Fibers from the forest are essential for making mats, baskets and other tools for daily chores.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Malaysian backed operations are usually better equipped with heavy machinery, first opening roads with bulldozers and extracting with trucks.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Even in the remote villages, need for cash is increasing. While traditional sources of cash are limited to crops, such as rubber , pepper and coffee, cash is needed to buy many things, such as gas, fuel, oil, clothes, and other basic goods. Beyond the bare essentials, many villages now also boast VCD players, satellite dishes, and pickup trucks.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Environmental impacts are also already apparent as watersheds become too dirty or dry. Many people still rely on rivers for drinking and cooking water, washing and bathing. In this photo, people ride on trucks owned by a Malaysian timber company to this river each evening to bathe and take water back, as their own river is dry from several years of intensive logging.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Malaysian investors woo communities with promises to build roads, bring water pumps, power generators, and cash payments, in return for cheap logs. While the compensation may seem miniscule in light of high price of tropical timber in the international market, this fills a need for remote villages.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Communities are often lured with the promise of better life from oil palm plantations, causing them to give up valuable forests that provided food, medicine and other materials.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Many commercially valuable species are found in lowland swamp forests.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Dependence on natural wealth from the forests is still strong in the interior communities.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Many communities still rely on shifting cultivation for subsistence.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Social impacts of illegal logging on communities include the increase in incidences of "horizontal conflict" among villages. Territorial disputes over traditional borders are becoming more frequent as contract loggers move into new areas.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Illegal logging is now rampant in most national parks and protected forests. With regional autonomy, local government can now create small-scale logging concessions, many of which extract timber from protected areas.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Another social shift can be seen in the increased involvement of women in an activity traditionally reserved for young adult male.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Will this tree survive in the next 10 years?
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Even children join the logging crew.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Hunting in forests and fishing in rivers provide vital protein, but livestock breeding is also becoming more common as natural resources become more scarce. Even in lake communities of Danau Sentarum, cattle is kept in pens on floating platforms, like the houses in the back.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Since the Sarawak state government prohibits the import of raw logs, many small-scale sawmills have sprung up all along the border.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
It may not be too long before fish as big as this one can no longer be found in the upper reaches of the Kapuas river.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Locally operated teams log and extract timber with simple tools.
courtesy of the Borneo Project and/or Greg Duda. / May 3rd, 2006
Strangler fig trunk
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Gold mining is another unregulated activity that is highly damaging to river ecosystems as well as human health.
courtesy of Noriko Toyoda / May 3rd, 2006
Where will the forests and people of Kalimantan be in 10 years?
The Borneo Project is sponsored by Earth Island Institute, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.
The Borneo Project, Earth Island Institute, 2150 Allston Way, Suite 460, Berkeley, CA 94704
borneo [at] borneoproject.org, Voicemail: 1-510-859-9100 ext. 212