Geography

Should the Dover forest be cleared for housing development or be conserved? 

Health of forest can affect the health of human civilisation.

With deforestation, many of the animals are forced out of the forest into marginal habitats which are in closer and more frequent contact with people, 

More than two-thirds of zoonotic diseases are known to come from wild animals. 

Deforestation also contribute to climate change and increases the risk of disease emergence by pushing animals and the vectors (e.g. insects) that can transmit viruses into new regions that have not encountered those pathogens previously.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/covid-19-why-saving-our-forests-can-help-stop-next-pandemic-12688524

Illegal logging in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Illegal Logging in Indonesia by Faith Doherty, Environmental Investigation Agency http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber_mafia/viewpoints/viewpoints_doherty.htm 

The Forbidden forests of the Dayak, Borneo, Indonesia Setulang River - Indonesia:

Pulp and paper industry menace in South Kalimantan http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/43/Indonesia.html

Samboja Lestari 
1.04556°S 116.9875°E
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samboja_Lestari 

 IRREPARABLE HARM: Indonesia's Palm Oil Industry Expansion

Palm Oil - An Environmental Cost to Borneo - 30 Dec 07

Source: NEA 23 Sept 2011

The number of hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan so far this year has hit 17,000 - more than double the total last year. The fires are usually started by large oil palm plantation companies and by farmers clearing land for their fields.

I think some of us would have experienced some health problems caused by the haze due to the fires recently. Regional efforts from ASEAN is definitely needed and in the latest ASEAN meet, ministers from the five nations agreed to make public the satellite so as to put pressure on companies involved in this 'environmental vandalism,'.

Officials said Indonesia is taking steps to reduce fires and haze, but they said much work remains to be done. The vastness of Indonesia's land makes it difficult to police. In addition, setting fire to peat lands to create palm oil plantations is a lucrative practice. Indonesia's Deputy of Degradation Control and Climate Change at the Environment Ministry said his country is stepping up law enforcement efforts and taking steps to fight fires.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/1155060/1/.html

Illegal Logging in Kalimantan


Saving our forest- The lungs of our planet

Wildlife researchers discovered around 120 new species on Borneo, including a lungless frog, the world's longest insect and a slug that fires "love darts" at its mate.

The tropical rainforest borders Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei on Borneo and in 2007, the three governments has designated the 220,000-square-kilometre area as the "Heart of Borneo" in a bid to conserve the rainforest.

On average three new species a month and about 123 over the last three years, with at least 600 new species found in the last 15 years – these discoveries showed the wealth of biodiversity on Borneo island and may one day help cure illnesses like cancer and AIDS and contribute to our daily lives.

The "Heart of Borneo" region is home to 10 species of primate, more than 350 birds, 150 reptiles and amphibians and about 10,000 plants that are not found anywhere else in the world. Among them was a seven-centimetre (three-inch) flat-headed frog, known as "Barbourula kalimantanensis" which breathes entirely through its skin instead of lungs. The discoveries also included "Phobaeticus chani", the world's longest stick insect, with a body 36 centimetres long as well as a long-tailed slug that uses "love darts" made of calcium carbonate to pierce and inject a hormone into a mate to increase the chances of reproduction.

Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's two largest exporters of palm oil, account for 85 percent of global production. Palm oil has been used extensively across the globe for biofuel, processed food and toiletries. This has been one of the reasons for deforestation and threatened the survival of near-extinct species – e.g. the pygmy elephant, orangutan, the Sumatran rhinoceros and clouded leopard. Thus there is a need for a balance so that we have a foundation of conservation and sustainable development in order to protect this unique site for future generations.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100422/tap-malaysia-brunei-wildlife-environment-0193655.html?printer=1

Photos which I took of Sungei Buloh in Singapore - a unique mangrove habitat.
Mud lobster mounds, migratory birds, water monitor lizard, mudskippers, snake, crabs climbing up the tree as the water level rises, the SBWR exhibition centre, learning how to use the data logger with the pda - testing salinity, PH value, Relative Humidity, Temperature etc, collecting water sample, sketch of boardwalk, attap seed tree

Trees submerged in the water - Bird eye view from the tower.