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At their closest point, the large islands of Sumatra and Borneo are 450 kilometres apart. They were connected by a land bridge in the recent geologic past, accounting for the similarity of species on the two islands. Sumatra and two-thirds of Borneo are part of Indonesia. The rest of Borneo is made up of the Sarawak and Sabah provinces of Malaysia and the tiny, wealthy Sultanate of Brunei. The rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, like rainforests throughout the world, are threatened by clear-cutting for agriculture, trade, and timber. Especially three of the most important protected areas on these islands, the Kayan Mentarang National Park and the Batang Ai National park (Borneo), and the Kerinci Seblat National Park (Sumatra), are threatened by encroaching deforestation around their borders. The lives and economic welfare of local communities are being disrupted by a growing number of people from outside, who are moving into the forest to exploit its resources.
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