BORNEO BIODIVERSITY: NEW AND RARE SPECIES, THREATS

EXTRAORDINARY BIODIVERSITY IN BORNEO

Wallace's flying frog

Borneo—the world’s third largest island after Greenland and New Guinea—holds six percent of the world’s species of plants and animals. Shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, it is home to about 2,000 types of trees, more than 350 species of birds, about 150 types of reptiles and 210 mammal species, including 44 only found on the island. Many animals such as pygmy elephants, Sumatran rhinos, orangutans as well as the clouded leopard, the sun bear and the Bornean gibbon top the list of Borneo’s endangered species.

A total of 361 new species were discovered between 1995 and 2005. Lewis Smith and Lucy Alexander wrote in The Times, “The remote and inaccessible forests in the heart of Borneo are one of the world’s final frontiers for science and many undiscovered species are still waiting to be found.” WWF reported in April last year that at least 361 species had been newly identified on the island between 1994 and 2004, a rate of three animals and plants a month. Borneo’s estimated total of 15,000 plants is thought to be the highest plant diversity of any region on Earth. It has the highest documented tree diversity in the world, at 1,175 species in a 52-hectare plot. The island is one of two places where the orang-utan still survives, though they are threatened with catastrophic population loss because of deforestation. [Source: Lewis Smith and Lucy Alexander, The Times, December 18, 2006 /]

On hunting on Borneo in the 1840s, Henry Keppel wrote in “Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the Suppression of Piracy”: “But, while on the subject, I may mention that of pig- shooting, which I found an amusement not to be despised, especially if you approach your game before life is extinct. The jaws are long, tusks also, and sharp as a razor; and when once wounded, the animals evince a strong inclination to return the compliment: they are active, cunning, and very fast. I shot several at different times. The natives also describe a very formidable beast, the size of a large bullock, found further to the northward, which they appear to hold in great dread. This I conceive to be a sort of bison ; and if so, the sporting in Borneo altogether is not so bad.” [Source: “The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido For the Suppression of Piracy” by Henry Keppel and James Brooke (1847)-]

In Borneo there are around 160 different species of snakes, divided into nine families. Most are harmless. Only snakes which have a venom gland, a duct to carry the fang to inject that venom, are considered as venomous. Of the 160 different species, only 24 are front-fanged and highly poisonous, of which 17 are Sea Snakes and two Coral Snakes from the Hydrophiidae family. The remainder are from the Elapidae and the Veperidae families. Among the species of venomous snakes found in Borneo are the Wagler’s pit viper and several species of krait.

Borneo Rainforests Full of Rare Species

Land use in Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo)

Diyan Jari and Reuben Carde of Reuters wrote: “About three years ago, wildlife researchers photographed a mysterious fox-like mammal on the Indonesian part of Borneo island. They believed it was the first discovery of a new carnivore species there in over a century. Since then, more new species of plants and animals have been found and conservationists believe Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, is a treasure trove of exotic plants and animals waiting to be discovered. [Source: Diyan Jari and Reuben Carder, Reuters, March 29, 2006 \~/]

“The new finds were all the more remarkable after decades of deforestation by loggers, slash-and-burn farming, creation of vast oil palm plantations, as well as rampant poaching. Conservationists hope that Borneo will reveal many more secrets, despite the myriad threats to its unique flora and fauna. “There is vast potential,” said Gusti Sutedja, WWF Indonesia’s project director for Kayan Mentarang national park, a sprawling reserve on the island where the new mammal, nicknamed the Bornean Red Carnivore, was photographed in a night-time camera trap. The animal itself is so rare, it’s never been captured. \~/

“In 2003, we conducted joint operations with Malaysian scientists and discovered many unknown species of lower plants. Three frogs discovered are being tested by German researchers. We also recorded five new birds in a forest survey in 2003.” Some conservationists believe Borneo could be the next “Lost World” after the recent discovery of a host of butterflies, birds and frogs in another Indonesian jungle on the island of New Guinea.” \~/

Borneo has more species of tree shrew than anywhere else on the world. Tree shrews are not shrews and most species do not live in trees. They are generally hyper creatures that belong to their owner order (Scandentia). The local Bahasa Indonesian word for them, “tupai”, is the same word used for squirrels.

