Ficus apiocarpa, once a common climbing liana of peat swamp forest in Borneo, now rare.
NOTE : This herbarium collection L.1605990 is incorrectly listed on the Naturalis website as Ficus callosa which has yet to be recorded in Brunei although it is locally common in Sabah.
F. apiocarpa is rare due to the massive destruction of large areas of peat swamp forest throughout Borneo. The initial cause of destruction was the careless logging of Shorea albida, using canals to float out the logs. The canals acted as drains and were followed by fires that ravaged the logged forest when the peat dried out. Following the fires, large areas of peat swamp have been converted to oil palm plantations. In particular Sarawak has virtually no intact peat swamp forest left apart from the Maludam peninsula.
Fortunately Brunei Darussalam due to its conservation forest policy retains some of the finest peat swamp forest in Borneo which can be visited at the Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park.
