Borneo Government cancels coal plants

Good evening everyone

My friends and I finally found the time to explore the world. Our journey starts in Borneo.
I would like to take the time to tell you something more about this country.
Borneo is an island with rich rainforests, pristine beaches, and a tourism/fishing-dependent economy. So it is hard to think of a worse place to build a coal-fired power plant here.

This week there was some great news for all the involving activists in the world.
The government ended a three year saga led by a strong grassroots coalition.
It announced this week it would pursue alternative power options.

Cynthia Ong (born and raised in Sabah) organized a coalition of local and regional groups to fight the power plant. They used social network tools such as Change.org, facebook and twitter, and many people got involved.
They used a good tactic because they showed renewable energy alternatives, rather than a campaign against coal power.

Cynthia Ongo worked with LEAP(Land Empowerment Animals People) to present the issue to prisoners. These prisoners were inspired to write letters to the Prime Minister Najib Razak.
LEAP also recruited a filmmaker to travel to Borneo and worked with young local filmmakers to put together a video.

In my opinion this is great news! Borneo is a extremely beautiful country. A real diamond of mother nature! It would be a disaster to create a coal plant to provide us from enough power.
Technology allows us to come up with alternative power options.
When activists and other people come together to make a point they can achieve a lot.
It makes me happy that people want to make an effort to make this world a better place to live in.

I will write a new blog when we arrive in our next country.
Greetings Sarina

Source: Jess Leber · February 19, 2011
http://news.change.org/stories/victory-borneo-government-cancels-coal-plant

Economic activites of Borneo

We started our trip in the beautiful country Borneo. Borneo isn't a very well known country and it certainly isn't a main vacaction destination so with this blog we'll try to expand your knownledge about the country.

So first of all let's get a look at the economic activies of the country.

Borneo has two main industries and the first one is the processing of food and forest products.
The agriculture provides a livelihood for most of the people although the farms are generally small and most of the farmers produce barely enough food for their own needs.
The chief crop that they produce is rice but tobacco , cassava , sugarcane , spices and cotton are also grown. On the larger estates the major products include rubber , palm , oil , coffee and tea.
Another very important economic activity is the production of timber and related products from the vast forests of the country.
Also the rivers and coastal waters play an important role in the agriculture because they provide the country with a large supply of fish.

The second main industrie is without a doubt oil refining.
Oil is the most valuable mineral resource and the principal producing fields are located in Brunei.

Because Borneo is an island the rivers also provide the chief inland transportation routes. Among the main ones are the Kapuas and Mahakam rivers.
Some cities like Balikpapan and Pontianak also have ports capable of handling oceangoing vessels. Railways are found only in Sabah and Brunei because the roads are mainly near large cities and towns. Airlines provide foreign service and link Borneo's major cities.

Borneo river

The beautiful rain forests and nature don't only give the special touch to Borneo but their entire economie is based on it. So in my opinion Borneo is a beautiful example of a country that proves how important it is to take care of our nature instead of destroying it by placing buildings on it.

I hope you now have a better image of Borneo and if you ever get the chance to visit this beautiful country , I would say: Grab it with your both hands!

Greetings,
Nelson

Source:  http://geography.howstuffworks.com/asia/geography-of-borneo1.htm