Letter to Premier and Ministers alleges contraventions of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil standards, land rights, and lease conditions The Penan and Kenyah Indigenous communities of Long Urun, Belaga have issued an urgent call to the Sarawak Premier, key state department heads, and the federal Minister of Plantation and Commodities to...
This article was originally published at Green Agenda Australia In Sarawak, eucalyptus plantations are replacing biodiverse forests under the guise of “reforestation”. Indigenous communities fight to protect their lands while Australia continues to import timber grown on stolen territories. When I think back to the Black Summer of 2019-2020, I...
This article was originally published in Malaysiakini. The sound of a forest tree being felled tugs at some primal place of fear in our bodies – the thunder of a trunk losing its structural integrity, the ripping of vines and branches, then an eerie silent millisecond before its full weight...
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...
As part of a joint statement, The Borneo Project and other leading NGOs have called for greater inclusion and stronger action in the EU-Indonesia-Malaysia Joint Task Force on implementing the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). We are deeply concerned that recent discussions excluded key stakeholders, including Indigenous groups and smallholders, who...
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...
We hear a lot about how tropical rainforests are cleared for logging and palm oil at extraordinary rates, and how devastating this is for the climate. But in the last few years we have heard the seemingly fantastic news that Indonesia and Malaysia — the world’s two biggest palm oil...
Our new report is titled “Lost in Certification: How forest certification greenwashes Samling’s dirty timber and fools the international market”. It is a comprehensive analysis of the most recent land conflicts in the Baram region of Sarawak. It looks at the most shocking community claims against logging company Samling and...
In 2018, the Minister of Primary Industries of Malaysia Teresa Kok made a pledge that no forest would be cleared for new palm oil production in the country. In 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah reiterated the same commitment in response to a new EU law that aims to ban the...
While international experts and civil society discuss best practices for impact assessments at the ongoing IAIA conference in Kuching, FSC launches investigation into Samling’s “unacceptable activities” in Sarawak (KUCHING, MALAYSIA / BONN, GERMANY) This week, the Forest Stewardship Council FSC officially accepted a complaint against Malaysian timber giant Samling filed...
