The dataset was gathered to assess the Bornean people's perceptions of the importance of their forests. 

The data was gathered by interview survey. Two interview surveys were completed.

A survey was conducted in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. The survey was conducted by 19 local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) over a period of 15 months from April 2008 to September 2009, and involved interviews with 6,983 people in 687 villages within the general distribution range of orangutan in Kalimantan. The original dataset of 6,983 interviews was reduced to 4,973 because of doubts about the reliability of some of the responses. A further 56 interviews were performed in six villages in the Malaysian State of Sabah.

The survey questionnaire comprised 32 questions and 34 optional sub-questions that were divided into a number of sections focusing on basic socio-demographic information, assessment of interviewee reliability, and questions on perceptions of forest values and wildlife.
 
The dataset presents correlations (r) between the following indices: (1) Direct economic uses; (2) Other forest uses; (3) Environmental health benefits; (4) Direct health benefits; (5) Ecosystem services (sum of indices 3,4 and Cultural and spiritual importance); (6) Advantages of small-scale clearing; (7) Advantages of large-scale clearing; (8) Disadvantages of large-scale clearing. Moderately large values are presented in bold.