1. climateadaptation:

    The world’s most untouched rainforest obliterated for palm oil while the world watches and does nothing. Located in Indonesia, Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It’s home to some of the rarest species on earth, including the pigmy elephant, clouded leopard, and the Sumatran rhinoceros.

    The country is undergoing break-neck economic development, and environmental laws are weak to the point of unenforceability. Palm oil is used in crackers, chocolate, ice cream, pastries, crackers, Nutella, etc.

    More at Yale360. Follow climate adaptation.

  2. mabelmoments: This mother orangutan and her baby were saved by the animal charity Four Paws from people who are paid to kill them. There are allegations that many palm oil companies in the area of Borneo pay rewards of up to 1m Indonesian rupiah (about £70) for each ape killed. The Four Paws team found the pictured orangutans surrounded by a group of local youths intending to kill them for a bounty. Photograph: Vier Pfoten/Four Paws/Rex

    mabelmoments:

    This mother orangutan and her baby were saved by the animal charity Four Paws from people who are paid to kill them. There are allegations that many palm oil companies in the area of Borneo pay rewards of up to 1m Indonesian rupiah (about £70) for each ape killed. The Four Paws team found the pictured orangutans surrounded by a group of local youths intending to kill them for a bounty. Photograph: Vier Pfoten/Four Paws/Rex

  3. allcreatures: Photograph: Abdul Hamid Ahmad/AFP/Getty Images The capture in Borneo last week of Puntung, a female aged between 10 and 12, has raised hopes that it may be possible to pull the Sumatran rhino back from the brink of extinction. Puntung is to be paired with Tam, a lone captive male, at the Tabin wildlife reserve in Sabah, north Borneo. It is hoped that a relationship between the two Sumatran rhinos, a notoriously solitary species, will blossom and the couple will breed, thus helping to reinvigorate the animal’s dwindling population. “This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal,” said Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah wildlife department.

    allcreatures:

    Photograph: Abdul Hamid Ahmad/AFP/Getty Images

    The capture in Borneo last week of Puntung, a female aged between 10 and 12, has raised hopes that it may be possible to pull the Sumatran rhino back from the brink of extinction. Puntung is to be paired with Tam, a lone captive male, at the Tabin wildlife reserve in Sabah, north Borneo. It is hoped that a relationship between the two Sumatran rhinos, a notoriously solitary species, will blossom and the couple will breed, thus helping to reinvigorate the animal’s dwindling population. “This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal,” said Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah wildlife department.

  4. »   Borneo tribe loses land case in top Malaysia court

    climateadaptation:

    The mark march of Progress… Natives lose 260 square miles of land to a hydro electric dam - that’s a reservoir roughly about the size of NYC’s land area. The article, which is worth a close read, notes that 100s of other land use rights cases may be thrown out as a result. Borneo is the third largest island in the world, and is rich in natural resources and rare plant and animal species. Its population and economy are growing quickly, and development pressures government to respond.

    Interestingly, people do not have strong property rights in Indonesia. I found that the Malaysian Constitution is an amalgamation of English-colonial “common law, written law, syariah law and customary laws with the Federation Constitution as the supreme law of the land.” This means the law can be interpreted in countless ways - sometimes precedent prevails, sometimes modern interpretation of Muslim shariah prevails, etc. It’s a big mess.

    Members of an indigenous tribe in Borneo lost a case in Malaysia’s top court Thursday challenging the state’s seizure of land to build a massive dam.

    The verdict capped a decade-long legal struggle by a group of villagers who claim authorities in Malaysia’s eastern Sarawak state unlawfully wrested away land occupied by their ancestors for generations.

    Source: Forbes

    If you’re into it, the BBC covered this issue back in 1999. See, “Who owns Indonesia?” Pertinent quote,

    LAND USE RIGHTS

    Under Indonesia’s constitution, all land is owned by the state, ignoring traditional land rights.

    Suharto enforced this law ruthlessly, as companies connected to his family and friends exploited resources like timber, gold and oil.

  5. »   A Battle Is Under Way For The Forests Of Borneo

    climateadaptation:

    It’s been long known that Borneo rainforests face extinction, so too does local indigenous culture. But does it matter? To whom? In other words, why do outsiders want to freeze exotic cultures in time capsules?

    Above, the Borneo forest project with GOOGLE (warning, sad orangutans). Below, NPR covers, rather topically, the issue of deforestation and cultural change and economic development in Borneo.

    Conservationists’ hopes of saving Borneo’s rainforests and its inhabitants’ traditions may be unrealistic, romantic, or simply too late. They may also obscure indigenous peoples’ fight to control the terms on which they develop and modernize. Some Indonesians see the Dayaks as culturally backwards, and many Dayaks themselves seem unsentimental about shedding the ways of their forefathers.

    White, of the Rights and Resources Initiative, notes that forests can be re-grown to support communities and store carbon. Indigenous people have the right to choose their own path of development, he adds, and the issue of rights will not go away with the destruction Indonesia’s forests.

    “Of course it’s sad, of course it should be stopped, but that does not diminish the importance of this issue,” he says, “or the potential of these lands to be restored and for these communities to live much better lives in the future and for these areas to contribute much, much more to their country’s development.”

About me

Name: Kat
Occupation: Student, photographer, intern
Appreciates:
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I Blog: Anything from the list above, but mainly a smattering of cute animals, environmental stuff, politics, photography, weddings, interior design, cupcakes, books, and whatever else I feel like depending on current events and the availability of new red panda photos.

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