Page "Borneo" Paragraph 11

The island historically had extensive rainforest cover, but the area shrank due to heavy logging for the Malaysian plywood industry.

Half of the annual global tropical timber acquisition comes from Borneo.

Furthermore, Palm oil plantations are rapidly encroaching on the last remnants of primary rainforest.

The rainforest was also greatly destroyed from the forest fires of 1997 to 1998, which were started by the locals to clear the forests for crops and perpetuated by an exceptionally dry El Niño season during that period.

During the great fire, hotspots could be seen on satellite images and the haze thus created affected the surrounding countries of Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

In February 2008, the Malaysian government announced the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy plan to harvest the virgin hinterlands of Northern Borneo.

Further deforestation and destruction of the biodiversity are anticipated in the wake of logging commissions, hydroelectric dams and other mining of minerals and resources.