I recently returned home from South-East Asia after presenting at the 2015 Asia for Animals conference, as well as visiting friends of mine who work on the ‘frontline’ in wildlife protection.

Anyone who’s visited South-East Asia recently will tell you that there’s one thing you immediately notice — the smog. Indonesia is burning, and the consequences of widespread forest fires across much of the nation is being felt heavily across Borneo and many other parts of South-East Asia.

Forest fires have become a quick and easy method of clearing forests in the region. The deforested land is often used to grow plantations that produce palm oil — an ingredient found in about half of all supermarket products throughout Australia, Europe and Northern America.

The impacts of Indonesia’s fires aren’t just being felt locally. As forests our the lungs of our world, absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, burning them will continue to boost the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere in more ways than one — which is the last thing our planet needs.

Amidst the thick haze, however, I witnessed once again Borneo’s natural beauty, and I wanted to share some images I took. Seeing these incredible fauna and flora, and momentarily forgetting about the smog, offered a critical reminder of why we need to protect this precious place — and why destroying it for the sake of profit can never be right.

If you would like to learn more about the issue of deforestation for palm oil, you might like to head to my site — SayNotoPalmOil.com