negatively impacted the rainforests over the past decade.

The harvesting of palm oil consists of injecting the matured palm oil tree with pesticide

which kills it from the inside. Then they cut down the trees through several methods

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including bulldozing which wipes out entire rainforests including various flora and fauna

that are unintentionally killed in the process. In Indonesia alone, palm oil production

expanded from 600,000 hectares in 1985 to over 6 million hectares by 2007 which has

both directly and indirectly contributed to deforestation. By wiping out rainforests for

palm oil plantations, it has destroyed the habitats of various critically endangered species

such as the Sumatran Tiger, Rhinoceros, Elephants and Orangutan and also decreased

biodiversity in Borneo and Sumatra.

Oblique Aerial of Palm Oil Plantation (http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/palm-oil-the-hidden-truth-lurking-in-your-home)

Logging

Logging is another human impact that has affected the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.

Logging is the transportation of timber and has destroyed the land which in turn, affected

the biotic and abiotic surroundings of the Rainforest which includes the environmental

processes that occur and the flora and fauna that exist. An example of this would be the

Sumatran Tiger which has drastically decreased in population from an estimated 1000 in

1978 to > 400 today due to the loss of habitat. With forest cover in Sumatra declining

rapidly as seen in the colomn graph below, it is crucial that activities such as logging are

managed sustainably. A total of approximately 18 million hectares of land into 15 million

hectares is unacceptable and is destroying the forests.

In Borneo and Sumatra, the economy is reliant on its natural resources and thus has

attracted international companies to mine for their precious hardwoods and minerals to

palm oil, rubber, and coal. This includes the USA which have cut down forests for their

palm oil to make toilet paper for the brand ‘Paseo’. Paseo one of the fastest growing brands

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in America and with their toilet paper coming from 5 million acres of rainforest, it has

drastically affected the rainforest through illegal logging and forest conversion.

Through logging, it has caused for animals to move deeper and deeper into the rainforests. This can be seen through the Sumatran Tiger. The Sumatran tiger is a critically endangered species with less than 400 left in the wild. Heavily reliant on the forests for their food and shelter, approximately 16.6 million acres of forest were lost in Sumatra between 1985 and

1997 which is more than half of Sumatra’s original forest land coverage thus only few tigers left in Sumatra living in the remaining patches of forest on the island.

Deforestation in Kalimantan (http://kids.mongabay.com/slideshows/indonesian-rainforest-tour/indonesian-rainforest-tour-07.html)

Forest cover in Sumatra Column graph (http://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/rainforests-decline-sharply-in-sumatra-but-rate-of-deforestation-slows/)

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Stakeholder (WWF) WWF has attempted to solve the issue through the initiative ‘Heart of Borneo’. The

initiative strives to protect and manage the various parts of the Borneo forest that have

been inadequately managed by previous methods. With strategies of research and

education and inspiration, they can be seen as ecologically sustainable methods. With

previous protected areas too fragmented and too vulnerable to illegal logging, illegal

wildlife trade and forest fires, they were unable to secure the future of the forests. Also, a

very fragile ecosystem seeing as if the forests disappeared, thousands of species would

become extinct as seen in the decrease of population in the Sumatran tigers, Borneo

Orangutans and Sumatran Rhinos.

The WWF funded “Heart of Borneo’ campaign was launched in 2004 and is one of the

major conservation initiatives that aim to protect and manage the forests of Borneo. With

three countries within this area as seen below, all three countries, Brunei, Malaysia and

Indonesia have signed the declaration in April 2005. A vision of “three countries, one

conservation vision” was created and its goals were that “partner ships at all levels ensure

effective management and conservation of a network of protected areas, productive forests

Map of Heart of Borneo. WWF

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and other sustainable land-uses. Borneo’s magnificent heritage is thereby sustained

forever”.

The strategy to reduce deforestation in Borneo consists of research which includes

Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Biodiversity surveys and wild-cats and

hunting impact. The community Based Participatory Research is a difficult time

consuming task which lets communities and foreigners collaborate to form research for a

particular issue like soil enriching alternatives to swidden agriculture. Biodiversity surveys

are a key to the revival of Borneo’s forest as they provide data required to monitor change

and manage conservation. By providing us with the species of plant or animal in an area

and their abundance, this allows people to take action and thus improve the ecosystems

that exist within the rainforest. Finally, Wild cat and hunting impact which is the

assessment of wild cat population status and the impact of hunting their prey. With the

hunting numbers unclear on their sustainability, it is heavily debated on whether or not

hunting prey impacts. Through research, these ideas will be cleared and people will learn

to have more sustainable methods to maintain the forests and as a result, reduce

deforestation.

