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Borneo's Vanishing Forests: African Oil Palms

Ozy Aditya holds the fruit of an African oil palm. Pound for pound oil palms are one of the world’s most productive oil food crops. Aditya used to work in the palm oil industry but he now runs an ecotourism business in East Kalimantan. Although oil palm cultivation might seem like the antithesis of ecotourism, Aditya believes both industries are necessary if his country's unsteady economy is to recover.

Ozy Aditya holds the fruit of an African oil palm. Pound for pound oil palms are one of the world’s most productive oil food crops. Aditya used to work in the palm oil industry but he now runs an ecotourism business in East Kalimantan. Although oil palm cultivation might seem like the antithesis of ecotourism, Aditya believes both industries are necessary if his country's unsteady economy is to recover. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

A grove of mature oil palm trees (Elaeis guineensis) on a plantation in East Kalimantan.

A grove of mature oil palm trees (Elaeis guineensis) on a plantation in East Kalimantan. Because they typically take 6-8 years to bear viable fruit, the oil palm requires a considerable investment before its owners see any return. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Every acre is utilized at a palm oil plantation in East Kalimantan. Employee housing surrounds a refinery, which occupies the center of a highly manicured stand of oil palms

Every acre is utilized at a palm oil plantation in East Kalimantan. Employee housing surrounds a refinery, which occupies the center of a highly manicured stand of oil palms. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Logging and palm oil production are practiced side-by-side in the forests of East Kalimantan.

Logging and palm oil production are practiced side-by-side in the forests of East Kalimantan. This clear-cut area is adjacent to an old growth forest protected within the Wehea Nature Reserve. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Less than 20 years ago this forest at Semboja Lestari was cleared by mechanical logging and fires

Less than 20 years ago this forest at Semboja Lestari was cleared by mechanical logging and fires. A reforestation project, initiated by the Dutch-born conservationist Willie Smits, restored the forest. Northeast of the city of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Bu Ida weaves a mat from Pandan leaves. Ida belongs to a cooperative near Sukadana in East Kalimantan.

Bu Ida weaves a mat from Pandan leaves. Ida belongs to a cooperative near Sukadana in East Kalimantan. Some of these artisans have recently left more resource intensive livelihoods, such as gold-mining and palm oil cultivation, in favor of sustainable ways to make a living. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Pa’ Oyo, a Parigi Dayak elder, prepares to make an offering during a cleansing ceremony

Pa’ Oyo, a Parigi Dayak elder, prepares to make an offering during a cleansing ceremony. This Dayak tribe has chosen to continue practicing many of their traditional ways of life. In the primary growth forest near the village of Pa’ Unga Bengkayang Regency, West Kalimantan. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Pa’ Oyo leads a cleansing ceremony at the base of a giant ironwood tree. Living in the village of Pa’ Unga this Parigi Dayak tribe has refused repeated offers from logging, palm oil, and mining companies interested in setting up operations on their land

Pa’ Oyo leads a cleansing ceremony at the base of a giant ironwood tree. Living in the village of Pa’ Unga this Parigi Dayak tribe has refused repeated offers from logging, palm oil, and mining companies interested in setting up operations on their land. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Dayak villagers of Bangsal Behe begin a planned burn on a 5 hectare patch of prepared forest

Dayak villagers of Bangsal Behe begin a planned burn on a 5 hectare patch of prepared forest. Located in West Kalimantan, Bangsal Behe is surrounded by a palm oil plantation owned by the cigarette manufacturing giant, PT Djarum. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Not all logging operations obtain the proper permits. These men, who are cutting wood to rebuild their aging home, have selectively chosen only a few trees.

Not all logging operations obtain the proper permits. These men, who are cutting wood to rebuild their aging home, have selectively chosen only a few trees. Many Dayak communities, like the one at Ba’ kati, police themselves in order to discourage illegal logging activity in their tribal areas. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Throughout West Kalimantan swidden or “slash and burn” techniques are used to clear land in preparation for planting corn, spinach, and pumpkins

Throughout West Kalimantan swidden or “slash and burn” techniques are used to clear land in preparation for planting corn, spinach, and pumpkins. Moments after a large burn, a young man gathers Cassava roots among the still smoldering tree trunks. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

A small river flows near the village of Lumar as the sun sets behind the 4889’ peak of Gunung Bawang.

A small river flows near the village of Lumar as the sun sets behind the 4889’ peak of Gunung Bawang. Bengkayang Regency, West Kalimantan. Image by Kent Wagner. Indonesia, 2016.

Borneo is home to the Earth’s oldest rainforests. Some of them are as much as 130 million years old. With that much time to develop, the flora and fauna have become as unique as they are diverse. Among the many peculiar creatures, the forests are home to clouded leopards, giant squirrels, pygmy elephants, flying frogs, walking catfish, sun bears, cobras, rhinos and orangutans.

Borneo is an island; in fact it is the world’s third largest island. It is roughly the size of Texas and thanks to as much as 150 inches of rain each year it hosts one of the world’s greatest assemblages of trees and plants. There are 15,000 species of flowering plants, a third of those are endemic. Unfortunately, the forests which house these many unique plants and creatures are rapidly disappearing.

The practice of slash and burn, also known as swidden agriculture, is the most common method used to clear land for planting. It also produces massive amounts of green house gasses and is contributing to our planet’s changing climate, but that is another story. Palm oil production is at the center of this effort to clear the land. Deforestation from oil palm plantations in Indonesia alone averages about 300,000 hectares—or an area about half the size of Delaware, each year. It is estimated that country has lost 31 million hectares of forests since 1990. (As a comparison, the whole of Germany is a little less than 37 million hectares in size.)

For at least the last several millennia, the Dayak tribes have been intimately tied to the Bornean forests. As those forests disappear, the traditional Dayak way of life is also vanishing. In August 2016 photographer and filmmaker Kent Wagner traveled to Borneo to document the Dayak and their remaining homeland seeking to understand the depth of the problems facing the Dayak and to shed light on the deforestation that is threatening both the forests and the people who have lived in them for thousands of years.