Borneo yields another treasure trove of rare new species

GLAND, Switzerland: As many as 52 new rare and exotic species of animals and plants have been identified in just one year on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, according to a report compiled by WWF.

Of these, 30 are unique fish species, two tree frog species, 16 ginger species, three tree species and one large-leafed plant species. The new discoveries bring the total number of species newly identified on the island, which is the world's third largest island, to more than 400 since 1994.

These new discoveries further reinforce the need to conserve the habitat and the species found on this island, said WWF Tuesday. They reaffirm Borneo's position as one of the most important centers of biodiversity in the world, said Stuart Chapman, WWF's international coordinator of the Heart of Borneo Program.

Scientists exploring the island have come across a miniature fish, which is the world's second smallest vertebrate, just measuring less than 1 centimeter in length. It is found in the acidic blackwater peat swamps of the island. Then there are six species of Siamese fighting fish -- one with a beautiful iridescent blue-green marking -- and a catfish with protruding teeth and an adhesive belly, which helps it to stick to rocks.

One of the plants identified during the study has bright white flowers and there is only a single leaf. The new species of ginger more than double the entire number of the Etlingera species found to date.

The Heart of Borneo program was launched two years ago, covering some 22 million hectares of rain forest land. Several of the species were found in a mostly mountainous region covered with equatorial rainforest in the center of the island. Conservationists are trying their best to protect the area from loggers, who have already cleared vast stretches of land for rubber, oil palm and pulp production. According to estimates, the average rate of deforestation in Indonesia is two million hectares per year.

The report said many of the peat swamps the study covered throughout Southeast Asia no longer exist and their fauna has become extinct. All the endemic fish species restricted to peat swamp forests of Borneo are thus highly endangered, it said.

Scientists feel that there could be thousands of other species, which are still to be identified and studied.

There are an estimated total of 15,000 plant species in Borneo, which makes it the highest plant diversity of any region on Earth. It also has the highest documented tree diversity in the world, at 1,175 species in a 52-hectare plot.

Borneo is also one of the two places in the world where the orangutan still survives, but unfortunately they are facing extinction because of the vast deforestation. The other threatened species in the island include clouded leopards, sun bears and endemic Bornean gibbons. The island also sustains at least 10 primates, 211 other mammals, some 350 species of birds and 150 reptiles and amphibians.

The three countries that jointly own Borneo -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei had declared their commitment to support a conservation initiative. However, a formal declaration to this effect is yet to be made.