Indigenous communities launch signature campaign against logging in Baram

Community members hold signs protesting lack of consultation in timber concessions

Originally published in Malaysiakini

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was amended to reflect that there are a number of communities, not just Penan, involved in the campaign.

Indigenous communities of the Baram River Basin in Sarawak have launched a signature campaign against what they claimed to be a misleading sustainability certification for the logging of their ancestral land.

They demanded an immediate stop to industrial-scale extractive activities by timber giant Samling Group as these activities were carried out without the endorsement, full consultation and conscientious agreement of local native communities.

“We strongly oppose this selective consultation approach used by Samling with community leaders only, as this consultation is insidious and an insult to us, the communities.

“No community leaders nor any single individual can represent the community as a whole regardless of his/her office or title.

“We object to the use of coercion or intimidation to get consent from any villagers. In the absence of proper consultation with all the community members within the Gerenai Forest Management Unit (FMU), we reject any further activities pertaining to the Gerenai FMU,” said the indigenous communities in a petition letter earlier this month.

The campaign was coordinated by the Gerenai Community Rights Action Committee (GCRAC), which is composed of representatives from the communities affected by the logging.

The petition was sent to the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC), an international body that endorses the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS), which is operated by the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC).

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The role of MTCC is to provide assurance to buyers of Malaysian timber products that the products have been sourced from sustainably managed forests.

Drive for more signatures

In a joint statement today, GCRAC, Bruno Manser Fund and The Borneo Project, a growing coalition of local and international organisations, said the signature campaign began only a few weeks ago and over 80 people from the villages of Long Moh, Long Tungan and Tanjung Tepalit have already signed the petition.

“This is just the start. We are going to collect more signatures in the villages over the upcoming weeks as long as the situation due to Covid-19 allows it,” said GCRAC vice-chairperson Boyce Ngau.

“We have repeatedly voiced our concerns with regard to the MTCS and PEFC certification. We expect the PEFC to immediately issue a stop-work order for all activities within Gerenai FMU until all issues are resolved.”

Samling’s subsidiary Samling Plywood (Miri) Sdn Bhd has a licence to log the Gerenai FMU from 2018 to 2027. It spans 148,305ha and includes two protected forests.

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Almost half of the area – 48 percent – is located in the heart of the Borneo Corridor, a project to conserve one of the largest transboundary rainforests remaining in the world which covers forests in three countries – Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

The Samling Group is allowed to log the Ravenscourt FMU from 2016 to 2026. The area spans 117,941ha and includes two protected forests.

The indigenous communities opposed the logging concessions because the stipulated area included portions of their native customary land where they hunt, fish and gather materials for their livelihood.

Last month, GCRAC submitted a complaint to the PEFC addressing the lack of consultations.

It was reported that the MTCC took action following complaints by 36 indigenous Penan, Kenyah and Jamok communities from Sarawak’s Upper Limbang and Baram regions about alleged flaws in its certification of two logging concessions.

Penan communities appealed to the MTCC to demand that Samling show them the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) reports for the two logging concessions.

In response, Samling stressed that both FMUs were certified following MTCC rules and international standards. However, it said it had yet to receive a “formal request” to share its EIA and SIA reports with the villages.