Forests die as Borneo prays for rain

  • 19/04/1998

The Bukit Suharto forest is dying, along with hundreds of thousands of hectares of adjoining jungle. This coastal stretch of southeast Bornea, on the edge of world's second-biggest rain forest, has received just 300 millimeters of rain in the last 12 months, according to data collected by Willie Smits, an adviser to the Indonesia Forestry Ministry. The drought has turned Borneo into a tinderbox, and fires - many of them set by companies and farmers clearing land - have spread across the island.