The Borneo Wire 2017

Here is our wrap up of 2017 Borneo Project news. LAND RIGHTS UNDER THREAT Native Customary Rights protections challenged in court In October, the Federal Court of Malaysia overturned a decision of the High Court and the Court of Appeal and stripped land rights protections from indigenous communities in Sarawak....

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Things that made me mad on my first trip to Sarawak

Something smelled fishy, and it wasn’t just the ikan bilis. On my first trip to Sarawak as The Borneo Project’s new communications pixie, I was ready to feast on some bubbling laksa, swim in some crystal clear waterfalls, and take some deep breaths of sweet rainforest air. Don’t get me wrong, I...

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Borneo rainforest communities complete 15-year mapping effort

63 Penan communities celebrate the completion of a series of 23 high quality maps representing their land, culture and history (SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) Over the weekend, the indigenous Penan people of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo celebrated the completion of their 15-year long community mapping effort. 23 maps contain data collected...

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Indigenous leader appeals to the Japanese Prime Minister: stop rainforest destruction for Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Supplier of wood for Tokyo’s new National Olympic Stadium accused of destroying Indigenous livelihoods SARAWAK / MALAYSIA – On the anniversary of the first Tokyo Olympics, Matu Tugang, headman of the Indigenous Penan community of Long Jaik from Sarawak, Malaysia, delivered an urgent plea to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe...

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NGOs Demand Olympic Authorities End Rainforest Destruction and Human Rights Abuses Connected to Tokyo 2020 Olympics Construction

TOKYO/LIMA – Today, 47 civil society organizations delivered an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 Olympic authorities, at the start of the IOC Executive Board Meeting in Lima, Peru. The letter reiterated grave and mounting concerns about the legitimacy and accountability of IOC sustainability commitments and the reputation...

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August 2017 Updates

Learning how to manage forests in Bario: On our recent trip to Sarawak we visited Bario, a community in the Kelabit Highlands. We wanted to learn about the consultation and management process for the Pulong Tau National Park, a large protected area nearby. We planted trees and chatted with Lian, one of only three rangers...

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Another mega dam in Sarawak? No thank you.

Miri – The decision to proceed with the construction of the Trusan Dam is in direct contradiction with previous policy.  In an recent article in The Borneo Post, Abang Johari was quoted as saying the Trusan dam in Lawas will be built after the completion of the Baleh Dam in Kapit. At...

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Mobilizing Borneo’s Millennial Forest Protectors

In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, indigenous communities have been fighting to protect their rivers and land for generations. We spoke with grassroots leader Caroline Nyurang about how she is working with young people to become Borneo’s future gatekeepers.  When Caroline was a little girl, she would sit on the...

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