Analysis reveals critical cracks in logging operations managed by timber giant Samling and certified by MTCS, a program endorsed by PEFC (Berkeley, US / Basel, Switzerland) A groundbreaking 100-page report released today by The Borneo Project and Bruno Manser Fonds reveals critical cracks in Malaysia’s government-endorsed Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS)....
The Penan of Ba Jawi reject logging and forest certification and want to continue their lives as nomads (BA JAWI / BARAM / SARAWAK) In a letter to Samling sent today, the remote Penan community of Ba Jawi in the upper reaches of the Baram river adamantly reject logging: “As...
Amid new official reports that confirm community claims, civil society calls for SIRIM to cancel timber giant Samling’s MTCS certificate for the Gerenai Forest Management Unit in Baram (MIRI / BARAM / SARAWAK) This week, five civil society and community organisations called on SIRIM QAS International Sdn to revoke the...
SAVE Rivers shocked as timber company uses its chairman’s name on webpage about community engagement in apparent attempt to enhance its image (MIRI / BARAM / SARAWAK) Local civil society organization SAVE Rivers was shocked to see their chairman’s name on Samling’s website in a description apparently intended to strengthen...
Dear Friends, I’ve just returned back to California from Malaysian Borneo, where Fi and I (the two-person staff of The Borneo Project) spent several weeks helping our partners, SAVE Rivers, prepare for a long-awaited trial against timber giant Samling. A few days before the trial was scheduled to start, we...
The Penan villages of Long Lamai and Ba Lai refuse to participate in the ongoing forest certification process and ask timber giant Samling to respect their territories (LONG LAMAI & BA LAI / BARAM / SARAWAK) The Penan communities of Long Lamai and Ba Lai have expressed their complete rejection...
As Malaysian timber giant Samling’s SLAPP suit against SAVE Rivers is adjourned for a fourth time, communities continue their fight against the logging company. Last week on the steps of High Court, in Miri, Sarawak, we witnessed a peaceful protest from community members from the Baram region of Sarawak, Malaysia....
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...
Introduction The Baram Heritage Survey (BHS) conducted 2 years of data collection in rural Indigenous communities of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The project hired and trained local people to collect social, economic, and ecological data, incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and building community ownership of the project. The resulting 90-page atlases...
In response to the recent statements made by Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, who claimed that logging posed no threat to the indigenous community in Baram, the organisations emphasize that such claims are unfounded. Logging has significantly altered the environmental balance of the virgin forest and led to damage to...
