Satellite image of the island of Borneo on August 19, 2002, showing smoke from burning peat swamp forests
The Borneo peat swamp forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Peat swamp forests occur where waterlogged soils prevent dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing, which over time creates thick layer of acidic peat. Peat swamp forests occur in coastal lowlands, behind the brackish or salt-water mangrove forests that lie near the coast, and bounded by the Borneo lowland rain forests on better-drained soils. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests or tropical wet forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome. ... Borneo (left) and Sulawesi. ... Peat swamp forests are areas of land where the peat, created by the leave compost has become a boggy marsh and the forests are resposible for this. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Brackish water is water that is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as sea water. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ...
Over the past decade, the government of Indonesia has drained some of the Borneo peat swamp forests for conversion to agricultural land. The dry years of 1997-8 and 2002-3 saw huge fires in the peat swamp forests. A study for the European Space Agency found that the peat swamp forests are a significant carbon sink for the planet, and that the fires of 1997-8 may have released up to 2.5 billion tonnes, and the 2002-3 fires between 200 million to 1 billion tonnes, of carbon into the atmosphere. The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member states. ... A carbon dioxide sink or CO2 sink is the opposite of a carbon source. ...
Borneo (including the Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia, and Brunei) is an island, the third largest island in the world, located at the center of the Malay archipelago and of Indonesia.
Borneo is surrounded by the South China Sea to the west and northwest, the Sulu Sea to the northeast, the Celebes Sea and the Makassar Strait to the east, and the Java Sea and Karimata Strait to the south.
To the west of Borneo are the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
Borneo is only a western reference and the term is rarely used locally; the name Borneo itself was only given by the Dutch during their colonial period.
Borneo is the third largest island in the world, surrounded by the South China Sea to the north and northwest, the Sulu Sea to the northeast, the Celebes Sea and the Makassar Strait to the east, and the Java Sea and Karimata Strait to the south.
Borneo was the main site of the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia between 1962 and 1966, as well as the communist revolts to gain control of the whole area.
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