A Risk Assessment Model on Pine Wood Nematode in the EU

Author
T. Soliman, G.M. Hengeveld, C. Robinet, Monique Mourits, Wopke van der Werf and Alfons Oude Lansink (alfons.oudelansink@wur.nl)
No 116010, 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland from European Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Pine wood nematode, B. xylophilus poses a serious threat for the European forest industry. This study applies a quantitative risk assessment to analyze the risk of pine wood nematode in the EU, by estimating the reduction expected within forestry stock available for wood supply and its downstream roundwood market. Spatial analysis is used to join information on climate suitability, host distribution, pest spread and value of assets. Economic impacts are presented spatially on a NUTS-2 scale based on partial budgeting technique and for the EU as a whole based on partial equilibrium modeling. Results highlight the Southern regions of Europe as high risk areas with a total impact on available forestry stock of 19,000 M € after 20 years of an outbreak and no regulatory control measures. Welfare analysis of the roundwood market, in which its production represents 2,5% of forestry stock, demonstrates the ability of the producers to pass most of the negative impact to the consumers by charging higher prices. Reduction in social welfare estimated at 2,043 M €, where consumer surplus decreased by 2,622 M € and net producer surplus, affected and non-affected producers, increased by 579 M €.
Keywords: Risk assessment; pine wood nematode; economic analysis; EU; Crop Production/Industries; Risk and Uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-09-02
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Assessment of social, economic, and environmental aspects of woody biomass energy utilization: Direct burning and wood pellets

Author
Sho Nishiguchi and Tomohiro Tabata
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, vol. 57, issue C, pages 1279-1286

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss the social, economic, and environmental aspects of utilizing woody biomass for energy. We first conducted a questionnaire survey to determine which energy utilization methods were preferred in Japan and to collect the data on the cost, workforce, and energy production relevant to each energy utilization method. The results of the survey indicated that energy recovery by direct combustion and combusting wood pellets were the preferred methods. Subsequently, we employed input–output analysis to compare certain factors pertaining to the two preferred energy utilization methods. The factors were compared in relation to energy generation from the unutilized woody biomass in Japan, which amounts to 8.58 million tonne annually. The relevant factors were the social effects of employment creation, the economic effect, and the reduction of CO2 emissions. As a result, however, as direct burning has advantages on 13.7 million tonne of CO2 emission reduction, there are few impacts on increase of production and employment creation. In addition, we found that combusting the wood pellets was advantageous because of the increase in production (981 million USD) and the creation of employment opportunities (24,700 jobs).
Keywords: Woody biomass; Wood pellets; Direct burning; Input–output table; Economic ripple effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Assessment of Fuel Wood Values and the Influence of Wood Cutting on the Easily Flooded Plain Woodland of the Sahelian Area, Cameroon

Author
Moksia Froumsia, Louis Zapfack, Pierre Marie Mapongmetsem and Bernard-Aloys Nkongmeneck
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Journal of Life Sciences Research, 2016, vol. 3, issue 2, 18-29

