The rapid deforestation in Borneo is  life-threatening to local wildlife and humans alike.  With the palm oil industry booming, Malaysia is, and has been for fifty years, cutting down vast quantities of trees. Along with the trees, indigenous species are disappearing. And while the money from the palm oil is helpful to the government, it is not reason enough to significantly alter the climate and the habitats of so many people and animals, especially because those most affected by the deforestation are not benefiting.

Malaysia has been rapidly increasing its rate of deforestation over the last fifty years. When Malaysia dissolved bonds with Britain in 1963 , the government decided to start cutting down many of the trees in the Borneo rainforest to export for timber. Timber was in high demand and as a newly independent country, Malaysia was desperate to become the biggest exporter. This logging boom in the 1970s and 80s was the first round of Malaysia’s mass deforestation. In the late 90s and early 2000s, the second round came. The need for cheap palm oil rose significantly and Malaysia jumped into the palm oil industry head first. The growing need for palm oil is a result of the need for a cheap and versatile oil. Palm oil is used in a variety of different goods; for example palm oil is used in cooking, cosmetics and as a biodiesel fuel. Palm oil is so common now that it can be found in one in two supermarket products .  Palm oil is consumed in countries all around the world, but the most palm oil consumed is in Indonesia, which consumes 5,000 metric tons per year, followed by Europe, at 2,900 MT per year. Surprisingly, the United States, a large country with citizens always in search of the cheapest possible substance or alternative, takes 11th place, consuming only 275 MT per year .

Malaysia began cutting down more of the Borneo rainforest at a distressing rate. This time however, the deforestation was not so much for timber, but to create large spaces of open land  for palm tree plantations. With the palm oil industry becoming more competitive, Malaysia increased the already-rapid rate of deforestation and sailed past the rest of Asia in logging and palm oil exports numbers. As reported by the Huffington Post in 2011, “In the last five years, 353,000 hectares (872,263 acres) of Malaysia's peatlands were deforested, or one-third of the swamps which have stored carbon from decomposed plants for millions of years”   and “Malaysian deforestation is three times faster than the rest of Asia combined.”  Malaysia is currently responsible for exporting 50% of the palm oil used worldwide  but so far the relentless deforestation in Borneo has only been monetarily beneficial to high ranking politicians and the Malaysian government.

Historically, there has been much corruption in the Malaysian government surrounding logging and palm oil production. A few politicians who were in positions of power within the government and especially in charge of offices running and regulating the country’s logging industry, have been known to also be owners of and major investors in many of the logging companies. In recent years however, the Malaysian government has pledged to keep 50% of what is left of the Borneo forest cover and in 2007, Malaysia as well as Indonesia, signed an agreement to save 200,000 square kilometers . The government, along with the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, have also released statements regarding the need to protect what forest is left and to find more sustainable ways to keep producing palm oil. Farmers on palm oil plantations have begun to do what they can to not only continue producing palm oil, but expand as well without going father into the forests .

Health effects of deforestation on local wildlife and local citizens 
The massive growth of the palm oil industry and thus the deforestation of Borneo, has immensely impacted the wildlife and the local people. The deforestation in the Borneo area has caused much distress to animals and people alike. With the once ground-protecting trees being cut down, the earth is drying out and fires are much more of a threat. Fires are now occurring yearly, some as a way to clear the forest and some accidental, the result of the intensely flammable dried-out peat. These fires create massive amounts of smoke that can cloud the sky for days, and the smoke has even reached all the way to Thailand and Hong Kong. Fires such as these can wipe out whole populations of indigenous animals and plants.

With so many trees being uprooted in the Sarawak state of Malaysia, the quality of the water has become a problem. When the trees are pulled out the ground in mass quantities, the dirt becomes loose and has been mixing in with water sources. Bodies of water near the deforestation have been filled with sediment  and many fish have been dying from the polluted water. The water supply is low and the water that is available is being contaminated, making it potentially hazardous for drinking. Another major problem affecting people and animals is the air quality. As a result of so many oxygen-producing trees being cut down, the amount of CO2 in the air has risen significantly. Thus the air quality has plummeted and the CO2 levels can cause animals to die .
The change in food quality and supplies is another area that affects the people and animals everyday. For the native people, it is a question of what is left to hunt for food, and for the animals it is either a question of if they can find the fruits and insects they are used to eating. There is also the question of whether or not their limited species will be snapped up by the growing illegal animal trade and made into food in other countries . Many of the indigenous tribes in Borneo have relied on the forest to be the ideal environment for specific animals, which they can hunt, and to produce fruits, which they can eat. With extensive amounts of trees gone, the animals once living there have either become extinct or tried to relocate in the remaining forest, while the fruits are now very hard to come by.

