malaysia: the privatization of gunung
mulu national park
Since
opening to the public in 1985, Gunung Mulu
National Park in Sarawak has attracted
visitors from all around the world.
Tourists are drawn to the park both for its
immense caves - including the world’s
largest cave passage - and for its enormous
richness of plants and animals. A single
hectare of the park can contain more tree
species than all of North America,
according to park statements. But while
tourism has brought much-appreciated
economic benefits, the original owners of
the area have not always shared in the
rewards. Recent efforts to privatize park
management have trampled on the few rights
previously granted by the government to the
indigenous inhabitants of the region.
Long before the tourists came, the Mulu
area was inhabited by the Berawans of Long
Terawan and nomadic Penans who now live at
Batu Bungan, at the fringes of the park.
When the park was first established the
area was managed by the government’s
Wildlife and National Parks Department of
Sarawak. It allowed the Indigenous Peoples
certain traditional “privileges”, such as
the right to hunt for deer and wild boar,
to fish, and to remove certain plant
species, such as rattan, within defined
areas.
After its listing as a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO in 2000, the park’s
management was transferred into private
hands. The beneficiary was Borsarmulu Park
Management, a subsidiary of Borsarmulu
Resorts (BRSB) which also owns the nearby
Royal Mulu Hotel and Resort. The company
has obvious links to the government, since
the shareholders of BRSB are the Sarawak
Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and
Kenyalang Cergas, the latter being a
private company run by the brother and
sister of Sarawak’s Chief Minister. The
siblings also sit on BSRB’s board of
directors.
Although many native Berawans appreciate
the economic benefits trickling down from
the park’s exploitation, their rights and
participation have often been completely
disregarded - especially when government
and private interests have colluded for
profit.
Exploitation of the park dates back to
1975, when the state government acquired a
20- acre piece of land from a native
landowner. The government said the land
would house the park’s headquarters, but
that building never materialized. Instead,
the authority conceded the land to BRSB to
build the Royal Mulu Hotel & Resort. In
1993, the company was granted another 243
acres of provisional lease for the second
phase of the resort and other developments.
However, by that time a number of Berawan
families had claimed the land and some had
already built small tourist lodgings. The
result has been a bitter dispute between
the Berawans and the authorities, with the
state refusing to negotiate. Instead, the
government has openly criticized the
Berawans, characterizing them as greedy and
alleging they cannot prove their claims.
During the 1990s, the Berawans staged
peaceful protests, which the authorities
quelled with police force and threats.
The struggle goes on today, with the
government determined to make Mulu National
Park a major tourist destination. The
Berawans are claiming that land the
government has allotted for an extension of
the Mulu airport belongs to them. Despite
attempts to have the land properly surveyed
and deeded, the government has so far
refused to entertain the claims and the
native landowners have hired a lawyer and
called for arbitration. The case is still
pending.
The government has also failed to allow
the Berawans to adequately participate in
decision-making regarding the control,
regulation, management and implementation
of the development activities near the
park, even when such activities directly
impact them. They have been shut out of
many economic and business opportunities
arising from tourism development in the
area, and they participate mainly as
workers.
For more than a decade, the Berawans
have demanded that the government:
-
recognize their land rights;
-
demarcate their lands and issue
titles to all landowners in the Melinau
area;
-
ensure the participation of the
Berawan people in decision-making to
control and manage the development near
the Mulu National Park; and
-
ensure a fair share in the rewards of
tourism development and allow them to
control development that impacts their
cultural heritage.
more information
Sahabat Alam
Malaysia/Friends of the Earth
Malaysia