Deforestation of Borneo

Since 1996 Indonesia has lost an average of nine million acres (two million hectares) of forest a year. Today only half of Borneo's original forest cover remains, according to WWF. Large swaths of forest have been cleared for timber, rubber, oil palm and pulp production. Borneo's lowland forests are primarily cleared for oil palm plantations. The rainforest-covered mountains are rich in coal and several mining companies already hold access rights. Gold mining is conducted throughout Kalimantan, Indonesia’s portion’s Borneo.

Diyan Jari and Reuben Carde of Reuters wrote: “Environmentalists say the island, described by Charles Darwin as “one great untidy luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself,” is being stripped of vast swathes of forests by loggers. Mining, lax law enforcement and corruption are also threats. According to some estimates, Borneo loses forests equivalent to an area of about a third of Switzerland every year, or at a rate of 1.3 million ha (3.2 million acres), much of it to feed the voracious appetite for timber in the West and Asia.

“Indonesia’s forests are being destroyed at a rate of 2 million ha (4.9 million acres) a year,” said Indonesian forestry consultant Dwi R. Muhtaman. “Within a short time the forest in low-lying areas (of Borneo) will be gone.” [Source: Diyan Jari and Reuben Carder, Reuters, March 29, 2006 \~/]

Land use in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo

“WWF’s Sutedja did not have a precise figure, but he estimated the rate of deforestation in Borneo was the “the equivalent of one football field per day.” In addition to logging, Indonesia’s plans to develop a major palm oil plantation in the heart of Borneo near the border with Malaysia also threaten to devastate some of the last remaining natural forests in Southeast Asia. The area is remote highland forest from which many of the island’s largest rivers originate and has so far managed to remain intact because of its rugged terrain and distance from the coast. “There is opposition from most environmental NGOs. Their research says that areas of natural forest could be converted, and the project could affect rivers,” Sutedja said. “Flooding could occur, which would affect the indigenous Dayak people who live downstream,” he said, adding that WWF did not oppose the plan, but was concerned it be carried out in accordance with environmental principles.\~/

“Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said the government plan to open major palm oil plantations had taken into account his ministry’s concerns.“We will start by making use (of) the areas that are already ready for planting. I strongly oppose … cutting down forest for the replanting of palm oil plantations, which does not make sense,” he told Reuters. \~/

Borneo’s Wildlife Threatened by Deforestation

Diyan Jari and Reuben Carde of Reuters wrote: “Environmentalists say they are particularly worried as island ecosystems are known as much for their fragility as their ability to harbor rare animals and plants.Of approximately 800 species extinctions worldwide since accurate scientific recording began in 1500, the vast majority have been from island ecosystems, the World Conservation Union says. Green groups say hundreds of orangutans are killed or captured every year on the Indonesian part of Borneo as part of an illegal trade that is driving the primates toward extinction. \~/

“According to a study by WWF International and wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, between 200 and 500 Borneo orangutans are traded in various parts of Indonesia each year. The vast majority are infants sold as pets. WWF International estimates poachers have also killed most endangered rhinos in Borneo and only about 13 might have survived. “The current situation will continue until the forest is gone,” Muhtaman said.” \~/

Exotic Species in Borneo

Lewis Smith and Lucy Alexander wrote in The Times, “Once described by Charles Dickens as a “great wild untidy luxuriant hothouse made by Nature for herself”, Borneo is a well-established home to some of the world’s most exotic species. But even that reputation could not prepare scientists for the extraordinary range of plants and animals newly identified on the island in recent years. Fighting fish and the world’s second smallest vertebrate are among more than 50 species to have been discovered in the past 17 months. They include 2 frogs, a plant that grows only a single leaf, 16 species of ginger, 3 types of tree and 30 fish. [Source: Lewis Smith and Lucy Alexander, The Times, December 18, 2006 /]

