Borneo Lowland & Montane Forests - A Global Ecoregion
Their biodiversity could well be gone within a decade
Snapshot: Ecoregion 31
Size:
540,000 sq. km (210,000 sq. miles)
Habitat type:
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Geographic Location:
An island shared by three countries: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia
Conservation Status:
Critical/Endangered
Predictions don't have to come true. But Borneo's tropical rainforests are still being lost to fires, illegal logging - and to oil palm plantations.
Click on the map to find out about the problems and what WWF is doing with the "Heart of Borneo" initiative.
© WWF-Germany
Click on the map to find out about the problems and what WWF is doing with the "Heart of Borneo" initiative.
© WWF-Germany
About the Area
This Global ecoregion is made up of these terrestrial ecoregions: Borneo lowland rain forests; Borneo montane rain forests. It comprises of a great varierty of habitats including large areas of karst (barren limestone plateaus with caves, sinkholes, and gullies), and a high-altitude swamp forest.
These and other unusual habitats are part of the reason that so many unique species of plants and animals (twenty-three of the 39 mammals endemic to Borneo reside within these forests) have evolved in this region.Local Species
The forests supports a rich variety of flora such as:
- Asia's most characteristic tree family, the Dipterocarpaceae.
- Unique species of orchids, ferns, lichens, vines and rhododendrons.
- Species of Rafflesia - the parasitic genus lacking true leaves, stems or roots.
- Carnivorous pitcher plants that trap insects and absorb the proteins from them.
Mammals include the endangered orange-brown Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), Leopard cat (Cynocephalus variegatus), Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), Bornean tarsier (Tarsius bancamus), and the Bornean black-banded squirrel among others.
A number of birds are endemic to this ecoregion, including the Mountain serpent-eagle (Spilornis kinabaluensis), Whitehead's trogon (Harpactes whiteheadi), Eyebrowed jungle-flycatcher (Rhinomyias gularis), Bornean whistler (Pachycephala hypoxantha), and the Golden-naped barbet (Megalaima pulcherrima).
Threats
Damaging human activities such as commercial and illegal logging, large-scale agriculture for oil palm or tea, mining, dam construction, shifting cultivation, illegal collection of species, and infrastructure development have meant that well over half of the lowland forests are now gone, with large fires burning away the remaining tracts.
If the current deforestation trend continues, Borneo's lowland forests, and their biodiversity, will be gone within a decade. Borneo's mountain forests have more protection and are not as economically attractive, so they still remain in good shape. However, it will only be a matter of time before they too will be threatened with destruction.
Resources
- NationalGeographic.com
- Heart of Borneo initiative