Abstract: The study focused on fuel wood economic value and the influences of woody cutting on woody species in the flooded plains woodland area. Sahelian woodland suffers from cutting down trees for fuel wood, to insure household energy demands. Investigations were carried out near a sample of users of resources and an inventory of stems of exploited species in woodland. Households in 15 villages and four markets were explored and 496 actors included in the exploitation and the use of firewood and charcoal, as regard 204 men and 292 women, were interviewed individually. Fuel wood quantity and economic value was made through a register. Through 48 transects of 2 000 m length and 20 m each, the availability, the intensity of cutting down trees, measurements and observations were made and noted on stems. Stems which the circumference > 10 cm were counted and their diameter was measured. The sources of domestic energy mostly used were firewood and charcoal which remained easily accessible and available. Completely stem cut down and partial stems cut were noted as the exploitation mode. The charcoal was produced traditionally, using furnace. Significant quantity of firewood (2186.59 t) and charcoal (28340 t) were estimated. It varied periodically a year with a substantial drop. The quantity sale represent 95 % and brought annual income of 122035.8 $ (Firewood) and 31 630 $ (charcoal). The incomes contributed significantly in the rural households’ economy and brought an additive to their much reduced agricultural yields. A number of 33 woody species were noted as the mostly exploited for fuel wood. Among them Anogeissus leiocarpus, Balanites aegyptiaca, Prosopis Africana, Detarium microcarpum and Pseudocedrela kotschyi were firstly mention. The total number of stumps and the partial cut of stems were significant representing respectively 20.91 % and 9.64 % of stems counted. The exploitation was intensive and selective on stems. Cutting down of stems was constituted a major factor for requested species degradation. Results indicated evidence of the impacts of fuel wood exploitation on the woody species. The study concludes that fuel wood yield in the sahelian woodland has not yet reached alarming proportions and can be contained. It could be an imperative to set up an alternative system to ensure sustainable management of resources. Solutions through introduction and popularization of natural gas, biogas, solar energy and the improved hearths could effectively contribute to reduce the intensity of this activity and to guarantee the maintenance of the ecological balance on the already fragile sahelian ecosystems.
Keywords: Wood; Cutting; Impacts; Woodland; Sahel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Wood-to-energy expansion, forest ownership changes, and mill closure: Consequences for U.S. South's wood supply chain

Author
Joseph L. Conrad IV, M. Chad Bolding, W. Michael Aust and Robert L. Smith
Forest Policy and Economics, 2010, vol. 12, issue 6, pages 399-406

Abstract: The U.S. South's wood supply chain has undergone major changes over the past two decades in terms of forestland ownership and forest industry structure. Recent interest in producing energy from wood has raised questions about how a vibrant wood-energy market will impact the traditional southern wood supply chain. By using a survey of consulting foresters, this study examined how harvest tract size, forest ownership, and forest industry structure have changed within the U.S. South and how foresters expect the wood-energy market to impact the wood supply chain in the future. Results indicate that there are currently inadequate markets for timber as a result of expanded timber supply and reduced forest products industry capacity. Only 12% of respondents reported having sold timber to an energy facility, although 98% of respondents report their clients are willing to sell to an energy facility. In addition, 89% of respondents believe that a vibrant wood-energy market will provide an additional market for timber and will not displace forest products industry capacity. This study found excess logging capacity as evidenced by frequent mill quotas; however, an aging logging workforce and tight credit markets make logging capacity uncertain in the long term as the U.S. economy rebounds from recession and wood-energy demand increases. The percentage of respondents reporting an average harvest tract size over 16 ha (40 ac) decreased from 95% in 1999, to 70% in 2009, and only 47% predict an average harvest tract size over 16 ha (40 ac) in 2019. This study suggests that the southern wood supply chain is in position to take advantage of an expanded wood-energy market; however, decreasing harvest tract sizes, increasing urbanization, and a decline in the forest products industry are lingering issues for landowners, mills, foresters, and loggers in the South.
Keywords: Forest; products; industry; Wood-to-energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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From wood pellets to wood chips, risks of degradation and emissions from the storage of woody biomass – A short review

Author
Esa Alakoski, Miia Jämsén, David Agar, Elina Tampio and Margareta Wihersaari
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, vol. 54, issue C, pages 376-383

Abstract: The compounds in stored woody biomass degrade as a result of chemical and/or biological processes during storage. These processes produce gaseous emissions. Recent studies concerning gaseous emissions from wood pellet storages are reviewed herein. The applicability of the results from pellet research to wood chips is discussed. Thorough scientific understanding on the storage phenomena of wood chips is extremely important as the threat of climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increased need to large scale wood chip storage to ensure supply. Typically the gases produced from stored woody biomasses are carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and other volatile hydrocarbons e.g. aldehydes and terpenes. CO2 and CH4 are greenhouse gases with high global warming potential. Chemical degradation via auto-oxidation of fats and fatty-acids seems to be the dominant mechanism for off-gassing from stored wood pellets, whereas biological processes are mainly responsible for the gaseous emission from wood chips. In confined storage spaces gaseous emissions may lead to oxygen depletion. Oxygen depletion together with a high CO concentration poses a serious health risk for those working in such conditions. The degradation processes also result in dry matter losses and in spontaneous heating and in the worst case, especially in large piles, spontaneous ignition of the stored material. Thorough and systematic scientific studies on degradation processes and their effects are needed in order to understand and minimise risks from large scale wood chips storage to human health, environment and property.
Keywords: Emissions; Degradation; Risks; Biomass storage; Wood pellets; Wood chips (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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STATE INVESTMENT SUPPORT IN THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX OF RUSSIA AND ROSTOV REGION

