Question on Natural Vegetation : Reason for Deforestation

“The current rate of deforestation is 1.3 million hectares per year.”
With references to studies you have made suggest reasons why this is so in Kalimantan.


1. Logging
a. Kalimantan has been rapidly deforested for the past 30 years due to logging. In West Kalimantan, an average of 1656 km2 of forest is lost annually through logging.
b. This is due to timber companies speeding up the pace of logging to ensure their wood processing facilities are fully utilized.

2. Mining
c. A number of minerals, such as gold, silver and copper are found in the ground underneath the Kalimantan
Rainforests.
d. When a mining company discovers the minerals in the ground and wish to extract it, it must first clear the vegetation to expose the ground underneath to mine the minerals.

3. Growing Housing demand
e. Indonesians who were resettled into Kalimantan by the Transmigration Programme.
f. Majority of the migrants cleared the forests to establish their homes and farms.
g. Some of the migrants move to the city, resulting in the city having to expand into nearby forests to meet the increase in housing demand.

h. Example: Balikpapan, East Kalimantan
1. Major city, a business centre for logging, mining and oil extraction companies 2. Next to protected area, Sungei Wain Rainforest
3. Protected area reduced from 98.7km2 to 35 km2 between 1997 and 1998
4. Due to the urbanization of Balikpapan to meet growing housing demands.

4. Transport Network
i. Transport networks, like roads and railway tracks, are constructed to link settlements in Kalimantan.
j. Such networks cut through previously remote forested areas in Kalimantan, allowing easier access to the forest.
k. The improve in accessibility has made it easier for people

1. Example: Trans-Kalimantan Highway 230 km long links Banjarmasin and Balikpapan

5. Forest Fire
l. Forests fires in Kalimantan are usually deliberately set by people.

m. The method of burning the forest to clear the land has several advantages.
1. Cheaper than employing labourers to clear the forest.
2. Fertilizes the soil in the forests

n. However, unlike the native Dayaks, these people do not know how to control the fire, resulting in large-scale destruction of the forest.
o. Forest fires occur more frequently at logged areas, as the vegetation debris left behind catch fire easily.
p. More than 23 750 km2 of rainforest in Kalimantan has been destroyed by forest fires between 1997 and 1998 alone.


Additional Questions
Read the website on Causes of deforestation
1.Explain the difference between direct causes and underlying causes of deforestation