The Tesso Nilo forest on Sumatra, Indonesia, contains more biological diversity than the Amazon. It is home to elephants, tigers, gibbons, and tapirs, and a recent survey conducted by scientists from the World Wildlife Fund found as many as 218 vascular plant species in just 0.05 acres. But the entire forest could disappear in less than eight years, according to the WWF (or within four years, according to the World Bank’s more dire prediction) if clearcutting and illegal logging continues apace. The Swiss-based WWF urged Indonesia to set aside Tesso Nilo as a protected area and called on foreign countries, especially the G-8, to stop the international trade in illegally logged timber.
