The Future and Improvements

In the near future...

Not much will change. Companies will continue to log the forests and convert the land into oil palm plantations. By 2020, 34% of the unprotected lowlands will fall to become monotonous rows of oil palms and Borneo's palm oil plantations will produce more than 600 million tons of carbon dioxide - more than the entire fossil fuel emission from Canada. As the second largest ecoregion in Indo-Pacific, Borneo has undergone so much environmental degradation that more than half of its natural habitat has been degraded or cleared. Even the protected areas aren't looking so good. On paper and numbers-wise, it doesn't look too bad - 60 reserves peppered throughout the island cover about 12% of the land. However, many of these protected areas are small (less than 100 km2), some are still in progress, and some have not even been approved yet. But with sparse law enforcement, even these protected areas are not safe, for if no one is enforcing the law, it's just as if it doesn't even exist. Things are looking a tiny bit better though. A few government officials have been pushing for more environmental regulation because they know that if this rate of exploitation continues, soon there will be no more resources for them to plunder. But for the most part, the government still runs on bribes and backdoor dealings. The people also care not about the environment, but about how they can make a living, which, for now, oil palm still dominates.

But maybe...

It can change. First and foremost on the cutting board is the government. No matter how many funds are directed to Borneo or how many laws are passed, if the government pockets all the money and does not enforce the laws, it is all for naught. Ever since Suharto was forced out of office, the government has made small improvements. Rather than recklessly leasing out valuable tracts of lowland forests to developers in order to make up for the budget shortfall, director of forestry Sam Mannan proposed the establishment oil palm plantations on 100,000 hectares of land cleared for the non-existent pulp plantations in hope that they would leave the forests under the control of the forestry department instead of permanently turning them over to palm oil plantations. Pristine tracts of untouched forests will probably never be a reality for Borneo. The best we can hope for is sustainable use of the forests, like selective logging and minimal human interference. The people of Borneo will never care about saving the orangutan or other endangered species if they can' make enough to feed their family. Right now, the industry that supplies them with the best standard of living is the palm oil plantations. Until we can link the locals' survival with the preservation of the forests, they will have no vested interest in its protection. With jobs such as rangers, ecologists, tour guides, and law enforcement officials, their livelihood will depend on the forests. No forest will mean no job, so they'll have a reason to look after it. Change won't come from corporate conferences in a high-rise building, but from the ground level. It will require a lot of effort on the part of the international community to reach out to the Borneo community. But we still have hope. Now if only we can act before it's too late.