Satellite view of heath forest on Belitung Island, Indonesia Photograph by USGS   Indo-Malay Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   29,600 square miles (76,600 square kilometers) -- about the size of South Carolina Vulnerable

· Carnivores in the Kerangas
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Carnivores in the Kerangas

Carnivores reign supreme in these heath forests, which are called kerangas by local Indonesians. But it is not only animals that are consuming other animals, but also plants. Insect-eating pitcher plants, sundews, and bladderworts are all plentiful here.

Special Features

Heath forests can be found throughout the island of Borneo on raised beaches, sandstone plateaus, and ridges. These forests have a low, uniform, single-layered canopy, with densely packed trees and leaves that are smaller than those of other forests. Dipterocarp trees are prominent in the canopy and palms are common. Ground vegetation is sparse, but where it occurs, insect-eating plants dominate. Sundews have leaves covered with long red hairs that entrap insects. Bladderworts have hollow bags, or bladders, on the end of stalks, with the bladders’ entrances guarded by hairs. When an insect touches the hairs of a bladder, water from the plant is sucked inside along with the insect, which is then digested. Six species of pitcher plants can be found here as well.

	ghing close to 200 pounds (90 kg), an adult male orangutan is the largest truly arboreal animal--an animal that spends almost all of its time in trees. These "red apes" have such flexible hip joints and such hand-like feet that it seems as though they have four arms rather than two arms and two legs.

Wild Side

These forests have fewer animal species than many other kinds of forests because of poor soils and plants that defend themselves with toxic chemicals. Heath forests have no turtles and less than half the number of frog, lizard, and snake species found elsewhere on Borneo. Still, orangutans visit these forests, and the pygmy white-eye is a near-endemic bird species.

Cause for Concern

Although heath forests are not easily converted to agriculture, more than half of this ecoregion has been cleared by logging and burning. Once degraded, heath forests develop into an open savanna of shrubs and trees over sparse grasses, taking a very long time to return to forest. Two large blocks of intact habitat remain. Experts recommend that illegal logging and poaching need to be controlled and the remaining heath forests be placed under formal protection.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.