Save our forest and stop the logging – Baram Penan communities send clear message from the forest to Sarawak’s capital
(KUCHING & BARAM / SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) Today, a delegation of Penan from the Upper Baram River Basin delivered a petition with over 500 signatures to government representatives at the Asia Pacific Forest Landscape Restoration Conference in Kuching. The petition includes signatures from 44 members of the directly affected village Ba Data Bila, as well as many more Penan from neighbouring communities. It was hand delivered to the Sarawak Deputy Premier Awang Tengah, the Director of Forests Datu Haji Hamden bin Mohammad, and Ramon Carrillo of the International Tropical Timber Organisation. The petition demands an immediate halt to logging activities by Borneoland Timber Resources. The petitioning villages form the Penan contingent of the Upper Baram Forest Area (UBFA), also known as the Baram Peace Park.
Resistance to logging in UBFA appears to be growing: last week 100 Penan from the Upper Baram met in Long Lamam and sent a clear message to the logging company and the responsible authorities in form of an Oro, a traditional Penan signpost, declaring: “Save our Forest!” During the discussions, they expressed their concern about ogging roads that are nearing the core conservation area of the community and government supported UBFA project. The representatives worry about the increasing tensions in the village of Ba Data Bila between the pro- and anti-logging factions. The pro-logging faction is led by the headman’s family, who signed a deal with the logging company. Critics of logging felt threatened in Ba Data Bila and decided to retreat to their farms.
Maria Nilson, a farmer from Ba Data Bila, expressed her concerns and hopes: “We are scared of the growing aggression in our village. Our delegation is here in Kuching today to ask the Premier and other representatives of the government to end the logging and bring peace back to our home and forest. We Penan have supported the UBFA project because we hoped to finally get development without destruction of our forest. Now despite the official recognition of the project, our worst fears have materialised.”
In early 2023, community representatives from all over the UBFA launched the UBFA Declaration. Through this document, Penan, Kenyah and Saban communities outlined their vision for development without losing their heritage, forest and culture to logging.
Last week, a satellite image analysis revealed how the logging roads by Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn. Bhd., linked to the Malaysian logging tycoon Hii King Chiong, are rapidly expanding in the UBFA despite contrary claims by the Forest Department Sarawak. Only recently the timber concession, now known as licence T/9246, changed hands from Samling to Borneo Timber Resources. Although all timber licences must be certified under Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Sarawak from 2022, no efforts for certification are known to be under way for this concession.