Fighting to save Borneo's vital last rain forests

Borneo, one of the largest islands in the world, was once covered with dense jungle. But in the past 20 years, indiscriminate logging has leveled nearly 80 percent of its primary rain forest, turning its tropical timber into garden furniture and paper pulp and clearing the way for oil palm plantations. "Committing large sums of money to a conservation project that may reduce economic activity would be a tough political decision," said Douglas Sheil, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia. "Decisions about protecting a large area of Kalimantan's forest may require approval from not just the central government but from both provincial and district-level governments."