Borneo deforested 30 percent over past 40 years

Terra Daily: Forest cover in Borneo may have declined by up to 30% over the past 40 years, according to a study published July 16, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by David Gaveau from the Center for International Forestry Research, Indonesia, and colleagues.

The native forests of Borneo have been increasingly impacted by logging, fire, and conversion to plantations since the early 1970s. Borneo lacks island-wide forest clearance and logging documentation, making forest conservation planning difficult, especially for selectively logged forests that have high conservation potential but are vulnerable to being converted to plantations.

To better understand long-term forest cover and logging patterns, the researchers in this study analyzed LANDSAT satellite images from 1973 to 2010...

A deforested landscape in Borneo, from the Tropenmuseum