Author
Vladimir V. Kuznetsov and Irina Y. Soldatova
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Journal of Applied Management and Investments, 2012, vol. 1, issue 4, pages 485-494

Abstract: In article justified that one of the main objectives for the agricultural sector is to create a market for innovation and investment, to address the issue of self-financing and increase the competitiveness of the domestic agricultural sector. Of particular importance in this regard is the state budget, and administrative support for investment - namely, the institutional structure of the state, the quantitative and qualitative measures of national support: federal and regional, external economic support measures.
Keywords: investment policy; Russian agricultural sector; government support; agricultural producers; investment support; agricultural innovation; Rostov region (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Can mangrove plantation enhance the functional diversity of macrobenthic community in polluted mangroves?

Published Date
Received 2 October 2016, Revised 18 January 2017, Accepted 23 January 2017, Available online 26 January 2017

Author

• Jonathan Y.S. Leung^a, b, , , 
• Napo K.M. Cheung^a, c

• ^a Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
• ^b School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
• ^c Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.043

Highlights

•

How plantation affects the functional diversity of macrobenthic community is studied.

•

The biological traits of macrobenthos are analyzed in different habitats and months.

•

Mangrove plantation can enhance functional diversity, depending on seasonality.

•

Pollution leads to the persistence of typical traits of opportunistic species.

•

Pollution control and plantation should be done to fully recover degraded mangroves.

---

Abstract

Mangrove plantation is widely applied to re-establish the plant community in degraded mangroves, but its effectiveness to restore the ecological functions of macrobenthic community remains poorly known, especially when pollution may overwhelm its potential positive effect. Here, we tested the effect of mangrove plantation on the ecological functions of macrobenthic community in a polluted mangrove by analyzing biological traits of macrobenthos and calculating functional diversity. Mangrove plantation was shown to enhance the functional diversity and restore the ecological functions of macrobenthic community, depending on seasonality. Given the polluted sediment, however, typical traits of opportunistic species (e.g. small and short-lived) prevailed in all habitats and sampling times. We conclude that mangrove plantation can help diversify the ecological functions of macrobenthic community, but its effectiveness is likely reduced by pollution. From the management perspective, therefore, pollution sources must be stringently regulated and mangrove plantation should be conducted to fully recover degraded mangroves.

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Molluscan diversity in the mangrove ecosystem of Mumbai, west coast of India

Published Date
Received 16 December 2016, Revised 6 June 2017, Accepted 6 June 2017, Available online 12 June 2017

Author

• G. Kantharajan^a, 
• P.K. Pandey^b, , , 
• P. Krishnan^c, 
• V. Deepak Samuel^c, 
• V.S. Bharti^a, 
• R. Purvaja^c

• ^a ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Off Yari Road, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai 400061, India
• ^b College of Fisheries, CAU (I), Lembucherra, Tripura 799210, India
• ^c National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, MoEFCC, Anna University Campus, Guindy, Chennai 600025, India

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2017.06.002

Highlights

•

Molluscan diversity of mangrove ecosystem of Mumbai, India has been studied.

•

A total of 61 molluscs, represented by 46 gastropods, 14 bivalves and 1 polyplacophora has been documented.

•

Two gastropods, Salinator fragilis and Auriculastra subula were reported for the first time from the West Coast of India.

•

The results aid in identifying sensitive areas and in preparing region-specific conservation management plan.

