• Md Mamunur Rashid
• Nasir Ahmad

This paper studies the relationships between transport, economy, and the environment in colonial northwest Borneo. The physical environment of northwest Borneo was significantly linked to the economic changes and growing transport system. Economic activities and multiple transport networks influenced each other. During the colonial period, the British administration introduced modern steam navigation, road transportation, and railway in the region for economic and communicational purposes, which led to remarkable ecological changes. This paper shows how economic activities shaped transport systems and how this relationship between the economy and transport systems impacted physical environments in northwest Borneo. Recent historical works suggest that the colonial transport system significantly affected the forest, wildlife, climate, land, and people of northwest Borneo. In particular, the colonial period saw an unusual extent of deforestation, which impacted the region on two spatial scales. The direct ecological impact of deforestation resulted from timber trade, rubber, and railway-road construction. At a more indirect level, the links between transport and deforestation could be found in the global expansion of transport systems and motor vehicles. Much of the rubber plantation took place at the expense of forests and catered to the need for motor tires for vehicles running in North America, Europe, and beyond. The paper, therefore, explains how market demands at regional and global levels influenced the transport networks and how those networks were built at the expense of natural resources with implications for terrestrial ecology and climate.

Environment, Transport, Colonial, Road

"Economy, Transport, and the Environment in Colonial Northwest Borneo: An Environmental Historical Perspective", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 12, page no.a923-a935, December-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2412082.pdf

"Economy, Transport, and the Environment in Colonial Northwest Borneo: An Environmental Historical Perspective", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 12, page no. ppa923-a935, December-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2412082.pdf