New Google Earth tool maps deforestation, threatened forests in Sumatra

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and a coalition of Indonesian environmental groups known as Eyes on the Forest have released a new Google Earth-based tool (maps.eyesontheforest.or.id)that maps forests, land use, carbon stocks, and biodiversity across the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The project is based on a database compiled by experts working on the ground in Sumatra. It aims to boost transparency around land use in Sumatra, which has lost roughly half of its forests since 1985 due to agricultural expansion, mining, pulp and paper development, and oil palm plantations. Forest loss in Sumatra has put a number of charismatic animal species