Borneo – The World’s Oldest Living Ecosystem Under Threat

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Reading Time: 2 min

Borneo is the largest island in Asia, located in Marine South East Asia it is shared between three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. In the last 4 decades this treasure trove of natural magnificence that took 120 million years to grow has been decimated. In 1975 the island was 0 Rainforest, today it is only 45%. The rate of deforestation is one of the highest in the world—at 1.3 million hectares a year—and with no end in sight soon this rainforest will be reduced to peat and montane forests. The rainforest has unique biodiversity, home to the Sumatran tigers, Orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, pygmy elephants (only 1,500 remain) sun bears, the proboscis monkey, and the clouded leopard. All of these magnificent animals are now extremely threatened.

Why should you care if the Borneo Rainforest completely disappears?

The Borneo rainforest and its quick demise are an example of how careless and short-sighted we are as a species. How dare we think we are above an ecosystem so old it preceded the dinosaurs? So complex and so biodiverse it is home to immeasurable species of plants and animals—so numerous we still don’t even know how many there are exactly. Rainforests are old, they are valuable, they are mesmerising, and they are dying.
Borneo has been sacked already. Are we to preserve this last 45% or are we to watch it die a quick death in the coming years?

We plead to the European Union to ban any import directly related to Borneo’s demise: palm oil and timber. We plead everyone to question our current system of constant consumption, of its ethics, and to side instead with the right people in history by joining Extinction Rebellion and Fridays For Future.

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