Many people ask us about carbon offsets and carbon credits. In theory, they seem like a promising solution for addressing climate change while protecting forests. But in practice, their implementation is often inconsistent and complicated. Where we work in Sarawak, carbon offset projects are just starting to emerge, and we’re...
Lack of transparency and breakdown in communication cause cancellation of International Tropical Timber Organization’s (ITTO) showcase operation in Malaysian Borneo (MIRI / SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) International donors were stunned last Thursday when, minutes prior to the start of a project meeting in Miri, Malaysia, they learned that the Forest Department...
Designate Sarawak as ‘High Risk’ Under New Anti-Deforestation Law The European Union should classify Malaysia’s state of Sarawak as high risk under its new anti-deforestation regulation, a coalition of environmental, human rights, and Indigenous organizations said today. Sarawak, whose millions of hectares of ancient rainforests are at risk of being razed...
In an interview with Juliet Jacobs of BFM Radio, Malaysia’s only independent radio station, our friend and partner Celine Lim talks about the ongoing struggle to save the Baram Peace Park. Celine is Managing Director of Sarawak-based Indigenous rights NGO SAVE Rivers, which upports and empowers Indigenous communities to protect...
In a letter to Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, NGOs call for urgent reforms of and propose solutions to the broken Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) (KUALA LUMPUR / MALAYSIA) Today, civil society groups called on Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, to undertake long-overdue reforms of the Malaysian Timber Certification...
Satellite analysis reveals logging road expansion nearing core protection zone of government backed project in the Baram River Basin (BARAM / SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) New satellite imagery shows major logging road expansion in the northwestern area of the Upper Baram Forest Area (UBFA), a conservation project in northern Sarawak supported...
Timber giant Shin Yang begins questionable Social Impact Assessment process for carbon project as questions about Sarawak’s carbon initiatives are put to Sarawak’s parliament (BARAM & KUCHING / SARAWAK) Critical questions were put to the Sarawak State Assembly yesterday about the state’s carbon market initiatives. At the same time, timber...
We hear a lot about how tropical rainforests are cleared for logging and palm oil at extraordinary rates, and how devastating this is for the climate. But in the last few years we have heard the seemingly fantastic news that Indonesia and Malaysia — the world’s two biggest palm oil...
With talk of new dams in Sarawak going gangbusters in the media, we have fact-checked some of the claims that are being thrown around. When it comes to cascading dams, like the ones Premier Abang Jo wants to build on the Tutoh/Apoh rivers, they’re pitched as a less harmful alternative...
Certification body SIRIM uses Penan rejection of logging as a reason to reinstate certificate – Penan ask Samling representatives and SIRIM auditors to leave (LIMBANG / SARAWAK) During the January audit of timber giant Samling’s Ravenscourt Forest Management Unit (FMU) in Northern Sarawak, the local semi-nomadic Penan communities boycotted the...
