The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling for international support to demand an end to the intimidation of an indigenous community in Indonesia as well as the destruction of its forests by plantation firms. Two companies are clearing forests and farmland belonging to the Dayak Benuaq of Muara Tae, while the...
In a petition delivered yesterday to the Chief Minister of Sarawak, the Baram people protested the plans to build the Baram mega-dam. The project would flood half the size of Singapore and displace thousands of Baram residents from their ancestral lands, homes, and farms. Thomas Jalong, President of Indigenous Peoples’ Network...
The High Court recently ruled against a joint petition by Penan and Kelabit people in Limbang to save their forest lands from the greed of Chief Minister Taib’s timber and plantation allies, Samling Global and the Hii family. The judge based his ruling on the failure of the natives of...
The mining activities of 18 companies caused heavy and extensive flooding that hit Samboja, a subdistrict of Kutai Kartanegara, inundating 486 houses. The mining companies have failed to construct settling ponds, repair waste treatment facilities, and normalize the flow of the Seluang and Merdeka rivers which have been filled by...
The German company Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG from Stuttgart has come under international pressure due to their close cooperation with power supplier Sarawak Energy in a controversial dam project in the rainforest of Borneo. The Baram Dam would flood a rainforest area of at least 400km2 and displace 20,000...
The Penan community has asked Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian to pursue the RM100 million promised to them by the federal government in 2008. During a visit with two hundred representatives from twenty longhouses, Bian said that the Penan also expresssed discontent with the Baram dam project. Read more about the...
Villagers affected by the Bengoh dam who had initially agreed to be resettled with the condition that they were given houses, land, and basic infrastructure, are having second thoughts. In addition to being kept in the dark about the resettlement schedule, a logging company has moved onto the land the...
Organized by the Save Sarawak’s Rivers Network (SAVE Rivers) and the Baram Protection Action Committee (BPAC), representatives of villages in the Baram District of Borneo, strongly opposed the plans of the Sarawak State Government and Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) to build the Baram Dam. Read the letter detailing their requests...
Ram Sing, a senior practicing lawyer in Borneo, asserted that Native Customary Rights (NCR) in Sabah have existed since time immemorial through the practice of customs or Adat by the indigenous population. Furthermore, no legislation can remove these rights since they are provided under the Sabah Land Ordinance and Forest...
At the Rio+20 global summit, indigenous peoples from all over the world have come to present solutions for sustainable development, flag serious risks associated with government ‘green’ proposals, and highlight how indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge and practices contribute to sustaining the world’s most fragile ecosystems. Read here about how traditional...