“Among the fish discovered during zoological expeditions to Borneo was a miniature species, Paedocypris micromegethes, which, at 0.35in long (8.8mm), is the second smallest vertebrate in the world. It lives in highly acidic peat bogs found in shaded forest areas, either in pools or near the bottom of slow-moving streams. Its cousin, Paedocypris progenetica, is the smallest vertebrate, at 0.31in. WWF said that even though the fish had only just been identified, it is already under threat because of habitat loss. “Many of the peat swamps this recent research surveyed throughout South-East Asia no longer exist and their fauna is eradicated. All the endemic fish species restricted to peat swamp forests of Borneo are thus highly endangered,” the authors said. /

“Scientists expect that thousands more species are still to be identified and studied, according to a report published today by WWF, the world’s largest independent conservation organisation. From July 2005 to September 2006, 52 animals and plants were newly identified, according to WWF, many within a 136,000 square mile mountainous region known as the Heart of Borneo. Six Siamese fighting fish, including one with iridescent blue-green markings, were found. These are unusually aggressive fish that frequently flare their gills and fins when they encounter each other. /

paradise tree snake in mid-glide

“Other aquatic species included a catfish, Glyptothorax exodon, with protruding teeth and a sticky belly that enables it to cling to rocks in fast-flowing and turbulent streams. A green-eyed tree frog, Polypedates chlorophthalmus, another with an extra-wide head, Rhacophorus gadingensis, and a fish, Nandus prolixus, which looks like a dead leaf, were among the other animals discovered. One of the plants identified by scientists, Schumannianthus monophyllus, has bright white flowers accompanied by a single leaf. It has long been known by the native Iban peoples, who use the leaf to wrap sticky rice at a festival. The new species of ginger more than double the entire number of the Etlingera species found to date. “These discoveries reaffirm Borneo’s position as one of the most important centres of biodiversity in the world,” Stuart Chapman, international co-ordinator of the WWF’s Heart of Borneo programme, said. "The remote and inaccessible forests in the Heart of Borneo are one of the world's final frontiers for science." /

John Roach wrote in National Geographic News, “Borneo's geography is also extremely diverse, making for hundreds of unique habitats that house unique creatures adapted to these niches. Many of the new species are isolated to a single river or a side of a mountain, for example. The 0.35-inch-long (8.8-millimeter-long) fish called Paedocypris micromegethes was found in the island's acidic backwater peat swamps. The translucent fish is the second smallest vertebrate, or animal with a backbone, in the world, scientists said. It's beat only by its even smaller cousin in Sumatra, P. progenetica, which measures 0.31 inch (7.9 millimeters) long. Mark Wright, science advisor for Surrey, England-based WWF-UK, said, the discovery of three new tree species is what really puts the wealth of Borneo's biodiversity into perspective. "One fish the size of a fingernail can hide away. Trees don't move and they are really big—and we are still finding those," he said. "Heaven knows what else is there." [Source: John Roach, National Geographic News, December 19, 2006]

“Many of the species were discovered in an 85,000-square-mile (220,000-square-kilometer) mountain rain forest in a central region of the island that conservationists call the Heart of Borneo. The region is increasingly pressured by human development, so WWF is working with local officials in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei to develop a series of protected areas and sustainably managed forests.[Ibid]

123 New Species Discovered in Borneo in the Late 2000s

In April 2010, CNN reported: “Color-changing frogs, the world's longest stick insect and a slug that shoots "love darts" are among the biological "treasure" discovered by scientists in the lush green heart of Borneo. Scientists have found 123 new species of animals, insects and plants on the South East Asian island since the three governments that control the land signed a pact to safeguard its future in 2007. [Source: Hilary Whiteman, CNN, April 22, 2010]

The new species are on a list released Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to mark Earth Day and to raise awareness of the value of protecting areas rich in biodiversity. "You have some iconic small species which are very interesting to talk about but perhaps it's the plants that are tremendously important in terms of potential future cures," said David Norman, director of campaigns for the WWF. "About half of all synthetic drugs have a natural origin -- these are commercial drugs based on plants and sometimes animals. So we can't afford to lose species," he said.

The number of new plant species discovered in Borneo in the last three years outnumbers all the other categories combined. Sixty-seven new plants have been found, along with 29 invertebrates, 17 new species of fish, one bird, five amphibians and five reptiles. The WWF describes the region as a "global treasure teeming with unique and extraordinary life."

