NGOs push EU to label Sarawak as ‘high risk’ source of timber, palm oil

Deforestation for oil palm plantation in Sarawak. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Originally published on Mongabay, 9 October 2024, by Danielle Keeton-Olsen A coalition of Indigenous and human rights groups are hoping new European Union trade regulations could help pressure timber and oil palm industries in Malaysia’s Sarawak state into respecting Indigenous land rights and implementing better land-use consent practices. The international...

Read More >

HRW Assesses Sarawak’s Timber And Palm Oil Industries

Capture from BFM radio: HRW Assesses Sarawak's Timber and Palm Oil Industries

Podcast originally aired by BFM Radio Guest: Luciana Téllez Chávez, Senior Environment & Human Rights Researcher, Human Rights Watch Click here to listen to the story. Human Rights Watch wants Sarawak to be classified as high-risk for deforestation under the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR). This is based on HRW’s joint one-year-long...

Read More >

EU urged to designate Sarawak as ‘high risk‘ under anti-deforestation law

Logging companies often illegally cut roads into forests on indigenous land (© Rettet den Regenwald / Mathias Rittgerott

A coalition of environmental and Indigenous groups has called on the EU to designate Sarawak as high risk under its anti-deforestation law. Sarawak’s extensive deforestation and Indigenous rights violations pose serious risks, prompting calls for stricter EU import checks on timber and palm oil products from the region. Originally published...

Read More >

EU Must Classify Sarawak Timber As “High Risk” Under New Rules Says Joint NGO Report

Map of timber and plantation concessions in Sarawak

Originally published in Sarawak Report The NGO Human Right Watch has, in collaboration with other international organisations, today issued a devastating report on Sarawak’s timber industry as it urges the European Union to categorise all Sarawak products as “High Risk” in advance of new laws to counter deforestation. The critique follows on...

Read More >

BFM: Keeping the Baram Peace Park Intact

In an interview with Juliet Jacobs of BFM Radio, Malaysia’s only independent radio station, our friend and partner Celine Lim talks about the ongoing struggle to save the Baram Peace Park. Celine is Managing Director of Sarawak-based Indigenous rights NGO SAVE Rivers, which upports and empowers Indigenous communities to protect...

Read More >

The best way to save forests? Legally recognize Indigenous lands.

Joseph Lee This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here. Recognizing and demarcating Indigenous lands leads to reduced deforestation and increased reforestation. That’s according to a new study that looked at more than 100 Indigenous territories in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and found that legal recognition...

Read More >