Three species of indigenous animals have been especially effected by the gross changes in the environment: the Pangolin, the Arowana and the Orangutan.  Their environments have largely been destroyed, leaving them with little of their regular diet, limited space for safe sleeping and family-raising and as creatures used to good, oxygen-plentiful air, they are reacting badly to the rising amounts of CO2  circling through their already delicate ecosystems .

Even when the Pangolin, Arowana and Orangutan do have their regular diet and are not breathing harmful, CO2 filled air, they are at serious risk of being pulled into the highly illegal and competitive business of international animal trade. Already endangered animals due to the deforestation, these creatures are being plucked out of the remaining forest and because of their limited population, they fetch quite high prices. For example, in Japan, just the skull of an Orangutan can cost up to $70 and around Asia,  an Arowana can cost between $2,000 and $200,000 .

Because palm oil is relatively easy to produce, it is the cheapest oil and therefore in high demand. Malaysia and Indonesia are responsible for exporting 90%  of  the world’s palm oil . The palm oil companies, many of which are closely related to the government, usually by ownership or investment, are taking in large amounts of money every year. None of that money, however, is seen by the native peoples whose livelihoods have been stolen by the deforestation. The native people can no longer go into the woods to gather all their food and be the completely self-sustainable people that they once were. The government, palm oil companies and high ranking politicians are the sole beneficiaries of the palm oil industry. The former Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud, is a prime example of corruption in Malaysia’s government. Mahmud was Chief Minister for 33 years before he was finally forced to resign after multiple charges of breach of the constitution  and, according to the company Stop Timber Corruption , “embezzlement of state funds and abuse of his public office for personal gains.”  He was found guilty of commercial advertising and unlawful actions concerning the palm oil industry. Many cases like this one have appeared in Malaysian courts and most of these deceitful politicians have been found to be guilty of at least one illegal action involving the oil companies.

Crooked politicians are not the only ones working illegally in the rainforests, however. Much logging is done illegally even without the corrupt government’s knowledge or unofficial approval. Logging companies discreetly come into the forests and cut down just enough trees for it to be worth the effort, but not enough to be immediately noticed or missed. This happens with palm oil plantations as well. The farms slowly push their designated borders, little by little, to gain space for crops, and the trees they cut down go straight into the illegal logging business. 

Because of the many illegal logging and palm oil groups, money laundering has become a huge problem. Money laundering, or “any act or attempted act to conceal or disguise the identity of illegally obtained proceeds so that they appear to have originated from legitimate sources,”   is now a big business as the money from the unauthorized logging is illegally gained. With the amount of unlawful logging and oil production happening, more dirty money is circling through the government and being laundered. Often the money is going straight to the government itself, disguised as clean money or sometimes not even disguised, and the government simply looks the other way .

Malaysian Government role and response
Despite contracts that have been signed and pledges that have been made, the government is still cutting down massive amounts of trees and displays no clear signs of slowing down or finding a more sustainable way to produce palm oil. In order for Malaysia to stop this increasingly harmful deforestation, the government’s cooperation and leadership is vital. Not only must the government recognize that what is happening is not sustainable, they must also find more than one way to save what is left of their forests and help the people and animals harmed by the intrusions .

Although the government has not directly slowed the deforestation, they have taken some steps toward trying to improve the environment around Borneo. Eight nature preserves have been built in the Sarawak area as a way to add oxygen back into the air. These “urban lungs”   have been strategically placed to be the most useful to areas around where the most deforestation has taken place. These regions have felt the impact of the lack of trees more strongly than, say, the cities where there were never many trees to begin with, and with the new nature preserves, the air is better and more like the air the people were used to before the timber and logging boom.  This may seem small, but it is a step forward for a country where the government has done little to nothing to stop the total destruction of its forests.

The deforestation must stop. The relentless deforestation happening in order to  make room for palm tree plantations is taking away the human and wildlife habitats, as well as decreasing new oxygen output and clean water, and raising the chances of drastic fires. Too many living creatures have lost their livelihoods and habitats to these intrusions and the government corruption is out of control. Malaysia must be pulled from the inside, in the government, to tighten itself, clear out the dirty money and dishonest politicians, and remove all the companies illegally logging and producing palm oil. For the government to be able to make this change to save its land, people and animals, it must realize the severe consequences of the relentless deforestation. And for that to happen, outside help is needed. Countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom , which have histories of helping less experienced countries, have a duty to reach out to Malaysia (and Indonesia which  suffers from many of the same problems) and help them do what is best in the long term, not just for themselves, but for their county as a nation, not a state run by a select group of corrupt and selfish officials.