MOUNT Bintan Besar, the highest point on Bintan Island, cannot really be called a mountain. Some 225 meters above sea level, it does not even have a volcanic crater. It covers just 320 hectares, which are densely packed with trees. At the foot of the mount, there is a small waterfall which residents throng to on the weekends.

“The protected forest in this village is only that place,” said Bintan Buyu village head Sunardi, full of conviction.