The Rainforests Being Cleared to Build Your R.V.
Flouting the law, the excavators began digging trenches to drain the area's protected wetlands. Then came the logging crews, which cut down woodlands the size of more than 2,800 football fields, in just a few days.
It was an apocalyptic sight, said Samsidar, a regional forestry official who goes by one name, recalling the devastation he encountered two years ago. 'The trees had turned into piles of wood.'
Not just any kind of wood, though. The trees were meranti, a species found mostly in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, and their tropical hardwood is of particular interest to one industry in the United States: manufacturers of motor homes.
July 2022
September 2024
Land government
granted access to
Mayawana
Cleared
in 2023
No deforestation
visible
Size of 300
soccer fields
Cleared
in 2024
Deforestation begins
with clearing strips of land
INDONESIA
1.5 miles
July 2022
Land government
granted access to
Mayawana
No deforestation
visible
Size of 300
soccer fields
INDONESIA
September 2024
Cleared
in 2023
Cleared
in 2024
Deforestation begins
with clearing strips of land
1.5 miles
July 2022
September 2024
Land government
granted access to
Mayawana
No deforestation
visible
Cleared in 2023
Size of 300
soccer fields
Cleared in 2024
Deforestation begins
with clearing strips of land
INDONESIA
1.5 miles
July 2022
September 2024
Land government
granted access to
Mayawana
Cleared
in 2023
No deforestation
visible
Size of 300
soccer fields
Cleared
in 2024
Deforestation begins
with clearing strips of land
INDONESIA
1.5 miles
Sources: Satellite image by Planet Labs; Mighty Earth
By Pablo Robles
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
The Rainforests Being Cleared to Build Your R.V.
Word spread fast that heavy machinery had arrived in the ancient rainforest near the Indonesian village of Sungai Mata-Mata, an expanse on the western edge of the island of Borneo that is home to orangutans, clouded leopards and sun bears. Flouting the law, the excavators began digging trenches to drain the area's protected wetlands. Then came the logging crews, which cut down woodlands the size of more than 2,800 football fields, in just a few days. It was an apocalyptic sight, said Samsidar, a regional forestry official who goes by one name, recalling the devastation he encountered two years ago. 'The trees had turned into piles of wood.' Not just any kind of wood, though. The trees were meranti, a species found mostly in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, and their tropical hardwood is of particular interest to one industry in the United States: manufacturers of motor homes. July 2022 September 2024 Land government granted access to Mayawana Cleared in 2023 No deforestation visible Size of 300 soccer fields Cleared in 2024 Deforestation begins with clearing strips of land INDONESIA 1.5 miles July 2022 Land government granted access to Mayawana No deforestation visible Size of 300 soccer fields INDONESIA September 2024 Cleared in 2023 Cleared in 2024 Deforestation begins with clearing strips of land 1.5 miles July 2022 September 2024 Land government granted access to Mayawana No deforestation visible Cleared in 2023 Size of 300 soccer fields Cleared in 2024 Deforestation begins with clearing strips of land INDONESIA 1.5 miles July 2022 September 2024 Land government granted access to Mayawana Cleared in 2023 No deforestation visible Size of 300 soccer fields Cleared in 2024 Deforestation begins with clearing strips of land INDONESIA 1.5 miles Sources: Satellite image by Planet Labs; Mighty Earth By Pablo Robles Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Fight to save last forests of the Comoros unites farmers, NGOs
Strips of bare land scar the lush and green mountainsides towering above Mutsamudu, the capital of the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan. On the most mountainous and densely populated island in the Comoros, only the most remote forests have escaped decades of deforestation -- ravages which several NGOs are now trying to repair. "We lost 80 percent of our natural forests between 1995 and 2014," Abubakar Ben Mahmoud, environment minister of the country off northern Mozambique, told AFP in a recent interview. The clearing of the forest for cultivation has compounded damage caused by the production of ylang-ylang essential oil, used in luxury perfumes, and the manufacture of traditional carved wooden doors for which the island is renowned. With a high population density of more than 700 residents per square kilometre, "Deforestation has been intensified as farmers are looking for arable land for their activities," the minister said. The brown and barren patches on the slopes are starkly visible from the headquarters of Dahari, a leading organisation in the fight against deforestation, based in the hills of Mutsamudu. The NGO last year launched a reforestation programme, working hand-in-hand with local farmers who are called "water guardians". Under a five-year conservation contract, the farmers commit to replanting their land or leaving it fallow in exchange for financial compensation, said one of the project's managers, Misbahou Mohamed. The first phase has included 30 farmers, with compensation paid out after inspection of the plots. - Perfume and smoke - Another significant contributor to deforestation on Anjouan, the ylang-ylang essential oil industry, has in recent years heeded calls to limit its impact. The Comoros is among the world's top producers of the delicate and sweet-smelling yellow flower, prized for its supposed relaxing properties and widely used in perfumes like the famous Chanel No 5. The production of ylang-ylang, vanilla and cloves makes up a large part of the archipelago's agricultural output, which represents a third of its GDP. The country has around 10,000 ylang-ylang producers, most based on Anjouan, according to a report commissioned by the French Development Agency for a project to support Comoran agricultural exports. Burning wood is the cheapest source of fuel for the distillation process, the report highlighted, with 250 kilogrammes (550 pounds) needed to produce one litre of essential oil. Some producers are trying to limit their use of wood, such as Mohamed Mahamoud, 67, who said he halved consumption by upgrading his equipment. "I now use third-generation stainless steel alembics, with an improved oven equipped with doors and chimneys," said Mahamoud, who has grown and distilled ylang-ylang near the town of Bambao Mtsanga for nearly 45 years. To avoid encroaching on the forest, most of his wood now comes from mango and breadfruit trees he grows himself. - Drying rivers - Some producers have in recent years switched to crude oil to fuel their stills. But that costs twice as much wood, said one ylang-ylang exporter, who asked to remain anonymous. And high electricity prices in Comoros mean that using electrical energy would cost 10 times more, "not to mention the long periods of power cuts", he said. Part of the drive to reduce wood consumption comes from an alarming observation: not only is deforestation stripping Anjouan's mountains, it is also drying up its rivers. Forests are essential for "the infiltration of water that feeds rivers and aquifers... like a sponge that retains water and releases it gradually", said hydroclimatologist Abdoul Oubeidillah. "In 1925, there were 50 rivers with a strong year-round flow of water," said Bastoini Chaambani, from the environmental protection NGO Dayima. "Today, there are fewer than 10 rivers that flow continuously." The Comoros government has meanwhile announced it also intends to take part in reforestation efforts. "We will do everything we can to save what little forest we have left," said the environment minister. str-fal/jcb/br/sbk/jhb
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Associated Press
5.8 magnitude quake rocks Indonesia's Sulawesi island
PALU, Indonesia (AP) — A magnitude 5.8 undersea earthquake shook the eastern side of Indonesia on Sunday morning, injuring 29 people, including two in critical condition. The quake struck 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) north of Poso district in Central Sulawesi province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and was followed by at least 15 aftershocks. No tsunami warning was issued by Indonesian authorities. Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said most of the injured had been taken to the regional government hospital. Most of them were the congregation attending Sunday morning service at a church, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari on Sunday. 'Amateur videos showing structural damage to the church have been circulating. Poso Disaster Mitigation Agency continues to conduct rapid assessments in the field to determine the initial impact of the earthquake,' Muhari said. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the 'Ring of Fire,' an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In 2022, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake at least 602 people in West Java's Cianjur city, the deadliest one in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed more than 4,300 people. In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia's Aceh province. ___ Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