---

Abstract

Ever increasing human population, habitat destruction and pollution along the Mumbai coast are some of the major threats to molluscan fauna. Molluscs form a major group of organisms that makes-up an integral part of mangrove ecosystems. A study, carried out in 8 mangrove areas of Mumbai, west coast of India, from August 2015 to May 2016, revealed a distribution of 61 molluscan species, represented by 46 gastropods, 14 bivalves and 1 polyplacophora. The number of species reported from the study is the second highest for the mangrove ecosystems of India, after Andaman and Nicobar Islands mangroves. The study also reports 2 new distributional records for gastropods, namely Salinator fragilis and Auriculastra subula. The molluscan diversity was the highest in the mangroves of Versova, north-western Mumbai. The molluscan species diversity from mangrove ecosystem along the Mumbai coast has been documented in detail in order to provide useful baseline data for supporting conservation management.

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This Microscopic Image Shows the Glands in a Spider's Abdomen From which Researcher Collected Doubl (IMAGE)

CAPTION

This microscopic image shows the glands in a spider's abdomen from which researcher collected double threads of dragline silk.

CREDIT

Dabiao Liu and Kai Peng of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

USAGE RESTRICTIONS

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Strange silk: Why rappelling spiders don't spin out of control

Dragline silk from golden orb weaver spiders dissipates energy to prevent spinning

 

IMAGE: THE GOLDEN SILK ORB WEAVER (NEPHILA PILIPES) CREATES DRAGLINE SILK THAT PREVENTS IT FROM SPINNING WHILE HANGING FROM ITS WEB.view more 

CREDIT: KAI PENG OF HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 7, 2017 -- The last time you watched a spider drop from the ceiling on a line of silk, it likely descended gracefully on its dragline instead of spiraling uncontrollably, because spider silk has an unusual ability to resist twisting forces.

In a new paper appearing this week in Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, researchers from China and the U.K. showed that unlike human hair, metal wires or synthetic fibers, spider silk partially yields when twisted. This property quickly dissipates the energy that would otherwise send an excited spider spinning on the end of its silk.

"Spider silk is very different from other, more conventional materials," said Dabiao Liu of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. "We find that the dragline from the web hardly twists, so we want to know why."

A greater understanding of how spider silk resists spinning could lead to biomimetic fibers that mimic these properties for multiple potential uses such as in violin strings, helicopter rescue ladders and parachute cords. "If we understood how spider silk achieves this, then maybe we could incorporate the properties into our own synthetic ropes," said David Dunstan of Queen Mary University of London.

Spiders use dragline silk for the outer rim and spokes of their webs, and as a lifeline when dropping to the ground. The material has intrigued scientists because of its incredible strength, stretchiness and ability to conduct heat, but little research has focused on its torsional properties -- how it responds to twisting.

Researchers used a torsion pendulum, the same tool used by Henry Cavendish to weigh the Earth in the 1790s, to investigate dragline silk from two species of golden silk orb weavers. They collected strands of silk from captive spiders and suspended the strands inside a cylinder using two washers at the end to mimic a spider. The cylinder isolated the silk from environmental disturbances and kept the strand at a constant humidity, because water can cause the fibers to contract. A rotating turntable twisted the silk while a high-speed camera recorded the silk's back and forth oscillations over hundreds of cycles.

Unlike synthetic fibers and metals, spider silk deforms slightly when twisted, which releases more than 75 percent of its potential energy, and the oscillations rapidly slow. After twisting, the silk partially snaps back.

The team suspects that this unusual behavior is linked to the silk's complex physical structure, consisting of a core of multiple fibrils inside a skin. Each fibril has segments of amino acids in organized sheets and others in unstructured looping chains. They propose that torsion causes the sheets to stretch like elastic, and warp the hydrogen bonds linking the chains, which deform like plastic. The sheets can recover their original shape, but the chains remain partially deformed. The pendulum exhibits this change with reduced magnitude of the silk's oscillations, as well as a shifting of the equilibrium point of the oscillation.

