THE POLITICS OF EXTINCTION
Executive Summary  
Introduction  
A Future Without Forests?  
  • Summary
    		•  
  • Indonesia's Forest Cover
    		•  
  • Real Value of the Forests
    		•  
  • Indonesia's Biodiversity
  • Sumatran Rhinoceros
    		•  
  • Sumatran Tiger
    		•  
  • Clouded Leopard
    		•  
  • Primates
    		•  
  • Proboscis Monkey
    		•  
  • Sun Bear
    		•  
  • Protected Forest Areas
    		•  
  • Kutai National Park
    		•  
    The Orangutan Crisis  
    The Timber Barons  
    Palm Oil  
    A Future Without Forests? - Indonesia's Biodiversity - A Fortune Squandered


    Between 50% and 90% of all terrestrial species inhabit the world's forests and many of them are threatened with extinction primarily because of habitat loss.23 Spanning the Asian and Melanesian-Australian realms, Indonesia has a strategic biogeographic position containing more mammal species than any other country and over 20 000 plant species.24 It is home to 10% of plant, 12% of mammal, 16% of reptile and 17% of bird species found on Earth, many of which are endemic.25 18 381 bird species, or 4% of the world's total, are found nowhere else on Earth.26 The island of Borneo has a high level of floral endemism, with about 34% of all plant species found nowhere else.27 Borneo also has 37 endemic bird species and 44 endemic land mammals.28 This astonishing diversity is largely due to the extensive and rich variety of the forest ecosystems - some 19 distinct forest types have been identified.29

    Forest loss has taken its toll on this biodiversity and today Indonesia has the world's longest list of species threatened with extinction. According to the IUCN Red List (1996), 128 mammal species (29%) and 104 bird species (7%) are threatened, many by the loss of their forest habitats.30 Poaching - either for domestic consumption or for international trade - also poses a threat. In a number of cases the two go hand-in-hand, as logging or other forest developments serve to bring human populations into closer contact with hitherto untouched wildlife populations.

    In Borneo alone, a number of plants are threatened by forest clearance, including ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri), an important commercial timber species and five (possibly six), species of Rafflesia. Threatened mammal species include Borneo's largest cat, the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), the very rare bay cat (F.badia), the marbled cat (F. marmorata) and the flat-headed cat (F. planiceps). Rare and threatened primates include the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), the endemic proboscis monkey (nasalis larvatus) and the western tarsier (Tarsius bancanus). The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and banteng (Bos javanicus) are also facing declines due to forest clearance and human-animal conflict.31

    Several bird species are also threatened by habitat loss and yet more by a combination of habitat loss and directed captures and kills for trade. Decline is most marked among the terrestrial and flycatching species and those feeding on understorey foliage. Logging is also thought to affect species such as fork-tails and kingfishers which feed along fast-flowing streams, which may become silt-laden or dammed by logging activities.32

    Figs (Ficus spp.) are a key species for many frugivores, providing food when other fruits are scarce. However, many fruiting figs are destroyed when the timber trees which are host to them are removed. This can result in a drop in numbers of highly frugivorous species such as hornbills and gibbons.33 The implications of this are even more profound where species - such as hornbills - act as seed dispersers which regurgitate seeds unharmed, thereby facilitating forest regeneration.34

    Ecological Abundance
    Just ten hectares of Borneo's rainforest was found to contain 700 tree species, equal to the total number of species found in the whole of North America. Borneo is home to at least 3000 species of trees, including 267 species of dipterocarp (the most important commercial timber trees in South-East Asia). Of these, 58% are endemic to the island.44

    For Sumatra, the clearance of 1000 km2 (100 000 hectares) of forest would lead to the loss of 50 000 monkeys, 9000 siamang, 6000 gibbons, 30 000 squirrels, 15 000 hornbills, 200 tigers and 100 elephants.45 Just 3% of Borneo's forests are formally protected and illegal logging and settlement, mineral extraction and other developments continue to threaten this area.46


    A number of mammals and birds play a crucial role in both pollination and seed distribution, of tree species including commercially important species. For example, the fruit, durian, depends upon nectar-feeding bats for pollination, but localised habitat losses have resulted in declines in bat numbers and subsequent failures of the durian crop.35

    Many of Indonesia's most endangered animals are increasingly threatened by habitat loss and human encroachment.

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