REPORT HoB The Environmental Status 2012 of the Heart of Borneo The Heart of Borneo Declaration The governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia signed the Heart of Borneo Declaration in February 2007. The Declaration commits the three governments to a single conservation vision to ensure the effective management of resources and conservation of a network of protected areas, productive forests and other sustainable land uses. The initial HoB area encompassed all the interior highlands and mountains of the headwaters of the major rivers of Borneo. One of the boundaries has been expanded to include the foot slopes and important adjacent lowlands. The major goal is to preserve the connecting forest ecosystems of the interior of Borneo by a combination of a protected area system and sustainable land use of forest resources. The major partners in this process are the local and national governments, in particular the agencies involved in land use planning. Main author: Stephan Wulffraat Editorial and production team: John Morrison, WWF-US, Aurelie Shapiro, WWF-Germany, Chris Greenwood, WWF HoB Communications, Junaidi Payne, WWF-Malaysia, Anne Burgi, Substitution Pty Ltd. Contributors: Hanna Tobing, WWF-Indonesia, Cristina Eghenter, WWF-Indonesia, Godwin Limberg, FFI, Albertus Tjiu, WWF-Indonesia, Douglas Sheil, Catherine Parsons, Mohamad Nasir, Lisa Curran, Yale University, Wim Giesen, Rob Stuebing, Adam Tomasek, WWF HoB, Erik Meijaard, TNC Photos: as credited in captions. Published: January 2012 by WWF’s HoB Initiative Any reproduction in full or in part must mention the title and credit the above-mentioned publisher as the copyright owner. © Text 2012 WWF All rights reserved ISBN 978-602-19901-0-0 WWF is one of the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organisations, with more than five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. 2 The Environmental Status of the Heart of Borneo Contents Executive Summary 4 Introduction 8 Data summary 14 The HoB protected areas 20 The HoB’s highest mountains 25 The HoB’s forests 28 Recommendations for project follow-up 34 Putting the HoB on the map 37 Watershed analysis 104 References 113 Appendices 116 TOP: Landscape of the physical centre of Borneo. Photo: Stephan Wulffraat The Environmental Status of the 3 Heart of Borneo EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The HoB Environmental Status Project Introduction A unique set of criteria was developed so that Despite all the global attention, until now no each indicator could be rated Very Good, Good, comprehensive data has been presented about Fair or Poor in a meaningful way. By combining the current state of the natural systems in the Heart the indicators, statements can be made about of Borneo (HoB). Until recently, no-one had asked particular components of the HoB’s natural systems questions about this globally important region or about the HoB as a whole. such as: We need to know more about several indicators; > How much tropical rainforest remains in the we hope practical methods and resources will HoB? Is it viable for the long term? emerge to capture that data. Overall, enough information has been collected to make some > What are the top three threats in the HoB? What broad statements about the vital signs of the HoB. is that estimation based on? These metrics will improve in the next few years. > How much peat forest is currently in protected areas in the HoB? Is that enough? Threats to the HoB This report attempts to provide this data. Looking forward 10 years, the top threats are: > industrial conversion of natural forests Measuring the vital signs > illegal logging Beginning with a small group of experts on the > legal commercial but unsustainable rates of natural history of Borneo, a set of 13 indicators timber extraction was chosen to represent the dominant and > forest fire critical ecosystems and species on the island (see > mining Appendix 1). > over-hunting and collecting. Once a consensus was reached on the indicators, Because of the relatively short future window remote sensing and geographic information (10 years) climate change was not classified as specialists set out to collect meaningful data for one of the top threats. But an increase in climatic each one. If the data for a particular indicator was variability may exacerbate some of the other considered insufficient or unrepresentative, threats. Only two of the prioritised direct threats it was put on hold until better methods or data are currently amenable to data collection using become available. remotely sensed data: industrial conversion and forest fires. There are no annual analyses of industrial conversion. Forest fire data were compiled for a 14-year period – locations were marked but no real information of annual forest fire The Project objectives loss was quantified in terms of carbon losses. The goal of WWF’s HoB program participation in the pilot was the “development of a practical measures framework and data status for biological and socio-economic outcomes of conservation and community empowerment Conservation management The primary conservation management indicator field activities.” is the extent to which different natural ecosystems There were three specific objectives: are covered by legally protected areas. Ten per 1. Identification of parameters/indicators for measuring the biological and cent of each natural ecosystem is a globally socio-economic status in the HoB. agreed minimum. For the Heart of Borneo, 20% (of the remaining ecosystem) is a more reasonable 2. Preparation of the comprehensive and updated set of status data needed goal. Conservation science indicates that larger for measuring the indicators. percentages are more likely to support biodiversity 3. Application of the full social aspects of the Conservation Measures and buffer against changing climate. framework as field trials in two existing WWF-Indonesia work sites in the Another important component for conservation HoB, including Kayan Mentarang and Betung Kerihun National parks (this management is the extent to which protected objective will be discussed elsewhere). 4 The Environmental Status of the Heart of Borneo areas are effectively performing their role. A Protected area coverage in the HoB’s main ecosystems comprehensive survey of the management of the Ecosystem Area protected % protected HoB’s protected areas has yet to be carried out – Lowland rainforest 3,355 km2 9.6% but would be a very high priority. Upland rainforest 13,177 km2 18% The definition of what constitutes a protected Montane forest 9,959 km2 29% area is contentious. In Sabah, for example, Heath forest <300 km2 <1% Dermakot and Ulu Segama Forest Reserves are Limestone forest <200 km2 <1% not considered protected areas, although they Peat swamp forest <1% 0% are managed for sustainable wood production, and forest restoration programs are in place for damaged areas within these Reserves. Together, they harbour the largest orang-utan population in Malaysia (J. Payne, pers. comm.). Future developments The good news is that the governments of the HoB Implications have pledged to protect and restore the natural gifts of the HoB for the benefit of local, national, The ecological systems are broadly doing well, with and even global constituencies. some exceptions. The pressure on the remaining HoB forests and associated species has never been Their bold commitments, supported by non- greater. Though precise data is not often available, governmental organisations, provide great promise as forest areas continue to shrink and experience that a balanced configuration of land use will fragmentation, the pace of conversion and eventually protect and maintain natural systems degradation can increase, and increasing climate in the HoB and the ecosystem services that they variability combined with fire can be devastating. provide. The largest ranking threat to the integrity of the This report will be used internally by the WWF HoB is industrial conversion of natural forests. network to monitor progress of the HoB Initiative in Conversion is mainly occurring to establish oil terms of improvements in key biological measures palm plantations and smaller areas for pulp wood for the Heart of Borneo. plantations. The ecosystem mostly affected is the With appropriate funding, future editions of lowland rainforest. Most locations are at the edges this report will include biological indicators in of the HoB, as defined by WWF though some increasing number and diversity, leading to a inland areas in West Kalimantan are also allocated. broader and increasingly accurate representation Key ecosystem or species Forest fires are also considered a major threat. of the flora and fauna of the HoB. Lowland rainforest These devastating events have occurred mainly A number of current HoB projects, such as the Upland rainforest at the edges of the HoB and the main ecosystems expedition to discover and document wildlife Montane forest affected are heath forests, lowland rainforests and in the Sungai Ingei Protection Forest in Brunei’s Peat swamp forest peat swamp forests. portion of the Heart of Borneo, will provide added Limestone forest Mining is a threat that has been somewhat