How old is old growth in Borneo? 130 million years. Almost 80 percent of the island of Borneo was covered with this old growth rainforest in 1973. Today, only 28 percent remains. Barely bigger than France, Borneo’s rainforests are packed with more rare and fascinating species than almost anywhere else in the world. However, Borneo […]
“This is the perfect land—flat, fertile—all we need to do is drain it,” a farmer thinks upon approaching a peat forest. Draining the area turns waterlogged, carbon-rich soil into arable land, but in the process releases tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Only 15% of peatlands worldwide have been drained, but this alone is responsible […]
Tropical peatlands are massive carbon sinks. But what happens when they are depleted of the water that sustains them, or subject to other land-use changes?
What do a hairy-nosed otter, a Sumatran tiger and a white-backed Malayan Tapir have in common? Not only are they some of the rarest animals on planet earth, they spend most of their days snuffling through peatlands. “Conversations about protecting peatlands tend to focus on the carbon they store that can be released into our […]
