A paper published this week in Nature Climate Change confirms that expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia is destroying the country’s rainforests while simultaneously increasing global carbon emissions. The study, led by Yale and Stanford University researchers, used Landsat satellite analyses to discern multiple land covers, coupled with above-and below-ground carbon accounting. The study...
Survival International recently announced that “Indonesia treats its indigenous and tribal people, especially in West Papua, worse than any other country in the world.” This finding, surprisingly, comes after the Indonesian Government adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples back in September, 2007. Read below to learn more....
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling for international support to demand an end to the intimidation of an indigenous community in Indonesia as well as the destruction of its forests by plantation firms. Two companies are clearing forests and farmland belonging to the Dayak Benuaq of Muara Tae, while the...
In a petition delivered yesterday to the Chief Minister of Sarawak, the Baram people protested the plans to build the Baram mega-dam. The project would flood half the size of Singapore and displace thousands of Baram residents from their ancestral lands, homes, and farms. Thomas Jalong, President of Indigenous Peoples’ Network...
The High Court recently ruled against a joint petition by Penan and Kelabit people in Limbang to save their forest lands from the greed of Chief Minister Taib’s timber and plantation allies, Samling Global and the Hii family. The judge based his ruling on the failure of the natives of...
According to a study published last year in the journal Global Change Biology, Indonesia and Malaysia lost more than 11 million hectares (42,470 square miles) of forest between 2000 and 2010. Borneo was on the top of list, losing 12 percent of its 2000 cover. Lowland forests historically have been...
The Indonesian palm oil firm, PT Suryamas Cipta Perkasa, illegally cleared thousands of hectares of forest in Borneo and is now under investigation from a presidential taskforce for failing to receive mandatory environmental approvals before clearing the land. The investigation is a test to Indonesia’s pledge to better regulate forest clearing...
The German company Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG from Stuttgart has come under international pressure due to their close cooperation with power supplier Sarawak Energy in a controversial dam project in the rainforest of Borneo. The Baram Dam would flood a rainforest area of at least 400km2 and displace 20,000...
Villagers affected by the Bengoh dam who had initially agreed to be resettled with the condition that they were given houses, land, and basic infrastructure, are having second thoughts. In addition to being kept in the dark about the resettlement schedule, a logging company has moved onto the land the...
Ram Sing, a senior practicing lawyer in Borneo, asserted that Native Customary Rights (NCR) in Sabah have existed since time immemorial through the practice of customs or Adat by the indigenous population. Furthermore, no legislation can remove these rights since they are provided under the Sabah Land Ordinance and Forest...
