Emerging challenges for sustainable development and forest conservation in Sarawak, Borneo

The forests of Borneo—the third largest island on the planet—sustain some
of the highest biodiversity and carbon storage in the world. The forests
also provide vital ecosystem services and livelihood support for millions
of people in the region, including many indigenous communities. The
Pan-Borneo Highway and several hydroelectric dams are planned or already
under construction in Sarawak, a Malaysian state comprising part of the
Borneo. This development seeks to enhance economic growth and regional
connectivity, support community access to services, and promote industrial
development. However, the implications of the development of highway and
dams for forest integrity, biodiversity and ecosystem services remained
largely unreported. We assessed these development projects using
fine-scale biophysical and environmental data and found several
environmental and socioeconomic risks associated with the projects. The
highway and hydroelectric dam projects will impact 32 protected areas
including numerous key habitats of threatened species such as the
proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), Sarawak surili (Presbytis
chrysomelas), Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and tufted ground
squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis). Under its slated development
trajectory, the local and trans-national forest connectivity between
Malaysian Borneo and Indonesian Borneo would also be substantially
diminished. Nearly ~161 km of the Pan-Borneo Highway in Sarawak will
traverse forested landscapes and ~55 km will traverse carbon-rich
peatlands. The 13 hydroelectric dam projects will collectively impact ~1.7
million ha of forest in Sarawak. The consequences of planned highway and
hydroelectric dams construction will increase the carbon footprint of
development in the region. Moreover, many new road segments and
hydroelectric dams would be built on steep slopes in high-rainfall zones
and forested areas, increasing both construction and ongoing maintenance
costs. The projects would also alter livelihood activities of downstream
communities, risking their long-term sustainability. Overall, our findings
identify major economic, social and environmental risks for several
planned road segments in Sarawak— such as those between Telok Melano and
Kuching; Sibu and Bintulu; and in the Lambir, Limbang and Lawas
regions—and dam projects— such as Tutoh, Limbang, Lawas, Baram, Linau, Ulu
Air and Baleh dams. Such projects need to be reviewed to ensure they
reflect Borneo’s unique environmental and forest ecosystem values, the
aspirations of local communities and long-term sustainability of the
projects rather than being assessed solely on their short-term economic
returns.