Some of the more unusual amphibians found there include color-changing frogs, which also fly. Males of the species (Rhacophorus penanorum) are just 3.5 centimeters long and their skin changes from bright green during the night to brown during the day. They can be found living in trees in the Tapin Valley within the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak. Their fully-webbed feet allow them to glide for up to 15 meters from tree branch to tree branch.

The world's longest-stick insect (Phobaeticus chani) is more than half a meter long and lives high up in the rainforest canopy. "Only three specimens have ever been discovered. It's quite extraordinary that it's been there for so long -- you wouldn't miss it if it landed on you," Norman said. The tail of the long-tailed slug (Ibycus rachelae) is three-times the length of its head, allowing it to curl up to sleep. More unusually, when it mates the slug fires a so-called "love dart" made of calcium carbonate that injects a hormone into its prospective partner to increase the chances of reproduction.

52 New Species Discovered in Borneo in the Mid 2000s

Eliane Engeler of Associated Press wrote in December 2006: “Scientists have discovered at least 52 new species of animals and plants on the southeast Asian island of Borneo since 2005, including a catfish with protruding teeth and suction cups on its belly to help it stick to rocks, WWF International said. "The more we look the more we find," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International coordinator for the study of the "Heart of Borneo," a 85,000-square-mile rain forest in the center of the island where several of the new species were found. "These discoveries reaffirm Borneo's position as one of the most important centers of biodiversity in the world." [Source: Eliane Engeler, The Associated Press, December 19, 2006]

Much of Borneo, which is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and the sultanate of Brunei, is covered by one of the world's last remaining rain forests. The discoveries bring the total number of species newly identified on the island to more than 400 since 1996, according to WWF. Other creatures discovered between July 2005 and September 2006 were six Siamese fighting fish, whose unique colors and markings distinguish them from close relatives, and a tree frog with bright green eyes. The catfish, which can be identified by its pretty color pattern, is named glyptothorax exodon, a reference to the teeth that can be seen even when the its mouth is closed. The suction cups on its belly enable it to stick to smooth stones while facing the current of Indonesia's turbulent Kapuas River system.

On the Malaysian part of the island, slow-flowing blackwater streams and peat swamps are home to the paedocypris micromegethes, which is 0.35 inch long. The creature, which gets its name from the Greek words for children and small, is tinier than all other vertebrate species on Earth except for its slightly more minuscule cousin, a 0.31-inch-long fish found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to WWF.

The discoveries further highlight the need to conserve the habitat and species of Borneo, where the rain forest continues to be threatened by rubber, palm oil and pulp production, WWF said. "The remote and inaccessible forests in the Heart of Borneo are one of the world's final frontiers for science, and many new species continue to be discovered here," said Chapman. He added that the forests were also vital because they were the source the island's major rivers acting as a natural break to fires burning in the lowlands this year.

Jane Smart, who heads the World Conservation Union's species program, said the discovery of 52 species within a year in Borneo was a "realistic" number given that scientists guess there are about 15 million species on Earth. "There are still many more species that remain to be discovered there," she said.Borneo is particularly important for biodiversity because the island has a high number of endemic species, creatures which only occur in that one place, she told The Associated Press. "So if you wipe out a small area, you're going to wipe out a lot of the species' habitat," she said, adding that once these creatures are destroyed, they are gone forever. "This is a real concern when forests are ripped out for rubber plantations or oil palm plantations," Smart said.

Pea-Sized Frog Found in Borneo

In April 2010, Associated Press reported: “One of the world's tiniest frogs — barely larger than a pea — has been found living in and around carnivorous plants in Borneo, one of the scientists who made the accidental discovery said. Indraneil Das, a scientist at University Malaysia Sarawak, and another scientist from Germany were researching frogs in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island when they chanced upon the tiny species on a mountain road in the Kubah National Park in 2006. "For biologists, this is a curiosity," Das told Associated Press. [Source: Associated Press, August 26, 2010]

Adult males of the amphibians range in size between 10.6mm and 12.8mm, said Das. The frogs were named Microhyla nepenthicola after the pitcher plant species where they live. A Malaysian museum had listed the species but misidentified it as a juvenile of another frog species, he said. The tubular plants are carnivorous, killing insects such as ants, but do not harm the frogs. Tadpoles grow in the liquid inside the plants. The findings were published (pdf) by Das and Alexander Haas of the Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum of Hamburg, Germany in the journal Zootaxa last week.

