The rainforests of Southeast Asia and Oceania are under immense pressure. This rainforest region has lost a larger proportion of its original forest cover and has higher deforestation than any of the other main rainforest areas. At the same time, more people depend upon the tropical forest resources of Southeast Asia than any other place. The policy of core rainforest countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), has been to allow an explosive expansion of plantations, logging and mining in the rainforests during the last 3–4 decades. This is taking its toll not only on Asia’s last remaining tropical rainforests, but also undermining the development prospects for the large part of the population who depend upon forest resources.

Year: 2015

From collection: State of the Rainforest

Cartographer: GRID-Arendal