Updates

A letter from our Executive Director

Dear Friends,  When I joined The Borneo Project over a decade ago, we were a small but determined team—it was just me, an intern, and our dedicated board. Our main partner organization in Sarawak, SAVE Rivers, was run by a handful of volunteers. Our coalition was small, but we were...

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Our Opinion: Carbon Offsets and Carbon Credits

misty rainforest aerial view

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...

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International flagship project sunk by Sarawak forestry agency

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...

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NGOs push EU to label Sarawak as ‘high risk’ source of timber, palm oil

Deforestation for oil palm plantation in Sarawak. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Originally published on Mongabay, 9 October 2024, by Danielle Keeton-Olsen A coalition of Indigenous and human rights groups are hoping new European Union trade regulations could help pressure timber and oil palm industries in Malaysia’s Sarawak state into respecting Indigenous land rights and implementing better land-use consent practices. The international...

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Why Sarawak should be high risk under the new EU deforestation rules

We’ve been sounding the alarm lately about Malaysia’s resistance to the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), a law that aims to prevent products associated with deforestation from entering the EU. Malaysia has lobbied against forest protection rules, excluded civil society from policy discussions, and played the victim card in high-level...

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HRW Assesses Sarawak’s Timber And Palm Oil Industries

Capture from BFM radio: HRW Assesses Sarawak's Timber and Palm Oil Industries

Podcast originally aired by BFM Radio Guest: Luciana Téllez Chávez, Senior Environment & Human Rights Researcher, Human Rights Watch Click here to listen to the story. Human Rights Watch wants Sarawak to be classified as high-risk for deforestation under the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR). This is based on HRW’s joint one-year-long...

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EU urged to designate Sarawak as ‘high risk‘ under anti-deforestation law

Logging companies often illegally cut roads into forests on indigenous land (© Rettet den Regenwald / Mathias Rittgerott

A coalition of environmental and Indigenous groups has called on the EU to designate Sarawak as high risk under its anti-deforestation law. Sarawak’s extensive deforestation and Indigenous rights violations pose serious risks, prompting calls for stricter EU import checks on timber and palm oil products from the region. Originally published...

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EU: Address Indigenous Rights Violations in Malaysian Imports

Ladies listening Long Tungan

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...

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