New GFW Maps Show Vast Logging, Oil Palm and Plantation Concessions in Sarawak
砂拉越，马来西亚在历史悠久的婆罗洲岛上的马来西亚国家，患有高率deforestation, but understanding this dynamic is made difficult by government secrecy andlack of transparency。Official maps of logging, oil palm and wood fiber concessions for Sarawak are hard to come by; the government does not publish this data in a publicly usable format. It is not surprising that Sarawak wanted to keep this information opaque. According to new maps of industrial logging, oil palm, and planted forest concessions complied and published by Global Forest Watch,这些让步覆盖了砂拉越州的一半以上, often overlapping with sensitive intact forests that are being exploited and degraded at one of the highest rates in the world.
GFW启动的新数据首先详细介绍了砂拉越的工业优惠范围。这些地图显示了工业森林木材许可证，油棕特许权和许可森林（LPF）的存在和程度。该数据是从公共领域的官方文件中组装的，包括两个州林业部（SFD）2010年地图，并补充了环境影响评估（EIA）的信息。尽管所得数据集可能不完整，但它们代表了迄今为止整个砂拉越的特许权分布的最全面和交互式图片。（WRI邀请砂拉越州立森林部门分享信息以包含在全球森林观察中，但他们没有回应）。
When combined with other data on Global Forest Watch, the impacts of logging and other land uses on forests can be monitored with more consistency and precision than ever before. Powerful remote sensing data, combined with the boundaries of concessions, sheds light on where forests are being cleared or degraded, how quickly and by whom.
These new maps reveal that timber license concessions alone cover a total of 6,542,852 hectares (nearly 16 million acres), over half (53 percent) of Sarawak's total land area. The logging concessions are concentrated toward inland Borneo, on the border with Indonesian Kalimantan, home to some of the densest and most biodiverse remaining forests on the island. However, asprevious research确认，该领域“自1970年代初期始于工业规模的提取行业以来，自选择性的伐木，火灾和对种植园的影响。”
数据还揭示了记录特许权与最后剩余的重叠位置Intact Forest Landscapes(IFLs) in the country. Although Sarawak has very few remaining IFLs compared to neighboring Indonesia, Malaysia has one of thehighest ratesof IFL degradation in the world in both area and percentage. These new maps confirm that logging is in part responsible for the degradation of these landscapes in Sarawak between 2000 and 2013.
例如，位于与卡利曼丹（Kalimantan）边界的Shin Yang T/3342伐木特许权覆盖了约200,000公顷（近500,000英亩）的森林，其中大部分被认为是完整的。降级了砂拉越中剩下的少数IFL之一。自2000年以来，该特许权中已经清除了近40,000公顷（近100,000英亩）的树木，其中70％以上发生在IFL内。
According to our analysis,only 26 percent of land with tree cover in Sarawak remains outside industrial concessions and protected areas。虽然改革已经promised，大部分损失已经造成：砂拉越是running out of forests。新数据表明，砂拉越政府保留剩下的东西已经变得多么紧迫。国际商界也必须扮演一个角色by sourcing only truly sustainable timber and looking with caution at logs and oil palm flowing from the highly deforested areas of Sarawak. This is relevant to all consumers. Take alookat GFW today to learn more about the link between commodities and deforestation and what you can do.
Explore Sarawak logging, oil palm and planted forest concessions onGlobal Forest Watchor learn more about the history of forest exploitation in Sarawak in our blog25 Years of So-Called “Sustainable Forest Management” in Sarawak。