ABSTRACT
The island, comprised of the countries Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, has one of the largest contiguous protected tropical forests in the world. A little larger than the state of Texas, the island of Borneo has almost 18 million residents, most of whom live in Indonesia and Malaysia. The Heart of Borneo contains two types of montane forests, lowland and highland. Borneo pygmy elephants are about 6 feet tall, 3 feet shorter than Asian elephants, and roam the northeastern lowlands. Early Indonesians felt that orangutans were so like themselves that they named them 'orang hutan' meaning 'forest people'. Aggressive clear-cutting poses threats to the survival of many rain forest species. After a lumber company clears a section of forest, it has become common to establish a palm plantation; sometimes this is done illegally on previously designated conservation land. Rapid population and economic growth since the late 1980s has resulted in considerable deforestation.
