mapping their rights: sarawak forest
communities
friends of the earth malaysia
The indigenous communities of Sarawak
have long battled the state government for
permitting logging, plantations and dam
building on their customary lands.
Extensive logging since the 1960s has
resulted in the loss of a third of Asia's
forest cover, threatening biodiversity and
the livelihoods of communities. The
repercussions for resident communities are
dire: flooding destroys crops and adversely
affects water supplies and fish stocks.
Monetary benefits promised to communities
are usually distributed unfairly, resulting
in conflicts and the erosion of traditional
governance structures.
Towards the end of the 1980s, Penan
indigenous communities staged protests,
erecting wooden barricades on company
logging roads. About one hundred Penan were
arrested and detained. Logging resistance
continued until the early 1990s,
culminating with many promises by the
government ranging from forest reserves to
infrastructure, and from health care to
seeds for cultivation.
Yet one decade later, the Penan are more
impoverished than ever, lacking decent
housing and plagued by frequent food
shortages and poor health. Their rivers are
polluted by silt, oil spills, wood
preservative chemicals and garbage
discharged by the logging companies. The
staples of their diet - game, fish, fruit
and wild sago palms - are almost depleted.
They are struggling to adapt to a settled
lifestyle, and learning agricultural
skills.
After no significant government action
and a second round of blockades in 2002,
the Penan adopted a new approach. They
joined up with a US-based NGO, the Borneo
Project, in order to survey and map their
land and associated resources. These maps
were then converted into computer format
using geographical information system
technology (GIS). The maps have since been
used as legal support for the community's
defense of its rights to its subsistence
land base.
Friends of the Earth Malaysia has
cooperated with the Penan on several
income-generating activities that do not
endanger forest resources, including
agro-forestry and timber production from
native tree species. These economic
initiatives have enabled the community to
pay for education and medicine. The
community mapping approach has since spread
across Sarawak , resulting in important
legal victories for many forest
communities.