The group will continue to investigate how spider silk reacts to twisting in this way and is also looking into how it maintains its stiffness during torsion, what effect humidity has and to what degree air helps dissipate the energy. "There is a lot of further work needed," Dunstan said. "This spider silk is displaying a property that we simply don't know how to recreate ourselves, and that is fascinating."

###

The article, "Peculiar torsion dynamical response of spider dragline silk," is authored by Dabiao Liu, Longteng Yu, Yuming He, Kai Peng, Jie Liu, Juan Guan and D. J. Dunstan. The article appeared in Applied Physics Letters July 5, 2017 (DOI: 10.1063/1.4990676) and can be accessed at http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4990676.

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Applied Physics Letters features concise, rapid reports on significant new findings in applied physics. The journal covers new experimental and theoretical research on applications of physics phenomena related to all branches of science, engineering, and modern technology. See http://apl.aip.org.

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Purpose in life by day linked to better sleep at night

Older adults whose lives have meaning enjoy better sleep quality and less sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome

• Cultivating purpose in life could be drug-free strategy to improve sleep
• Findings similar in whites and African Americans
• Older adults have more insomnia and sleep disturbances

CHICAGO --- Having a good reason to get out of bed in the morning means you are more likely to sleep better at night with less sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome, reports a new Northwestern Medicine and Rush University Medical Center study based on older adults.

This is the first study to show having a purpose in life specifically results in fewer sleep disturbances and improved sleep quality and over a long period of time. Previous research showed having a purpose in life generally improves overall sleep when measured at a single point in time.

Although the participants in the study were older, researchers said the findings are likely applicable to the broader public.

"Helping people cultivate a purpose in life could be an effective drug-free strategy to improve sleep quality, particularly for a population that is facing more insomnia," said senior author Jason Ong, an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Purpose in life is something that can be cultivated and enhanced through mindfulness therapies."

The paper will be published Sunday, July 9, in the journal Sleep Science and Practice.

Individuals have more sleep disturbances and insomnia as they get older. Clinicians prefer to use non-drug interventions to improve patients' sleep, a practice now recommended by the American College of Physicians as a first line treatment for insomnia, Ong said.

The next step in the research should be to study the use of mindfulness-based therapies to target purpose in life and resulting sleep quality, said Arlener Turner, the study's first author and a former postdoctoral fellow in neurology at Feinberg.

The 823 participants -- non-demented individuals 60 to 100 years old with an average age of 79 -- were from two cohorts at Rush University Medical Center. More than half were African American and 77 percent were female.

People who felt their lives had meaning were 63 percent less likely to have sleep apnea and 52 percent less likely to have restless leg syndrome. They also had moderately better sleep quality, a global measure of sleep disturbance.

For the study, participants answered a 10-question survey on purpose in life and a 32-question survey on sleep. For the purpose in life survey, they were asked to rate their response to such statements as, "I feel good when I think of what I've done in the past and what I hope to do in the future."

The next step in the research should be to study the use of mindfulness-based therapies to target purpose in life and resulting sleep quality, Turner said.

Poor sleep quality is related to having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep and feeling sleepy during the day. Sleep apnea is a common disorder that increases with age in which a person has shallow breathing or pauses in breathing during sleep several times per hour. This disruption often makes a person feel unrefreshed upon waking up and excessively sleepy during the day.

Restless leg syndrome causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs and an irresistible urge to move them. Symptoms commonly occur in the late afternoon or evening hours and are often most severe at night when a person is resting, such as sitting or lying in bed.

###

This research was supported by grants R01AG22018, P30G10161, R01AG17917, P20MD6886 from National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and the Illinois department of public health. The cohorts were from the Minority Aging Research Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project.

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'Extinct' elephant may have been found again -- on a different island

?

IMAGE: PYGMY ELEPHANT WITH RADIO COLLAR.view more 

CREDIT: CEDE PRUDENTE

Washington - The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to the island of Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race - accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, suggests an article co-authored by World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The origins of the pygmy elephants, found only on the northeast tip of the island in part of the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behavior differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned why they never dispersed to other parts of the island.

