Sumatra - Paper KIlls
The rate and scale of forest clearing in Sumatra by big paper producers approaches ecological Armageddon as swathes of precious natural habitats are destroyed, creating devastating levels of greenhouse emissions.
The forest canopy of Sumatra's Riau Province conceals some of the world's rarest wildlife, including the endangered Sumatran tiger. But their territory is under relentless assault and less than four hundred now survive. Around sixty per cent of Riau's forests have already been cleared to make way for vast palm oil and pulp and paper plantations. "What's happening there [Sumatra] on a large industrial scale is pretty daunting... some of the worst forest destruction I've ever seen anywhere", says Bill Laurance, a conservation biologist. For Pairan, a local farmer, the consequences of the deforestation are potentially devastating. "I can't imagine what will happen to my family... the only thing that I have, my only hope, is my land."
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