Director of Forests cancels Osaka Metropolitan University talk to avoid answering questions over deforestation — as Sarawak Premier receives Japan’s top honour for “environmental leadership” Osaka, Japan – 12 November 2025 — At a press conference in Osaka today, Indigenous representatives from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, condemned Japan’s ongoing support for...
Kuala Lumpur / Tokyo — A coalition of civil society organizations has called on the Government of Japan to immediately suspend funding for International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) projects in Sarawak, Malaysia, following serious human rights concerns, allegations of corruption, and environmental destruction linked to projects implemented by the Forest Department...
UN timber body loses key member state after Malaysia project failure. “ITTO is no longer a credible institution when it comes to forest conservation and sustainable tropical forestry”, says BMF director Lukas Straumann. (BERN/YOKOHAMA). The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has initiated consultations for Switzerland to leave the...
Basel mayor Beat Jans announces a $200,000 contribution to the International Tropical Timber Organization’s (ITTO) Upper Baram Forest Management Area – 24 indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo are to benefit from the conservation and sustainable development of their forest lands. (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) Today, the Swiss Canton of Basel-Stadt (City of...
In this press release by the Bruno Manser Fund, BMF states that the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) breached ITTO protocol by investing and losing US$ 18 million in public funds offshore in Australia and the Cayman Islands. After submitting questions related to the scandal to the ITTO, BMF was...
