Palm Oil Plantation In Central Kalimantan

Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest rain forest loss rate in the whole world. In January 2003, the average deforestation was between 2.0 and 2.4 million hectares. Most of this deforestation is caused by palm oil plantation.

Palm oil comes from the fruit of the palm oil tree which is used for cooking and for biodiesel. There are two main species of palm oil tree, they are Elaeis Guineensis, from West Africa, and Elaeis Oleifera, from Central and South America. Indonesia is the biggest producer of palm oil in the world and most of the plantations in Indonesia are in Central Kalimantan and Sumatera.

When the forests are cut down for the palm oil plantation, it is not only bad for the environment, but also bad for biodiversity and animal habitats and also increases greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. 

When the land is cleared for palm oil plantation, it creates poor air quality from burning the forest. It is especially a problem in Central Kalimantan which has a lot of peat land, because when peat land is cleared for palm oil plantations a lot of the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere.

Even though palm oil plantations are not good for the environment, they do provide oil for cooking and fuel which is needed by people all over the world. It also provides jobs and money for the people in Central Kalimantan where there is a lot of poverty and unemployment.

It is important for the people and the government to plan where to grow palm oil plantations so that the original forests are not destroyed and instead use the land that is  degraded secondary forests or on grasslands instead of on peat forests and original forests.

 By Levana

Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_oil

WWF Australia website : http://www.wwf.org.au/ourwork/land/land-clearing-and-palm-oil/What is palm oil?

http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/agriculture/WWFBinaryitem16231.pdf

http://www.worldgrowth.org/assets/files/WG_Indonesian_Palm_Oil_Benefits_Report-2_11.pdf

Source: WRM's bulletin Nº 66, January  2003. 

Animals in central Kalimantan.

In central Kalimantan there are so many animals such as Orangutans, crocodile, honey bear, boar, snakes, and many more, but the most famous animals in central Kalimantan is Orangutans.

 Orangutans is the largest living arboreal animals, they have longer arms than the other animals, more terrestrial, great apes. Their hairs typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes.

Orangutans are currently found only in rainforest on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. There are only two surviving species of Orangutans they are, the endangered Borneo orangutans and the critically endangered Sumatran orangutans. The word of “orangutans” come from the Malay words “Orang” is man and hutan is forest: hcnce, “man of the forest”. The Bornean orangutans is endangered according to the IUCN red list of mammals, and both are listed ON appendix I of Cites. The total number of bornean orangutans is estimated to be less than 14%. The largest population of orangutans is found in the forest around the Sabangau river. The total population of wi,ld orangutans is 61,234. Orangutans are usually killed for food or killed because of disruption in people’s property or killed because logging and burning the jungle. so we have to save orangutans!!

by: septian kroco

About Central Kalimantan

Central Kalimantan is located in Borneo, Indonesia which is the third largest island in the world. The capital is Palangka Raya, and the population of the province is approximately 2,108,593 people.  It is located on the equator, and there is an eight month rainy season and a four month dry season.

Central Kalimantan has a lot of rain forest which is rich economically and environmentally. It produces rattan, resin and valuable timber such as Ulin and Meranti. The amount of land area in central Kalimantan is 153,800 km2. There are a lot of animals that live in the rainforests, for example orangutans, which are the main attraction for tourists.

Over the last years there has been a lot of rubber and palm oil plantation, which has destroyed a lot of the environment and the habitats of animals, but yet has brought a lot of money and jobs for the locals. The soil is mainly sand and peat swamp, and different types of forests grow on different soils.

 The rivers in Kalimantan are very important for the locals, because the indigenes people of Kalimantan called the Dayak’s live on the river and supplies them with food and water. There are two main rivers in central Kalimantan, called the Kahayan River and the Barito River.

Palangka Raya is located on the Kahayan River which is 600 km long and it starts in the mountain in the centre of the province, and meanders down to the south coast on the java sea. The Barito River is also another major river in central Kalimantan, and it is 890 km long.

By Levana