These businesses account for 74 per cent of internationally traded palm oil. Apart from two peaks in 2009 and in 2012, the expansion of industrial plantations has actually decreased, most likely due to a steady decline in crude palm oil prices since 2011.

In the Asia-Pacific region, it includes the CIMB Group from Malaysia, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

Palm oil plantations, pulp plantations, illegal logging and forest fires are the key drivers of deforestation in Borneo. Forests.

The most important risk factor for orangutans is the loss of habitat.

The Balancing Act in Borneo: Managing Deforestation, Sustainability, Biodiversity, Health, and the Value of Rainforests. “Because it’s all flight at low altitude and sometimes in bad visibility, so we need to be very careful.”Fires smolder deep underground in thick layers of dead plant matter –- peatlands -- and can reignite almost as soon as they’re extinguished.“When they start burning, it feels like a losing battle,” says Alpius Patanan, head of the local emergency operations division.These fires were ignited by humans, but can only be put out by nature.“My hope is rain will be coming faster, and rain hard,” Krisyoyo says.

Suitable orangutan habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia has declined by more than 80% in the last 20 years.

There is no island-wide documentation of forest … SPECIAL REPORT Borneo is burning How the world’s demand for palm oil is driving deforestation in Indonesia By Rebecca Wright , Ivan Watson , Tom Booth and Masrur Jamaluddin , CNN We need to change everything, not only RSPO, but also the local government, not only Indonesia but also other countries.”The problem of palm oil is not isolated to Indonesia.It comes back to the global companies buying the oil, and the choices of consumers.“Companies have created a facade of sustainability, but the reality is that they source from the very worst offenders across the board,” says Annisa Rahmawati, a forest campaigner from Greenpeace Indonesia. “It accomplishes nothing, it doesn’t give them (a) deterrent effect on why they should stop burning and stop draining peatlands.”“What we need (is) the total change in how to enforce the current laws.”Tiur Rumondang, Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil“What we need (is) the total change in how to enforce the current laws,” says Rumondang from RSPO.“If we just do it halfway, we should always expect this forest and land fire in the future. We are reforesting areas of recently-burnt peat-swamp forest, ex-farming and mining areas and forest patches that were over-logged in the past.

After the forest fire crisis in 2015, a special taskforce was created to help preserve the forests.Since then, 21 cases were brought to court, three palm oil companies have had their licenses revoked, and 64 administrative sanctions have been imposed.“We hope that our intensive effort in law enforcement, using administration sanctions, civil lawsuits and also criminal law, will create deterrent effects,” Sani says.The courts have ruled on nine of the court cases so far, handing out a total of $250 million in fines. While the study’s authors point to declining crude palm oil prices since 2011 as the most significant and direct cause behind the dwindling expansion of industrial palm and pulpwood plantations, the role of governments, civil society and the private sector cannot be discounted.In 2011, the Indonesian government instituted a nationwide moratorium on issuing new permits for the use of primary natural forests, which was extended in September 2018. Forest cover in the Borneo deforestation front, including Malaysia and Brunei, could be reduced to less than a quarter of its original area by 2020 if current trends continue.

While this is something to celebrate, work remains to ensure a sustainable future for Borneo’s forests. “Sometimes we try to make them afraid, then they can survive.”"Last year we found an orangutan hit with 130 bullets,” says COP Director Ramadhani, who goes by one name.The orangutan was found by villagers in East Kutai, in East Kalimantan. “In the next five years, we will focus on this, so that forests in Indonesia can be protected from destruction.”Two barefoot suspects walk into the room dressed in orange jumpsuits, their faces covered by balaclavas to protect their identity.They are among 228 people arrested in six provinces affected by fire this summer, according to figures from the Indonesian police.The men are accused of starting fires in the city of Palangkaraya, in Central Kalimantan, and agreed to speak to CNN on condition of anonymity.One of the men says he was burning grass cuttings near his home and later doused the fire with water, convinced he had put it out.Local police say the fire continued to burn deep underground on peatland and three days later, it had wiped out around 10 hectares of land.“On the outside, on the surface, it’s snuffed out, but underground the ember was still burning,” says Edie Sutaata, Adjunct Police Commissioner with Palangkaraya Police.