As the Sarawak government moves forward with requests for proposals (RFPs) for a new series of cascading hydropower dams across five major river systems, Indigenous leaders and civil society organisations are calling for full participation in decisions that could reshape Sarawak’s rivers and communities for generations. The proposed cascading dam...
Miri, Sarawak — Indigenous community representatives in Sarawak have expressed concern regarding the confiscation of timber harvested for the construction of a family home, while destructive large-scale logging activities continue to be permitted. “We harvested timber for personal, non-commercial use to build our family house on our ancestral land”, says Mutang Tuo, resident of...
Community leaders in Belaga are calling for a formal revenue-sharing mechanism that would ensure Indigenous communities directly benefit from the electricity generated by the Bakun Hydropower Project. The proposal was advanced through a working paper prepared by the Balui Lake Native Association (BLNA), chaired by Pemanca Tony Kulleh. The paper...
UPOV, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, is a global system of plant breeders’ rights. It gives legal monopoly rights to companies or institutions that develop “new” plant varieties. In Sarawak and across Malaysia, many Indigenous communities strongly oppose joining or aligning national law with...
Penan Community of Sawa Ali Forces Temporary Stop to Borneoland Timber Resources’ Logging Activities Miri, Sarawak — Logging operations by Borneoland Timber Resources (“Borneoland”) in the highly contested Upper Baram region have been temporarily halted. This marks a significant victory for the Indigenous Penan community of Sawa Ali, who have steadfastly resisted...
(Miri, Sarawak — December 18, 2025) Eleven Penan residents representing communities in Ulu Baram are weighing an appeal to the Malaysian Court of Appeal after the Miri High Court dismissed their challenge to logging licences issued by the Sarawak Forest Director and approved by the Minister of Natural Resources and...
It’s been a year of wins for The Borneo Project and our partners! From stopping destructive plantation expansion to securing the withdrawal of a major logging company from community forests, we’ve been pushing alongside Indigenous communities to defend the future of Borneo’s forests. Here are three major victories we’ve celebrated...
MIRI: A group that represents the majority of Long Semiyang has taken a decisive stand today by lodging a police report at the Miri Central Police Station against Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn Bhd, condemning the company’s logging activities in their Native Customary Rights (NCR) land. The group asserts that logging...
KUCHING, 26th November: A delegation of Sarawak Indigenous Peoples under Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS) organised a march on Monday to handover the Sarawak Native Rights Memorandum 2025 to Tan Sri Datuk Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly. The Sarawak Native Rights Memorandum 2025 outlines...
Dear Friends, As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about what it means to do this work in a place where the challenges never seem to end. Plantations continue to expand, logging companies push deeper into forests, and communities face immense pressure on their lands and livelihoods. And...