But today's paper, published in the peer-reviewed Sarawak Museum Journal, supports a long-held local belief that the elephants were brought to Borneo centuries ago by the Sultan of Sulu, now in the Philippines, and later abandoned in the jungle. The Sulu elephants, in turn, are thought to have originated in Java, an Indonesian island that is across the Javan Sea from Borneo.

"Just one fertile female and one fertile male elephant, if left undisturbed in enough good habitat, could in theory end up as a population of 2,000 elephants within less than 300 years," said Junaidi Payne of World Wildlife Fund, one of the paper's co-authors. "And that may be what happened in practice here."

Javan elephants became extinct sometime in the period after Europeans arrived in Southeast Asia. Elephants on Sulu, never considered native to the island, were hunted out in the 1800s.

"Elephants were shipped from place to place across Asia many hundreds of years ago, usually as gifts between rulers," said Mr. Shim Phyau Soon, a retired Malaysian forester whose ideas on the origins of the elephants partly inspired the current research. "It's exciting to consider that the forest-dwelling Borneo elephants may be the last vestiges of a subspecies that went extinct on its native Java Island, in Indonesia, centuries ago."

If the Borneo pygmy elephants are in fact elephants from Java, an island more than 800 miles south of their current range, it could be the first known elephant translocation in history that has survived to modern times, providing scientists with critical data from a centuries-long experiment. Their possible origins in Java make them even more a conservation priority.

Scientists solved part of the mystery in 2003, when DNA testing by Columbia University and WWF found that the Borneo elephants were genetically distinct from Sumatran or mainland Asian elephants, leaving either Borneo or -under this new theory- Java as the most probable source.

The new paper, "Origins of the Elephants Elephas Maximus L. of Borneo," shows that there is no archaeological evidence of a long-term elephant presence on Borneo, thus making Java the possible source.

There are perhaps just 1,000 of the elephants in the wild, mostly in the Malaysian state of Sabah. WWF has captured and placed satellite collars on 11 elephants since 2005 to track them since they had never been studied before. The study has shown they prefer the same lowland habitat that is being increasingly cleared for timber, rubber and palm oil plantations.

By satellite tracking of some of these elephants, WWF unknowingly may have been investigating the history of a very old experiment: the introduction of elephants from one island, where they eventually went extinct, to another, where they are still alive, said Michael Stuewe, elephant biologist for World Wildlife Fund.

"Unraveling the secrets of this experiment would be invaluable for conservation as it would guide our efforts with many species that are facing extinction today," Stuewe said. "I can only hope that the fierce competition Borneo's elephants face from commercial plantation industries for the forests they call their home does not interfere with their very survival."

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For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The largest multinational conservation organization in the world, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level, from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature. For more information on WWF, visit www.worldwildlife.org.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• The full report, "Origins of the Elephants Elephas Maximus L. of Borneo," can be downloaded at: http://assets.panda.org/downloads/pages_from_originofelephants_in_borneofinal2oct07_2.pdf.

• Borneo pygmy elephants are smaller than mainland Asian elephants. The males may only grow to less than 2.5 meters, while mainland Asian elephants grow up to 3 meters. They also have babyish faces, larger ears, longer tails that reach almost to the ground and are more rotund. These elephants are also less aggressive than other Asian elephants. The scientific name is Elephas maximus and they are sometimes referred to as Elephas maximus borneensis, although they have not been officially determined to be a separate subspecies from mainland Asian elephants.

• The elephants are found primarily in the state of Sabah in Borneo Malaysia, with a few individuals having a part of their home range across the border in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

• Large areas of Borneo's forest are being rapidly cleared and replaced with tree plantations for rubber, palm oil and timber production and satellite tracking has found that the pygmy elephants prefer the same flat, lowland forest as commercial industries do, leading to competition for habitat.

• An ambitious initiative is under way to conserve the "Heart of Borneo." WWF is working to assist Borneo's three nations (Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei) to conserve the area known as the Heart of Borneo - a total of six million acres of equatorial rain forest - through a network of protected areas and sustainably managed forest.

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