Another strategy imposed by the Heart of Borneo to reduce deforestation is education

and inspiration to the general public. Through many methods of portraying their ideas

such as Art, multimedia, expeditions and classrooms, it has spread awareness on the causes

and effects of deforestation in the Heart of Borneo. The “Borneo hub” is one of these

methods that has been pending for funding. A platform that showcases and maps various

projects, expeditions and people that work on the island so that researchers. This concept

would be very successful as it allows people to learn from each other through a collective

body.

Through these strategies, the Heart of Borneo initiative implemented 5 programs which

were Transboundary Management, Protected Areas Management, Sustainable Natural

Resource Management, Ecotourism Development and Capacity Building.

Transboundary Management is due to the Heart of Borneo area residing within three

countries thus with each country having different uses for their borders, the management

was created. Due to their collaboration, it allows them to enhance progress and have better

management of the forests through agricultural needs, road construction, logging and the

needs of the local people are some of the issues that may negatively impact the forests if

this management strategy was not implemented. As seen in their proposed action below,

it can be seen as a sustainable management strategy that will indeed endeavor into the

future and also be a success if brought to action in the right manner.

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Transboundary Management Proposed Actions

Protected Areas Management has been implemented due to the role of the protected areas

being crucial to the conservation of biodiversity of the forests. This program intertwines

with the transboundary management as it also finds goals in creating transboundary

conservation zones to strengthen the management but differs as it promotes the effective

management of protected areas of the Heart of Borneo area and enhances approaches for

improving land and vegetation management.

The Sustainable Natural Resources Management proposes to:

1. Enhance and strengthen existing mechanisms and guidelines to ensure the

implementation of practices natural resources management, sustainable use and

ecosystem approach in all natural resources uses

2. Develop scheme for rehabilitation and restoration programs on the degraded forest

areas

3. Promote areas as potential Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and

Degradation project sites

These propositions have been made to cover the wide range of plants and animals that live

in the forest ecosystem including the swamps and rivers.

Ecotourism Development’s objective is to “recognize and protect the value of special

nature and cultural places or sites within the HoB area” which means that the three

countries will develop a network of cultures that will intertwine to promote community

based ecotourism and also voice the issues that the forest’s face thus being a sustainable

solution that will most likely succeed.

Finally, Capacity building which is the most sustainable and successful of all the 5

programs as it has established links between researchers and the community through

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strategies like the Borneo hub. It has proposed to promote education and awareness of the

state of the forest and prevention methods and implement developments for conservation

such as land use planning and biodiversity conservation.

As seen above, the “Heart of Borneo” initiative is a sustainable management strategy that

will be successful if executed as proposed and fulfils the criteria of ecological sustainability

as it provides future generations with a thriving forest but also allows for current

generations to acquire various resources that the forests provide.

Conclusion In Conclusion, Deforestation is a global issue that has worsened through the various

activities humans have done that has in-turn negatively impacted the forests of the world.

An example of this are the forests in Borneo and Sumatra and without initiatives like the

“Heart of Borneo”, the forest would be destroyed in the future due to the various

biophysical processes that have also been affected by these impacts.

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References BluePlanet , 2016. Year 11 and 12 Geography Biophysical Interactions. [Online]

Available at: http://www.blueplanet.nsw.edu.au/biophysical-interactions/.aspx

[Accessed 13 March 2015].

Borneo Post online, 2013. 16 killed in Indonesia landslides, nine missing: officials. Borneo Post online,

28 January, p. N/A.

Heart of Borneo, 2004. Strategic Plan of Action, N/A: N/A.

Heart of Borneo, 2013. Heart of Borneo. [Online]

Available at: http://www.heartofborneo.org/

[Accessed 13 March 2016].

Persoon, G. A. & Osseweijer, M., 2008. Reflections on the Heart of Borneo, Wageningen: Tropenbos

International.

Vidal, J., 2013. 'The Sumatran rainforest will mostly disappear within 20 years'. The Guardian, 26

May, p. N/A.

World Wildlife Fund Global, N/A. Deforestation Causes. [Online]

Available at: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/deforestation/deforestation_causes/

[Accessed 13 March 2016].

World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Borneo and Sumatra. [Online]

Available at: http://www.worldwildlife.org/places/borneo-and-sumatra

[Accessed 13 March 2015].

World Wildlife Fund, N/A. Illegal Wildlife Trade. [Online]

Available at: http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade

[Accessed 13 March 2015].

World Wildlife Fund, N/A. Sumatran Tiger. [Online]

Available at: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sumatran-tiger

[Accessed 13 March 2016].