A new animation produced by the group WWF-Indonesia offers a tree-level tour of a biodiversity rich region of Sumatran rainforest targeted for destruction by logging companies. The animation, created using Google Earth, highlights proposed logging efforts in a region known as Bukit Tigapuluh, or “Thirty Hills,” a landscape that is home to endangered Sumatran tigers, elephants, rhinos, and orangutans, and represents one of the last large blocks of untouched forest in the area. While some parts of the region are protected as a national park, a large segment of lowland forest is located outside protected areas and is already concessioned for logging by major logging conglomerates. Google Earth has become an increasingly popular campaign tool for environmental organizations. Groups such as the Amazon Conservation Team and Amazon Watch have used it in efforts to halt illegal logging and the proposed construction of a dam on the Amazon River.
Google Earth Animation Highlights Region Targeted for Logging
More From E360
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?
-
Climate
Nations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
-
Solutions
As Carbon Air Capture Ramps Up, Major Hurdles Remain
-
ANALYSIS
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy
-
Biodiversity
As Flooding Increases on the Mississippi, Forests Are Drowning
-
Climate
In Mongolia, a Killer Winter Is Ravaging Herds and a Way of Life
-
Energy
In Rush for Lithium, Miners Turn to the Oil Fields of Arkansas
-
Food & Agriculture
How a Solar Revolution in Farming Is Depleting World’s Groundwater
-
INTERVIEW
What Will It Take to Save Our Cities from a Scorching Future?
-
Climate
Rain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes
-
Health
Plastics Reckoning: PVC Is Ubiquitous, But Maybe Not for Long