The author signals that lowland tropical forests are being converted into agricultural lands at fast rate, especially in South East Asia. As he underlines, this has dire consequences for great apes; all species of great apes are categorized as (Critically) Endangered according to the IUCN Red List. The author explains that Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelli) could be the first of the great apes to face extinction, highlighting the agricultural deforestation taking place in the remote areas of Indonesia, and that access to information is limited, making difficult to take decisions and enforce law. However, in the case of the coastal peat swamp forest of Tripa, the author explains that NGOs have been able to use modern technology and field verification tools to access, gather, monitor and widely provide accurate and up-to-date evidence on pressing environmental issues (ex. deforestation trends, peat depths, fires).