Because the frogs were so small, Das and his colleague only found them by tracking their singing of "harsh rasping notes" at dusk. They caught them by making them jump on a white cloth near the pitcher plants. The discovery should encourage efforts to protect the biological diversity in Borneo's rainforests. Das said the tiniest known frog — at 9.8mm — found was in Cuba. A 8.5-millimeter frog species found in southern Papua new Guinea was named not only the world’s small frog, but the world’s smallest vertabrate, in 2012.

Chameleon Snake Found in Borneo

In June 2006, the BBC reported: “A snake with the ability to change its colour has been found in the rainforested heart of Borneo. Researchers from Germany and the US discovered the water snake's chameleon-like behaviour by accident when they put it into a dark bucket. It believes the newly described snake may exist only in one river basin. [Source: BBC, June 25, 2006]

Found in the Kapuas river in the Betung Kerihun National Park in Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo), it belongs to the Enhydris genus of rear-fanged water snakes and has been named E. gyii. It is about 50cm (18 inches) long, and venomous. “The discovery of the 'chameleon" snake exposes one of nature's best kept secrets deep in the heart of Borneo,” Stuart Chapman of the WWF said.

The new species was described by Mark Auliya from the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig in Bonn, and John Murphy and Harold Voris from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.It was Dr Auliya, a consultant for WWF, who discovered serendipitously its colour-changing capacity. "I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket," he said. "When I retrieved it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white."

The reasons why it has evolved this attribute are unclear. The chameleon, possibly the animal kingdom's most famous colour-changer, is believed to alter its hue depending on mood and temperature. In the last 10 years, more than 350 new animal and plant species have been discovered on Borneo. The WWF warns that the home of the new snake is threatened, as Borneo's forest cover has declined from 75 percent in the mid-1980s to about 50 percent today.

Bird Species Discovered and Rediscovered in Borneo

In the summer of 2009, a new species of bird, the spectacled flowerpecker, was spotted munching on mistletoe in the rainforests in the Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo. The BBC reported: “Leeds University biologist Richard Webster first glimpsed the bird from a canopy walkway 35 meters above ground. The small, wren-sized, grey bird, was feeding on some flowering mistletoe in a tree. On one sighting it was heard singing. The bird has white markings around its eyes, belly and breast.[Source: Doreen Walton, BBC News, January 14, 2010]

The finding was published in the Oriental Bird Club's journal BirdingASIA. Dr David Edwards, a tropical ecologist at the University of Leeds, identified the bird as a new species from photographs. "It's like a dream come true," he said. "I've spent all these years, decades, watching birds and all you want to do really is discover a new species to science. All that tropical field work has paid off, all the mosquitoes, the leeches, the rainstorms and the mud have been worthwhile."

In 2020, a black-browed babbler was positively spotted in a Borneo forest for the first time in 170 years. Catherine Garcia wrote in The Week: The first and only known specimen of this bird was collected in Indonesia in the 1850s. Because it was wrongly labeled as being from Java instead of Borneo, people searching for more black-browed babblers never discovered any. The error was eventually corrected, but still, no one was able to find the bird.

“In 2016, the bird-watching group BW Galeatus was established in Borneo. Two members had questions about a black and brown bird they would sometimes see in a forest in Borneo's South Kalimantan province. The men, Muhammad Suranto and Muhammad Rizky Fauzan, captured one of these birds in October 2020, and sent photos to another member. It looked like the black-browed babbler, but since that seemed too good to be true, he forwarded the photos to experts. [Source: Catherine Garcia, The Week, March 8, 2021]

“When the bird was confirmed as a black-browed babbler, ornithologist Panji Gusti Akbar told The New York Times, he felt "excitement, disbelief, and a lot of happiness." Ding Li Yong, a conservationist with BirdLife International, said it "took me a while to come to grips with this thing. I had a tear in my eye." The bird was released back into the wild.

Image Sources:

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Global Viewpoint (Christian Science Monitor), Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated February 2025