We are saddened to share the news that Matthew Ding Ajang, a staff member of our local partner TONIBUNG, in Malaysian Borneo passed away this week from a heart attack. Matthew, a technician, was visiting a micro-hydro site in Long Liam with Green Empowerment’s Gabe Wynn and local leaders. His last...
Miri – Malaysian indigenous communities gathered in Miri, Sarawak for a one day conference and workshop. The objective of the event is to start collaboration among indigenous communities in the three regions in overcoming the challenges they are facing relating to their native customary lands. The event was organised by...
Civil society representatives lobby in Bern for the fair and transparent return of $104 million to the Malaysian public (BERN, SWITZERLAND) Swiss lawmakers confirmed in a meeting with civil society organizations on Tuesday that the Malaysian government never made an attempt to claim $104 million Swiss francs (MYR 400 million)...
Judge says he cannot give a private prosecutor more powers than the police. (TORONTO, CANADA) The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has dismissed an application by the Swiss NGO, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), for the disclosure of financial data on the Malaysian Taib family’s businesses in Canada. BMF had...
Ontario Superior Court of Justice to hear case on $200 million real estate group linked to Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud (MONTREAL, CANADA) A civil society delegation from the Malaysian state of Sarawak is touring the Canadian East Coast this week in order to create public awareness for the struggle...
Here is our wrap up of 2017 Borneo Project news. LAND RIGHTS UNDER THREAT Native Customary Rights protections challenged in court In October, the Federal Court of Malaysia overturned a decision of the High Court and the Court of Appeal and stripped land rights protections from indigenous communities in Sarawak....
63 Penan communities celebrate the completion of a series of 23 high quality maps representing their land, culture and history (SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) Over the weekend, the indigenous Penan people of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo celebrated the completion of their 15-year long community mapping effort. 23 maps contain data collected...
Supplier of wood for Tokyo’s new National Olympic Stadium accused of destroying Indigenous livelihoods SARAWAK / MALAYSIA – On the anniversary of the first Tokyo Olympics, Matu Tugang, headman of the Indigenous Penan community of Long Jaik from Sarawak, Malaysia, delivered an urgent plea to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe...
TOKYO/LIMA – Today, 47 civil society organizations delivered an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 Olympic authorities, at the start of the IOC Executive Board Meeting in Lima, Peru. The letter reiterated grave and mounting concerns about the legitimacy and accountability of IOC sustainability commitments and the reputation...
Learning how to manage forests in Bario: On our recent trip to Sarawak we visited Bario, a community in the Kelabit Highlands. We wanted to learn about the consultation and management process for the Pulong Tau National Park, a large protected area nearby. We planted trees and chatted with Lian, one of only three rangers...
